Home at last

A week of perfect Florida weather...paying for it now...back to the rain, wind, and cold. Also back to the 16" of fresh up in the pass, surf on the coast, my own bed, and Jackie.

I was wrong...actually some surf back home while I was there- see here. Should have kept that board at my Mom's house. Actually tried to rent one for the day, but all the shop had was 9ft soft tops...rather sit it out and take a few pics. Local surf shop dood actually questioned if there was "surf up there?" when I told him I live in WA. I mentioned to him the rumors of guys surfing along the 200 miles of Pacific coastline, but most the surfing was done in wave pools.


Unfortunately no surfing, but actually took up some sea kayaking while I was there. Mom's into it for the exercise and dragged me along. Had a really good time, and workout, cruising the intercoastal waterways. Lots of fun, but strictly flat water activity for me.

Looking forward to getting up to the pass in the next few days. Check the weather at Drex's site before you go up - weather for bro's.

Under Contruction

Heading to Florida tonight. No chance of surf while I'm there. I wish I could say I got my fill this past weekend...I can't remember the last time I thought I was surfed out.

Past weekend- 2 trips to the coast, one a bust, and the other was pretty fun. Sunday morning surfed with about 25 other doods. Plenty of hollow waves to be had for all...as long as you don't mind pulling into closeouts, ending up in the sand, and getting dropped in on. It's all part of the fun.

After the tide switched, and our hands going numb, we decided to check the Groins hoping the tide had dropped enough. Still too full, but we hung out long enough to watch some guy get pushed into the rocks. He eventually threw his board over a log onto the rocks after a few unsuccessful attempts to climb over. Yeah, tossed his board onto rocks. Lucky he didn't snap an ankle too.

Destination - North Shore

North Shore...Here I come!!! I have 5 days to make a name for myself at what is considered surfings ultimate proving grounds and leave a lasting impression on the surf elite who dedicate a lifetime to the 7 mile stretch of sand. Some where in those 5 days I'm also going to have to find time to squeeze in some hooker ass slappin' and cheap beer drinkin' to celebrate the last days of Clem's bachelorhood.

The North Shore is not really high up there on my list of surf trip destinations...it's really outa my league. Thankfully I'll be there with a couple of guys who either live there, or grew up there, to show us some aloha. It's also going to be in March- tail end of the surfing season when the pro circus has long been cleared out.

I've already started my training regiment of running with small boulders on the bottom of the local YMCA pool. oAnd here is the rest of it.

Movie Night!!

Hurricane conditions and the Cape E buoy was reading 34ft @ 17 seconds...I'm going to sit this swell out. Anyways if I was to head out I wouldn't have cell or email access because virtually all the coastal cities don't have power;) Instead I stayed home to watch 'Second Thoughts' the Timmy Turner movie about going 'feral' on an empty indo island. Amazing waves, good surfing, really cool barrel shots, interesting story, but who the hell let this dude (Timmy) narrate the thing. I seriously feel more dumber after the flick. Next time I'm watching with the sound off.

Just pulled the trigger on tickets to visit the folks in Florida. I'm already excited about the sunshine. I leave in about 10 days.

Brrrrr

Can't say the surf was anywhere near spectacular on Saturday, it was freakin' cold, and the drive home through the snow sucked...so extends my streak of crappy surf sessions. Recently is seems like I've been a day, even hours, late for classic fall surf. All I need is one good day and the past few weeks will be forgotten.

Saturday night went to check out the DOC movie premier put together by the guys at OneShotProductions. This one would have totally fallen off the radar if it wasn't for Drex, Clem, and JR, having a bunch of footage in it. I guess it's these guys 3 or 4th movie. I've seen one other flick and I can safely say the production is really getting better. It's awesome to see some older dudes putting this much effort into a project that doesn't involve any hotshit pro riders.

After an exhausting day of surf tripin', napping, and snowbro movie, the only way I could imagine finishing it off was by consuming massive amounts of jager, cheap tequelia, and Mickey's Big Mouths. I now own 1/2 of a pair of gloves. Let me know if you find the missing one - a righthand black XL Burton fleece glove.

