Vandenburg Air Force Base was converted from an aging Army Base Fort Cooke around 60 years ago to provide a west coast space base. It is located near the elbow turn of central California along the Pacific Ocean. They picked this area due to the remoteness away from population centers since the purpose was to launch spacecraft.
One unique aspect of this base is that the Amtrak Coast Starlight route cuts through the base near the ocean. This is considered one of the most scenic ocean side train routes. I would suppose that they coordinate the rocket launches around the train intrusions.
Last weekend while most of the country was distracted by political issues, history was made here. Space X launched a rocket into the sky and then landed it intact on a pad a short distance from the launch area on base. This was the first time that this feat was accomplished on the west coast. In the past the landing had taken place on a floating platform in the ocean.
We did our usual exploration of the area and found what may be the closest Amtrak station to the ocean. The beach beyond was closed most of the year in order to protect a bird and was part of the Air Force Base. Unlike Portland, Oregon mayors we always try to respect and protect federal regulations no mater how much we think that they are unreasonable.
Out of Lompoc on the Santa Ynez river is a delightful park just before the Amtrak station. There is a lot of opportunity for bird watching. There is some beach access under the rust and falling apart Amtrak bridge. I was convinced that it wouldn't be a good place to hang if the train was overhead.
Just a few miles south on Highway 1 and 14 miles on an extremely curvy, scenic road we found a great beach front camping ground run by Santa Barbara county named Jalama Beach. Of course it was on the beach side of the Amtrak line and not on our map.
We are enjoying the relative quiet of the air force base camping. Kate spotted a coyote roaming around the other evening. On Saturday we are headed south to stage for our dash across the Las Angeles area on Sunday morning.
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