We awoke this morning to sunshine,
mild temperatures, and a light breeze. The weather remained warm and beautiful
all day, quite a change from yesterday.
Today was laundry day in the morning. After that, Ted and Ann took us to lunch at
the Village Country Club in Lompoc where they are members. It is a beautiful building in a gorgeous
setting on a hill overlooking Lompoc and surrounded by a good looking golf
course and many large single homes. The
club has a fantastic restaurant, open to the public and run by a great
chef. We had wonderful lunches; Judy had
a salmon salad, Pat and Ted had Cuban sandwiches and potato soup and Ann had a salad and the soup. For dessert, we all shared a huge chocolate
chip cookie sandwich with ice cream in the middle – yum!
We said goodbye to Ted and Ann and
went looking for a place in Lompoc to top-off our propane tomorrow after we get
on the road. They do not sell propane on
base, but the FAMCAMP gave us a list of three places in town that do sell
propane. We found a place where we can get in and out while towing the Bug and
will do so tomorrow after we leave the base.
We then decided to check out one of
the few beaches on Vandenberg open to base personnel. Vandenberg is a high security facility with a
lot of missile and space launch activities going on, most of which are
classified. So, despite having over 26 miles of coastline on the base, most of
it is not accessible to the military personnel and their families who live on the
base, and rarely to the public. Even then,
public access is strictly controlled and only under special circumstances. The base, perhaps due to its proximity to the
Los Angeles area and the type of activity going on here, has frequently been
the scene of anti-war and anti-military demonstrations over the years. Most of
the demonstrations have been peaceful, but there have also been some
demonstrations in the past involving confrontation with base security personnel,
attempted forced entry onto the base and injuries and arrests. The base seems
well prepared to deal with these demonstrations and it is not the type of military
facility where causal entry is permitted.
The Northern boundary of the base at Point Sal is also heavily patrolled
and many activists have been arrested in the past attempting to get onto the base for
various reasons.
The beach we went to is called
Minuteman Beach. It is about 10 miles north
of the main base near Point Sal. The
coastal area is dotted with missile launch facilities that are frequently used
for test missile launches. Most of the
test launches are not announced in advance but a high level of activity around
the site usually indicates a launch is planned in the near future. In the final stages of launch preparations, a
fairly large safety zone is established and everyone around the launch site is
evacuated. The launch facilities near us
were thankfully all quiet today so we were able to visit the beach without any
problems.
Access to Minuteman Beach is
restricted to daylight hours and swimming and surfing is prohibited due to
dangerous surf and riptides common to the area.
Access is further restricted to most of the beach from March 1st
to October 1st due to Western Snowy Plover nesting. Dune areas are fenced off and the beaches are
patrolled by CA and Federal wildlife officers.
The Plover nesting areas on Vandenberg beaches are allowed a
certain number of violations each season (usually about 10) before access to the area is totally shut down. So even though public access to this section of the coast is mostly restricted for national security reasons, it is perhaps one of the best protected and well-preserved sections of the CA coast and should remain so for many years to come.
When we arrived at the beach today we
were the only people there as far as you could see in any
direction. The weather was exceptionally
good for Vandenberg – temperature in the low 70s, clear skies, and only a
slight sea breeze. We had a short walk along the beach, found a few shells, but
didn’t see any snowy plovers. I guess
they wait until March 1st to arrive.
Dinner in the RV was bruschetta and left-over
New England clam chowder and bread, and cookies for dessert.
Day 6 Pictures
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