Floating Holiday

Checked the surf this morning with Kev...He drives like an old lady and he needs to erase all the songs on his iPod. Nothing exciting happening on the water- too full and a little small to surf. We made it back in time for my 10am meeting...I wish I would have missed it. Being on call + early surf check + an extra long commute today = tired x technical document review meeting = gouge my fucking eyes out!

Drex ain't helping by reminding me how good the surf must be today. Clem's on his way out...maybe in the water already. We'll meet up with him tomorrow.

HR just sent me an email reminding me that I have a 'floating holiday' to use before the end of the year...why am I here today???

Thankful for...

What was I thankful for this holiday;

-Day before Thanksgiving surf
-2 days of excellent weather at Whistler
-First, and second, day of the season powder runs
-Posse of friends to make sure I always had a drink in my hand
-Fat Tony's pizza

Mixed Results

Drex...wave of the day

About a week without an update...not much to write about. One midweek session that wasn't worth logging in for, and a weekend that seemed promising, but kinda fizzled. Highlight was watching Drex paddle out into some big nasty shit to catch one of the few nice waves that came through...then pay for it. I had a perfect view from the beach to witness one of the biggest sets I've seen out there come in and catch him on the inside. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw him abandon his board and head for the bottom. I have this thing I do...nervous reaction I guess, but I tend to laugh when watch friends get worked by a wave or eat shit on the mountain. They always seem to walk away in one piece, but I'm sure I'll feel like an ass when I'm laughing and someone is really hurt...or not.


Buoys weren't reporting for a few hours last night and prompted me to call off another surf session for today. Didn't want to risk making the drive and having the conditions do a 180 on us. I'm sure it will be nice, but I really have some work to do.

None

No surf for me this weekend. Saturday looked like a mess, and Sunday...we dropped the ball. I wanted to go in one direction and everyone else wanted to go in another. No one was really amped on driving. I should have gone alone. Instead I slept in and did a few things around the house until Drex called and wanted to check out Ebey. He'd never been there and I had nothing better to do. I was convinced the surf would be flat, but wanted to get out and take pics with the new camera. I should have brought my board.

***I really hate to post pics of dudes looking like kooks, but I couldn't resist with pic. He was actually surfing really well.

5 Day Forcast

Looks like plenty of surf on the way...maybe too much...if there is such thing. It's more like unsurfable surf, but I'm sure I'll be heading out anyways. Thinking about camping out for a few days and work remotely;) If surfing is out of the question I'll have my new camera to play with.Although, I've been taking more pics on film lately. It's nice to switch it up a little between Photoshop and scanning slides. A couple more shots from the trusty Holga...

The Gear...


Garden knome...

New camera on the way

After a quick reevaluation of my funds I decided it was time step up my equipment to the Canon 5D. Should be here on Friday. Whoohoo!

A few more pics from the new old camera...


and...

Day to remember

Saturday we surfed until I was to tired to run back up the point to catch another wave...and then went back in for anther round. Twisted my ankle running over the rocks, but luckily the cold water kept it numb. Waves were good enough I would have gnawed it off if I thought it would slow me down. Surprisingly empty lineup...I'm sure it was good everywhere else too. No pics from the day.

Clem brought his friend from Oahu to show us how to surf. He wasted no time in instructing us how to snap vertically under the lip and blast the tops of waves off. He was having so much fun he even talked about buying his own wetsuit. We played it off like the surf was always that good...he's in for a surprise.


Leigh gave me an old camera the other day - Konica AutoReflx TC. Pretty much a manual SLR with crappy light meter, but still takes nice pics. I shot a roll through it this weekend and should get the results today. I doubt it will replace the Holga as my favorite film camera, but still fun to shot.

Defying death

So on this weeks surf adventure I dodged a bullet...literally. I guess Drex had a little too much of the sauce and turned his new BB gun on everyone staying in Clem's cabin out at LaPush. There wasn't much surfing happening, but sounds like plenty of other excitement. Unfortunately I missed out on all the fun. Jackie was pretty sick and I decided to stay home with her...which earned me another 'get out of jail free pass' next time we have some lame engagement with friends or family.

