Glamping in the High Dessert | Blue Sky Center, New Cuyama
It’s no secret that I have become a bit of a Gen-Z stereotype. Show me something that looks good on an Instagram feed, and I’m highly intrigued. Add a great mission statement or philanthropic purpose, and I’m sold. While I wish that I could say that my Gen-Z tendencies aren’t responsible for the choice to embark on this next little adventure, all of my friends can assure you that I’m also far too brutally honest to be able to lie to you like that.
I found the Blue Sky Center on Instagram, and it’s safe to say that I was immediately excited by the glamp aesthetic (that’s the glam camp aesthetic for those of you who aren’t familiar with the term). Once I found out that the Blue Sky Center had a strong central mission of strengthening the rural economy and community of California’s Cuyama Valley empowering local entrepreneurs and creatives, I was one hundred percent set on renting one of huts on wheels at their adorable glamp site.
But here’s the thing about finding your campsite on instagram (and admittedly doing very little research about where the h*ck it’s even located): while you can expect the huts themselves to be picture perfect, you have absolutely no idea what you’re actually getting yourself into.
New Cuyama: Serendipity Away from Civilization
On the journey to New Cuyama (a town that I had never actually heard of prior to planning this trip), my friend and I passed miles and miles of oil fields, driving further and further away from any town or city we confidently knew to exist. A few hours into our drive, when nothing that surrounded us resembled the California I had grown up to know, I knew we were in for a little surprise, and I figured that the city-dweller I had become over the past couple years would be pushed miles outside of my comfort zone.
When we finally pulled up to the Blue Sky Center, just past the two block town of New Cuyama, it all started to feel a little eerie… Where the h*ck were all the people??? Even the small town girl from North Lake Tahoe wasn’t prepared for this level of rural.
But as I explored the property, roaming through the landscape of an artist’s dream, I found myself enchanted by the wildness of it all. Rabbits and other furry creatures scurried through the grass as they heard me approaching, birds flocked overhead, and lizards lay out sunbathing on the rocks beneath me.
Before long, I found myself on an old (but still functioning, I am told) runway. I took a deep breath, finding comfort rather than loneliness in knowing there was not a single person between me and the horizon, and then headed back to the hut to cozy up in a blanket by the fire pit.
Sure, I would likely do a little more research next time I do it for the ‘gram and maybe bring a few extra layers (what they say about the temperature of the desert at night really is true), but I still think about the night I spent in the Pope Hut and the feeling of waking up to nothing but sunlight filtered through canvas and frost on the ground outside. Sometimes it’s worth getting a little lost.
