Arienne Kozak

More than anything else, what I picked up here at Dockweiler RV park is an overwhelming sense of community. It feels like a small town, in all the best ways.

"They're all nice people around here," said Delia Muñoz. "Everyone says hi. They're more relaxed, I guess. It's kind of like family; if they see you need something they'll come over, and then if they want to borrow something from us we'll help them."

Delia and Juan Muñoz, who live in Downey, about a 45-minute drive inland, usually take trips to the more deserty areas near Bishop (east of the Sierra Nevada) or Gorman (60 miles north of Los Angeles), where their kids ride off-road motorcycles. On long weekends they get together there with some of their relatives who also own motor homes. This is their first time at Dockweiler because they wanted to try something different--the beach. "We're going to come back," Delia Muñoz said. "Even though you're close to home, you feel like you're far, far away."

Besides watching her children splash in the ocean, one of the things she most enjoys is meeting people here. "They tell you their stories of where they've gone. It's a good way to find out where we might want to go visit next. We make friends with them and then say, ‘Well, maybe we'll see you here next time!'"

Kids have a lot they can do here, though they can't really run wild because of the proximity of a busy street, the bicycle path, and the frequently rough surf. Three boys from Duarte, about an hour's drive inland--brothers Niko and E. J. Agundez, ages 15 and nine, and friend John Meredith, also nine--come here every year with their families in several RVs. "You can play volleyball, swim, play games, hang out," said Niko Agundez. "We saw dolphins when we were out swimming."

"Did they tell you in the morning we were getting ready to come out here and we turned on the news and it said, ‘Dockweiler--dirty water'?" laughed Niko and E.J.'s father, who had emerged from the RV while we were talking. "I turned it off," he said. "If not, I wouldn't have come down here." "Last time we were here, one of our friends came out of the ocean and there was a piece of toilet paper stuck on her face," said Niko. But that didn't seem to have spoiled their fun, either.

For Ronel Huth, a friend of the Agundez and Meredith families, the beach is much more than just a place to have fun. "I love the ocean," she said. "I feel like I've arrived, this is my destiny, whenever I get to the sand." However, much as it pains her ecologically to say it, Huth admits that their kids would like to be able to ride motorcycles on the beach.

John Mireles had a bright smile as he and his wife Donna prepared to grill some chicken. Their reason for choosing Dockweiler was different: it was the only beach RV park where they managed to get a reservation. They had found that it sometimes takes as long as seven months to get one at a beach.

But they're happy here. They've been to other beaches in California, like Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, which don't have the hook-ups Dockweiler has. When I asked Donna for a final word on what the coast means to her, she said, "Freedom." I'm sure most people here at Dockweiler would happily agree with her.