Saturday night Jackie was doing better so I had the opportunity to make it out for the Sweezy's birthday party - good times. Drex ended up shooting me in the hand. Got pretty drunk and slept through my chance at getting in the water this weekend.


On Sunday D and I went on hike to the Big 4 Ice caves out past Granite Falls. Not too tough of a hike. The cave was alot bigger than I imagined, more like a cavern. Signs posted outside said it was dangerous, but of course we didn't pay attention. We made it as far as you could go to the back of the cave so I could try and snap off a few pics of the water fall...that's when we heard what sounded like a plane flying over, but just kept getting louder and louder. I bet the ground started to shake too, but I was too busy sprinting towards the entrance to notice. I have no idea how I ran that fast through over boulders without breaking my ankles. I can't remember the last time my hands were actually shaking from being so scared. A few people outside the cave said the slide echoed around the basin, but they could see what happened.

Effortless

My best waves always seem to be effortless. One or two strokes, bottom turn that puts you in the perfect spot...the spot I would have least expected to be on day like Tuesday. Spent plenty of time trying to get there, but the offshore seemed to actually be working against us, and getting into `em was much tougher than it looked from the beach. 2nd session was a whole lot less work in marginal conditions, but just as rewarding as the first because the number of waves.


I would have stayed out there another night, but Travis had to be back, and I'm sure my bosses would not be happy. I may not have to worry about what my bosses think for much longer...3.5 hour interview today went really well. Jackie's still in Chicago.

More of everything

Spent Friday and Saturday out at the Wedge. Long ways from home, but worth every second of the dreadful drive. Friday wasn't very big or consistent, but it was clean and occasionally lining up really well. Not too many other people out. A few guys killing it as usual-including Drex. He's really surfing well now that he's on something other than his homemade beast.

Drex wasn't the only one surfing well. I was ripping so hard I snapped the end of my fin off...into my head. A turn off the top sent me to the bottom were I received a sharp crack to my head. It wasn't till I got back out to the lineup and took a closer look at my board that I noticed the last 2 inches of my center fin missing. I figured a fin would have really done some damage. I guess a few layers of scar tissue and a hood saved me.

Saturday we met up with Kev and his dad. We kinda took our time checking out some other spots and stopping for food. Eventually ended up back at the Wedge were it was whole different wave than what we surfed the day before. That day it was overhead and snapping boards. Not too many makable waves out there when it gets that big. Didn't spend much time surfing...plenty of driving.

I'm heading back out to the Straits tonight with Travis. I'm sure my boss is beginning catch on that I don't like to be in the office. Good thing I can get twice as much work done frmm home. I have a 3 hour interview with another possible prospect on Wednesday. More button pushing, but also more $$$ too. More $$$ = more traveling!

No pot of gold here

Too Much of A Good Thing

Drex vs. Wave

The idea of big waves always sounds so cool until they're breaking on top of you.

Early Saturday morning I rolled out with Kev to meet up with a posse - Clem,Drex,Peterson,Otter,Brian,JR,and Shane. Meeting spot was OS Jetty where Clem had camped out the night before. He had a chance to check it before we got there, but opted to hold off on going out until we showed up. Smart move on his part.

Early morning fog, but could clearly see the surf was big and going to be a challenge. Big enough that I'm safely going to say it was over my head. Waves were breaking out past the jetty and made the inside look like a washing machine. Wind was offshore and made for clean faces. Rip was pretty bad once you got past the reach of the jetty.

For some reason everyone figured it would be ok to try and paddle out a ways down from the jetty. Knowing they would be back in real soon I decided to hang back and take a few pics. Clem and Kev picked off a wave that broke outside and reformed closer in. Drex powered out to the lineup where an average size set snapped his new Stretch quad before he had a chance to really catch a ride. They all came back in.


I hooked Drex up with my other board and we paddled out along the jetty. I jumped on a few big mooshy walls, but never made it out all the way out where the sets were breaking. Catching a wave was a bad mistake since each time you caught a wave it meant paddling back out. A bigger board than a 6'4" would have made all the difference. No one really caught any substantial rides.

