Different Perspective

It's weird
walking around your home break in the afternoon during summer and still Shoobie season...it's like it's not reality....

I decided to hang out a bit at Blackies from 2:00 pm till ??? Well I am still here blogging from the beach.
Waters warm slight wind and it's still pretty hot out just checked temp and 81 at the beach here in Newport according to the almighty I Phone.
So it's no wonder the beach is still crowded and peeps are still in the water!
It's just I feel it's not their beach and wonder if they really respect it like us "locals/surfers" do... Even though I'm technically not a local ...I am here on a regular basis and this is my home surf break... And I have been hanging out here since i was a teen! So there.....plus hubs works right off this shore too.

Another thing that is wierd is how it seems like such a different place.. Usually I drive through this parking lot and know 1/4 of the peeps.... Now nothing seems familiar... The people the fact there are no surfboards and a lot of out of state license plates ...

I feel everyone should enjoy the ocean.. I just hope they respect it!
... But I want my familiar back and am ready for all these peeps to go home!
Am I the only one who feels this way??

Such a thing as a bad day surfing ?

I am gonna have to say yes! I mean I know it could have been a lot worse .... I did not get injured and conditions were not Big, or too crazy....and I am one who tries to even make a bad day surfing a good one!

I was too distraught to take pix so I google bad day surfing and this pix came up so I stole it! Because I felt like I almost died a few times yesterday! This pix made me laugh!Maybe the grim reaper was surfing next to me???

Maybe it was my mood ... Maybe it's because i had not been in the water in almost 3 week.... Maybe I was just expecting so much more.. Maybe it's because my friends were all talking about how great surf has been, however crowded!
Even today I have heard amazing fun reports today ....
So what... the 1 day I decide to use my gas $$$ which I have to really be frivolous about ... All this happens?!?!?!

Irma totally sold me and got me all hyped to drive down and surf! Not that I am blaming her for anything... Totally not her fault!

So I tell hubs come on let's go surfing !!!!!! Irma said suns out waters warm and surf conditions are perfect for me!!!
I put on my board shorts and pack a rashguard and throw in my shorty and a 3/2 just in case... Load up Mo and Zeus and head to the cliffs!! 2-3 with occ 4 is what I was told. We decide to meet at 10 am.

We get there early and do a drive by at Blackies !!! Windy and surf is like 1' crumbly mess!!
I text Irma reported what i saw ..she said yep wind was 6kts at Blackies but Cliffs are posting 3kt so anything under 5 is ok in our book! But where did this wind come from??? There was no mention of wind!!!

As we drive down the coast it's not looking very promising .. We see flags blowing straight .. No surfers in water from newport to HB and surf not so great!

We get to Cliffs .. Not as windy... Doable but still windy... People are surfing some shape to waves ... Perfect height 2-4...water is warm... We still were a little dishearten over the wind but decide to go in!

Irma shows up while we are getting ready ..hubs just wore his board short and a rash guard I put my shorty on.

We walk down the cliff to the beach and Irma is looking and says the rip is pretty bad.. We keep walking to find a place to go in.. A guy walks by us and tells us don't enter any where here the rip current is killer today ... So we keep walking all the way past the other parking lot. We decide to go in.

The paddle out was killer!! Not so much as being caught inside by the breaking waves as paddle your fricken heart out and not go any where and trying to get enough speed to get over the oncoming breaking waves was near impossible ! I tossed my board and dived under 2 waves to get out.. And just when I was almost outside another wave beaks and dude is coming at me. He looks as if he is going left so I paddle to his right and was gonna go behind him. Then his board turns and he comes right at me and the wave stats to close out! I threw my board and swam as far to the bottom as I could till I touched the sand with my leg attached to my board pulling the other direction. I start to surface and then before I could get to the surface I am tumbled like I was in a dryer! At this point I am running out of air and thought oh yeah I'm gonna drown! Then I was up and took a deep breath! Reached for my board and just wanted to get outside as fast as I could!
Super nice dude came and said I am Soo Sorry are you ok? Totally my fault....Where did my board hit you? Are you bleeding? I said no I am fine I dove as deep as I could hoping to not get hit!
We are both paddling back out! My focus and goal was to just get outside! He kept talking but I was dizzy and out of breath and was not having fun! I Swear it took me at least 20 minutes to just get out!

Hubs said later he saw the whole thing and didn't see me surface for a while and was really getting worried! He thought that guys board hit me and I was knocked out or something ..

When I finally got out to Irma I said I am not having fun! Told her I paddled in one spot forever and then that whole ordeal with the guys board! She said the rip current is BAD today and reminded me if caught to swim or paddle parallel to shore .. That is one thing I did know :-)

Hubs could not even get outside and later he said he didn't even have fun in the white wash!

After I got outside... I seriously had NO desire to catch a wave! I just did not want to fight to get back out again!
Then we noticed we drifted so far North we paddle south again. Between the wind and the rip that was way too much work!

