Sadie and I took a trip about a month ago to Carpenteria State Beach with her 4th grade classes. They had just completed reading and studying Island of the Blue Dolphins. The true life story took place right here, on our coastline on St. Nicholas Island in the 1850's. The kids were thrilled to be able to do some hands on experiments and studies of what it would have been like back then to be all alone and surviving on an island.