Afternoon session was even a bigger joke. I still have sand in my ears from getting slammed on the beach. Good times!

Zap!

Thursady morning - Lake Washington

Quick rundown of the week...

Craig Kelly documentary with a crew of doods. Otter buys a taser as a present for Drex, but doesn't plan on wrapping it up for him. Taser in my friends hands is bad idea. We all get shocked.

Work was slow and lame this week. Wanted to take a day to surf, but didn't happen. 'Worked' from home today. Real productive ;)

Surfing the next 2 days. Not sure where yet. I'm just a passenger this weekend. Sounds like Drex wants to try OS. I think Neah Bay area would be a better bet since we already have a crew meeting at La Push for a friends birthday. I'm sure we'll find decent surf anyways.

Anyone want to buy my bike?

Midweek Madness

Midweek trip to the Straits. Swell has been pumping for the last few days. A few scouting reports from friends confirms my suspicion there some good waves to be had. Work will just have to wait.

We were kinda off our game and made some poor decisions early in the day. First mistake was passing a spot or two expecting to find decent surf everywhere. We then backtracked for prospects of better surf only to find much better conditions, but unfavorable tides starting to shut down the waves and everyone starting to get out of the water. Nevertheless we had a good time and rode some fun waves at both Elawh and Twins.

I was hoping to make it out to the Wedge. I heard B was out there and scored some big surf. Maybe next time.

France Recap

Click on pics for rest of gallery

Here's the short and sweet about France.

Destinations in order of travel:

-Paris (Big city you may have heard of)
-Biarritz (surf town)
-Carcassonne (Castle city)
-Avignon (Old home of Pope)
-Vaison La Romain (Cote de Rhone, Roman ruins)
-back to Paris


Why France is awesome in no specific order:

-New Surf spots (new for me)
-History&Culture
-Architecture
-Transportation system
-Cheese
-Beautiful women (...and the topless beaches they frequent;))
-MTV Europe (in German)
-Mountains and ocean
-Emphasis on relaxing meals
-I guess the wine is good too


Why France should join the Axis of Evil:

-Even the guys will judge you by the shoes you wear
-The Euro (dollar at all time low against Euro)
-Shorty wetsuits and man-kinis
-Biarritz hosting the WCT and me having to surf around the Top 44 (I can't compete with them catching waves so I chose to surf off main peaks. I guess this was good and bad)
-City layouts and poorly marked streets that will make any map useless
-Infatuation with motocross motorcycles and making scooters sound like them
-Even decent hotels have crappy mattresses

Final impressions:

I really enjoyed the country, culture, and people. I guess they have a pretty good head start on the US when it comes to alot of things, but I hope we eventually adapt to a similar way of life and approach to society. Most importantly was the variety of surf spots, quality of waves, and overall friendly surfers I ran into.

Home Again

Sooes Sunset

Last week I couldn't seem to get myself out of vacation mode and this week I can't even remember where the hell it was we went. I'm pretty sure it was France, but who cares now that there's a pumping NW swell? After looking and the forecast for this week I'm just trying to figure out if I still have enough vacation time saved up, or some pretty good sick day excuses.

Kev and I went all the way out to Sooes yesterday where we scored some decent surf. It took me a few minutes to get used to the 5/4/3, but water was pretty cold so I was happy to have it on. It was good to be back on my board although it was nice having an extra 2' in the nose on the 6'4" NSP Fish I rented for the week in France.

Sooes Surfers

We surfed for about 2 hours and then headed back towards PA. Our plan was to camp out and surf in the morning. We thought the NW swell would have been pumping down the Straits by dawn and we could get an early morning surf before catching an early ferry back to Seattle.

Camping turned out to be a bad decision - surf was nonexistent when we woke up. I guess we deserve that for trying to calculate, or predict, surf in the Straits. Looking at the buoys now I'm sure it would have been good if we waited a few more hours. Too bad I had some work that really needed to get done today. I'll save the day off for Wednesday or Thursday.

