Raphael and Maileina Luciano with their 10-month-old daughter Evelyn outside their trailer in Slab City.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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Nathan Luciano, 6, examines a lizard he found as his older brother tells him of a lizard he once saw run straight into a bonfire. "Did it burn up?" Nathan asks only a day after he singed his hair after getting too close to a fire.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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Kamaile Luciano, 12, plays with her 10-month-old sister Evelyn inside their family's RV parked in Slab City.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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Raphael Luciano comforts Makayla Luciano, 3, after she fell off her skateboard in what was once a swimming pool.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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Covered in mud, Kamaile Luciano, 12, the oldest of seven children, dives off of a concrete structure and into the hot springs on the outskirts of Slab City.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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Kamaile Luciano paints in mud on a concrete structure. She reads aloud the message someone wrote before her. "Be well, be blessed, be you."

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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Raphael Luciano helps daughter Makayla, 3, float in the hot springs outside Slab City.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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Dylan Luciano, 7, soaks in the dishwashing tub beside the hot springs on the outskirts of Slab City.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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"We probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for the hot springs," says Maileina Luciano.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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The Luciano family have been traveling state to state in their RV after losing their home. From left to right, Dylan, 7, Kamaile, 12, Evelyn, 10 months, Maileina, 35, Makayla, 3, Raphael, 49, Charlez, 2, Skylar, 9, and Nathan, 6.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=48592

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East Jesus, a reference to the middle of nowhere, is home to artists as well as their sculptures in Slab City, where Christmas lights illuminate the camp.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times

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