Here's some of the France pics too.

France Update

Scored really good surf on the 3rd day in Bairittz. Chest high, some larger sets. Offshore in the morning and deal calm wind for the rest of the day. Today is pretty average, but still fun.

Quiksilvr/Kelly Slater invintational is tomorrow so the talent pool around here is pretty high. Most guys are really nice, but are always in the perfect spot for the wave and never back off anything. Ive been staying away from the main break in town, but more than pleased with the less crowed waves down the beach.

Leave tomorrow to head to wine country and the hills. I really dont care about wine, but stoked to drive around the country side.

France in my pants

Thanks to Barb and Sam we enjoyed 1st class seats from JFK to Paris. The seats were huge, big mf'ers that lyout like beds with your own movie player. Ive never flown first class on an international flight so it was pretty nice. You dont get the fancy 3 course meal on the domestic 1st class. Even got a little travel pack with pillow, toothbrush, lotin, and other junk.

Landed in Paris sort of rested at 8am. Spent the last few days walking around the city. Eating lots of bread and drinking lots of wine.

We're waiting to meet Barb&Sam and Kim&Dave today. Then head off to the coast to meet Matt&Tedè in Biaritz were I plan to get a few days of surfing. Havent bothered looking at the reports since we already have reservations and its too late to change our minds.

Im tired of trying to type on a French keyboard.

Alternative Sports

So what's a popular activity of surfers when they're away from the water? I guess these days it's golf. All the cool guys are playin' - Slater and Machado to name a few. Add one more to the list...Me!

Yes, today I played my very first round of golf on a golf course. Actually it was par 3 so not a real golf course. Don't ask me what my score was because I don't know. It happened all way too fast. I was just trying not to hold up the rest of the crew.

I've been to the driving range and I even own a nice full set of clubs, but they've never been used on a course until today. The clubs were actually a present from Jackie's dad who made me a custom set - the right length and for goofy footers. I'm sure he'll be stoked to know they're finally getting some use.

Also went to see the Wu-Tang tonight @ Bumbershoot. I had an all access pass so we were able to watch the show in comfort while the rest of the crowd was crammed into the field area. It was a great show.

Great Expectations

I've been watching the surf forecast all week just waiting for Sunday's report to drop to typical summer numbers, but this time it didn't. When Saturday rolled around the buoys were already starting to show signs of a much needed bump in the waves - 3.5ft @ 16 seconds from the SouthWest. I'd also heard from a friend, who lives in Westport, that Saturday afternoon was really fun. It's not that I needed the extra bit of encouragement, because we were already planning on surfing, but it was enough to motivate me to get up extra early.

Clem and I showed up a little before sunrise. Definitely not what I was expecting from the forecast. Wind was already chopping up the surf. We knew it was going cause problems today, but we at least expected it to be calm that early in the morning.

It didn't stop us from having a good time. There were some fun sets that rolled through and a few even lined up for decent length rides. The session lasted for about 2 or 3 hours, got out just before the hordes of foam tops went in.

Clem on the inside

We had chicken strips, onion rings, and Busch Tall Boy's at the Pine. Clem barely beat me at Shuffle Board. We checked the surf once more before hitting the road. Made a stop to look at a new truck for me, and another for ice cream @ Diary Queen.

1 week until we leave for France.

PTO

Yesterday scored some of the best surf I've seen in awhile. Really nothing spectacular, but better than anything I've seen on the WA coast this summer - chest high clean lefts @ Elwah. It was a pleasant reminder on why I try to avoided surfing out on the coast as much as possible. Buoy is still reporting 5ft @ 11 seconds...I should have stayed, but work needs to be done.

Surf still a possibility this weekend, but will have to drive further out if I want to hit the Straits again. Elwah is a mess with the weekend crowds. There's talk amongst the boys about heading East and doing some wake surfing behind John's boat. I guess I'll get my turns in one way or another.

Lazy days

More summertime surf this past weekend. Not much of a workout, but still good times with friends.

Drex and I slept in a little and missed the morning glass. Surf was knocked down by the time we got in. Session lasted for about 2 hours and then met up with friends who were in town for Anne's birthday.

Checked out the local art fair. I had a hard time considering any of it art, but in the same sense that I don't consider my Grandmothers choice of home decor as 'art'.

Picked up a few fashion tips while I was out there...

Yes, that's her leash wrapped around her waist.

Surfy

'Surfy' is the best word I can think of to describe this weekends conditions. There were waves, but much smaller than anything I would consider 'surf'. Nonetheless we still had a good time. Water was warm, weather was nice, and a few friends to share crappy beer, cold sandwiches, and ankle high waves with.

Big plans to go surf this weekend already. Predictions of monster surf, but it's still 6 days away so alot can change. I'll settle for anything other than the 'surfy' again. Maybe something will materialize this week and I can take a day off as long as it doesn't interfere with an anticipated job interview and my sailing classes.

Otter's B-Day this weekend too. Cheap tickets to Mexico would be ideal, but a long shot. I'm sure what ever we get into will be a good time.

Great Outdoors

Sunday morning surf with Jackie waiting in the car- super low tide, no wind, not much swell, and a bunch of people in the water. Plenty of fun waves in the inside. Lasted for about 3 hours. The rest of the crew showed up when I was packing up. I guess they had a really fun session too.

There's talk of heading back to OR and surfing with Dax again. Not sure if I can make it because of work stuff. I can maybe work out one night.

Yesterday I took the day off and went to Tolmie Peak. Pretty good hike - 6 miles and lots of vertical. The view from the watch tower was the big payoff. The peak over looks a few alpine lakes with Rainer in the background, and in the other direction you can barely see the city.


I would have stayed longer to try and get some good pics at dusk, but the bugs were out of control. I never experienced mosquitoes like that in my life, and I grew up close to swamps in Florida. I'm surprised how many few bites I actually have. I remember at one point looking down at my arm and seeing about 30 blood suckers on my arm alone. Next time I'm bringing the Deet.

Haha

101 Greatest Simpsons Quotes

Oregon Weekend

Weekend trip to OR included Clem, Drex, Travis, JP, Shane, Kelley, Dax, and Dax's wife. I left town with Travis about 4am and was surfing ShortSands before 9. Actually not sure if the days first session really counted as surf though. Was super messy and small, but we tried to make the best of it.

Second session in the afternoon was much better- small clean Seaside Cove with a bunch of people out. Water was really warm - no gloves, booties, and wearing my 4/3. Haven't been in water that warm in a while.

After surf we grabbed some food and headed to the campsite to get prepared for the evenings downpour. Shane packed a batwing that we could sit under while we drank beer and played a mean Suduko tourney that I won. No one would take Drex up on a shotgun drinking contest. I ended the night off with a s`more before heading to bed.

Woke up to a few inches of water surrounding all the tents. Good thing I slept in my vehicle where I was warm and dry. First time sleeping in it, but was pleasantly surprised how comfortable it was. Everyone else was pretty wet and ready to get the hell out of OR.

A few of us headed to the Cove again for a morning surf where we ended up catching some really fun waves. Clean and some nice size sets with not very many people out. It lasted about 2 hours before we packed up and headed back to WA.

I was welcomed home by a few inches of water in my basement.

97°

Random pic from a few nights ago

Predictions of 90+ degree weather in the city, and fun surf on the coast, convinced me bail on work and head out with Clem and JP. The 5:30am buoy report was showing 3.5ft @ 4 seconds and calm winds, but a bump in the swell was expected.

We got there around 9 - fog to thick see the water. Waves were much better than anticipated. Clean and decent size for most of the session. Clem and JP stayed at the main peak while I worked on my 'back-hand attack' further down at the second peak. Picked off the occasional left that would line up. Not much water traffic to deal with.

Once the fog cleared the sun was nice bonus, but that also meant the winds would pick up. The crowds were starting to fill up the inside too. It was time to take a break. JP suggested a new sandwich place in town.

Decent Ruben sandwich, but not the crispy deep fried goodness the Knotty Pine has to offer. During lunch the clouds began to fill in and we decided to forgo the second session and get back home to where record temps were being reported. I had some work to do and ended back in the office til 11pm.

Attitude Adjustment

I ditched out on a few surf sessions this past week because of poorer than average conditions- something I rarely do. Chances are I may not get another chance to surf for at least another week, but for some reason I'm fine with that. My stoke for waves is much lower that average right now. I've been doing my very best to keep it going by borrowing new surf videos from friends, kicked around the idea of shaping another board, and even started trying to map out surf sessions for my trip to France in September.

Haha. Funny thing just happened- just typing the words "surf sessions" and "France in September" put a big smile on my face. It almost made me delete the previous paragraph cause it makes me sound like a whiner.

Surfline on crack?

WTF are they thinking? Is Surfline smokin' crack? Take some time and read one of the many forum post/blogs/articles about the 'Surfline Goodwill Tour' so you can form your own opinion-

The Surfline Goodwill Tour

Not going so well I guess...

Incident at La Jolla

I think Sean Collins will have some explaining to do.

Plastic Fantastic

Plastic beer bottles- most people if given a choice wouldn't drink out of `em. I think they're great; no possibility of broke glass, easy to recycle, your friends can't do that trick where they smack the top of your bottle with their bottle and cause foam to shoot out all over, easy to twist off tops, can't chip your teeth on `em, and great for sporting events.

If you don't agree that's fine, but let me give you a hypothetical situation where a plastic bottle served as much more than just a beverage container. It served as a tool to try and teach someone manners, allowed a normally level headed guy to act on a situation and use the bottle where in a 'glass bottle situation' he would never consider such harsh actions to 'teach someone manners', and helped the police recognize a ballpark fan had way to much to drink.

*Note*
This is a totally hypothetical situation, and since I would never suggest anyone would take the risk of acting totally irresponsibly like the these hypothetical characters...I'll assume the risk and put myself in the situation to help the reader relate.

Here it is-

Say I was to be sitting in Safco Field, about 26 rows along the third baseline, enjoying the last few gulps of a Bud Light. Directly behind us is a group of sugar buzzed, Mariner crazed, 9yr old little league kids. 8th inning and no sign of the cotton candy high wearing off anytime soon.

So the little leaguers are razzin' everyone who walk by in Boston Red Sox gear. Most don't even pay attention, others shrug it off with a laugh, and one gangster lookin' guy can't handle the situation like an adult. When he walks by and gets heckled by the little league team he responds with a middle finger and a few words that can't be made out over ballpark crowd. This doesn't happen cause the guy isn't paying attention to who's razzin' him. He actually walks by a second time, but this time turning around and throwing his arms up as to guesture 'what?', or 'you wanna start trouble?', before once again giving the little league the middle finger.

Imagine me sitting there, enjoying the last few gulps of a Bud Light, and watching all this go down. Now imagine my Bud Light slipping out of my hand and heading in the direction of the guys back...now about 8 rows below us in the isle. Madness ensues around us and I simply stay seated while the guy, stadium staff, police, and little league parents, and random attendees, start yelling at each other. Little League parents and Mariner fans blaming the guy. The guy wanting to take everyone on. The police just trying to figure who's bottle slipped. Some wasted old guy was even pointing his finger at my deadlocked friend while yelling "trouble makers!".

Luckily all the attention was drawn away from me and my misplaced Bud Light. The police begin to direct all their attention on wasted old guy- to drunk to hardly speak, but he manages to shout above everyone else. The few that really saw what happened either sat there with their mouth shut, or patted me on the back. We would leave half way through the next inning.

Pirate Days

Friday afternoon traffic- no problem for Clem's Audi wagon. Crusin to the beach in style. Arrived with plenty of time to catch some Pirate Days activities and a late afternoon surf.

Typical summer surf conditions, but better than nothing. Actually better than typical summer surf, it's been about 2 weeks since I've got my head wet. Just nice to be in the water.


Dinner consisted exclusivly of fired food and beer at the NP. Weird crowd because of the Pirate Days. We decided to call it an early night and grab a camp spot instead of trying to win control of the shuffle board table.

Woke up before 6 to get in an ealry surf session before the crowds and the onshore wind picks up. Waves were fun, but I wasn't trying to make it a marathon session. We were on the road by 10. One more stop for egg biscuts and hashbrowns before I was home and ready for a midday nap.

Motorcycle Mayhem or First Encounters

I'm back to work. I can't remember what it is I was doing before I left, but I know it was defiantly not memorable. Not much has really changed in the 5 days from away from my cushy lumbar supporting proper posture promoting office chair- its just that my mind was so far from anything that resembled actual office work. So far from work that I even forgot my cell phone in Denver. That's defiantly a first for me.

So here's what went down over the last few days...

Wednesday night & Thursday day was spent in Denver catching up with a few old friends and wasting time in the city. It was really good to spend time with friends I usually only chat with by phone or online...at the same time it was torture. So close to the mountains, but not quite there. I felt bad because my friend was going through a real rough time in her marriage and needed someone to talk to. I'm not that guy. I can barely be compassionate when my wife is breaking down in tears let alone a friend who's letting it all out. It's not that I don't care. I just never know what to say, and in this particular situation, all I really wanted was to be in the mountains instead of restaurant in downtown Denver. I'm selfish I guess.

The drive to Vail was pretty quick once we actually got on the road. I tried to steer the conversation away from relationships, and when it did go that way, I agreed with everything she said. We finally made it to Vail around 11pm Thursday night- I could finally relax. I wish she could feel the same way, but all she has to look forward to is going home to a asshole of a husband.

I was staying with Brent- my old roommate and trusted snowboarding companion. If there was one person I would trust with well-being, it would be him. Learning to snowboard together we pretty much figured out how big of a rock drop each other could take before it would cause any real lasting injury. If he said "go" I would go with hesitation knowing the worst that could possibly happen is that he would get a good laugh out of watching me eat shit. So I guess it's fitting that he be there for my first time back on a motor cross bike in at least 10 years.


The next few days were spent learning how to race a 250cc 4-stroke Honda motorcycle over varying mountain terrain...at the same time becoming way to familiar with the dust, snow, rocks, tress, and mud, that covered the trails. I only went down a few times. Once hard enough to scratch up my helmet pretty good and get chunks of gravel under my chest protector. Thank God for motocross body armor.

The funny thing is that the pain from getting tossed off the bike was nothing compared to the sore muscles, blistered feet, and heat exhaustion. I also thought I was in pretty good shape, but I guess not for riding a motorcycles for 6 to 8 hours a day. Each day got progressively worse until the last day I could barely keep any tension in my arms. My thighs still hurt.

The last night we decided to camp out near Wolcott Pass- a few miles out in the middle of the mountains. I was hoping to get a couple good motocross and landscape shots, but the weather wasn't really cooperating. We were expecting typical mountain sun showers, not thunder storms. I also noticed all the trees had burn strips running down their trunks where they had been struck by lighting.


Before the storm rolled in we had time to cooks some hot dogs and fire off a couple of fireworks Brent packed just for the trip. Initially the lightning was pretty far off, but didn't take long to move in on the camp. I tried to get a couple of time lapse shots of the storm that didn't work out. We ended up hiding in the tent to avoid becoming a lighting rods.

While hanging out in the tent waiting for the storm to pass, all of the sudden, we heard crazy sound out side the tent. Sounded almost like weird horn, or bird, but really fookin' loud.

Me -"What the hell? Bird?"

Brent- that was no fuckin' bird.

Not another word about it between us.

Really loud bird that hangs out in the rain @ 2am??? I didn't want to piss it off more than it already sounded, and if it wasn't a bird...I didn't want to see what was hangin' out in the forest, at night, miles from any civilization, and in a storm. I regret not checking it out, but don't regret the possible alien annal probe that could have resulted from being brave.

Next day Brent drove me back to Denver where I got to see a few more friends before showing up to the airport almost 4 hours before my delayed flight.

Best part about the trip was I didn't miss any notable surf session. Now if I can just plan every trip between swells I'll be golden! I guess it's not too hard to do during the summer.