I tried to go for 2 waves the whole time both wipe outs and both times I tumbled bad! Once swallowing some water!

I was so over it!!! I paddled in and called it a day!

I watched Irma and Karen and the others who joined us and only saw Karen catch a wave ... IDK if Irma got anything..but my point of view .... Only experience surfers and strong swimmers should have only been out there! I know Irma is much better Than I and I believe Karen and her friends were as well! As for me I felt I had more than one near death experience too many that day!

Found hubs on beach and said that just sucked! The only good thing is I got wet and the water was warm. The short time i sat outside was the only enjoyable moment!

He said he just saw my board flying all the time and really was worried I got hit by that guy!

I felt nausea after that session.. We had a long walk back to the Tahoe and decided to go for some Bloody Mary's.

I was and still am so discouraged by yesterday! If that was my first time surfing .. I would never surf again!

Luckily I know there are better days ahead ... But seems like this year it just has not been so great ....
I was hoping with the unemployment I would get more water time and sharpen my skills! But that has not been the case :-(

Speaking of which....

And this could be either good or bad news ... But I have a job interview on Monday. The job is 8:30 to 5:30 Mon. -Fri. and a drop in pay for me. If I get it.. But out of all the resumes I sent and jobs I applied to .. This has been the only interviewed offer ....so????

If anything good came outbid this... I did get 2 compliments on Mo... I had to convince a surfer this was not a Michinton board. But a Mere Made board with the whole story of how it all came about!

US OPEN FINAL DAY

This is the Crowd when Kelly entered the water...

View to the left!

View to the right!

Yes I braved the last day of the US Open.. it is always the most crowded and craziest day. I am so glad they also decided to NOT have concerts on that day like previously. It Was Crazy crowded when Weezer played during the last day a few years back...Not only could you not move..it was so crowded it was hard to breath. UGGH! NOT ENJOYABLE!

I swore I would not ever go through that again. AND in All honesty..this year was not nearly as bad.

I have to say out of ALL my trips to the US Open...Day 4 of this year was my favorite.. see previous blog posts.

HOWEVER.. some pretty cool things happened on this day.

For one.. I was mere feet away from Kelly Slater in just a red towel.. NOTHING ELSE BUT A TOWEL.. OHHHHH my!!

I was chatting with Alain's(From AB Surfboard Repair..again read previous post) beautiful and amazing girl friend Lisa at the pros entrance when he appeared in just a towel. My hubs said there is Kelly Slater and I said, no I dont think that is him... see he walked by in another color rashguard than what he was just in, and I only saw the back of him... He wore a red rash guard or Jersey when he surfed against Dane Reynolds and changed into a blue one when he surfed against Miguel Pupo..so I guess he was just trying it on for size.. because...

...... HE only moments later reappeared in just a towel. I was prob hypnotized when I realized I should get a pix.. by the time I got the camera on my I phone up and ready.. HE WAS GONE!

Oh and Yes I FINALLY was able to meet Lisa... she is such a doll and her and Alain were hobknobbing with all the pros and their familys in the VIP area.. because they were and are V I P's..

I got my hair cut at the Paul Mitchell booth for $15 and the money all goes to Life rolls on.. A great charity check them out here if you are not familiar with
them;

www.liferollson.org


Also the high-lite of the day(besides the winners) was when Kelly Slater was surfing and shot the pier and went to the North Side and totally dropped in on an unsuspecting surfer..THAT was priceless. CAN you imagine that surfer and the amazing story he has to tell for a lifetime !!!

Hubs was Happy he got pix with the "Fox" Girls.. but he thought they were the Roxy Girls. LOL..Our Friend Donald is on the left and hubs is the one a little too excited on the right.. Plus I had to let hubs have some eye candy.. only days before I had Rob Machado, Sunny Garcia and Brett Simpson. LOL

Also right before this picture a super cute lil old cute asian lady asked if we could take her pix with them as well. I thought how fricken cute is she!!


Well other than that the Brazilians were crazy and sat behind us on the Beach.. because they had Miguel Pupo and Gabriel Medina in the Finals. Seriously though I thought for Sure Miguel was gonna take the US Open..HE was so Amazing!

But if you don't already know Julian Wilson and Lakey Peterson won the US OPEN..A big congrats to them!
My I phone died.. so I did not get any further pix.,... AND I really wanted to get some when Lakey and Julian won... BUMMER.. oh and I really wanted a pix with Rockin Fig..call me crazy..but I was so impressed with him.

That is all...

.....OH YEAH DID I MENTION I WAS MERE FEET AWAY FROM A PRACTICALLY NAKED KELLY SLATER!!!! LOL

More from day 4 of the US Open

I am just so stoked on my Rob Machado story... I wanted to give it it's own post... Such a sweet story. I included a few more pix of Rob here too.. One was taken with a friend Alain ... But I stole it and cropped it.. Tehe.. I hope Alain doesn't mind.

Any way I was able to meet and see a few other surfers as well. I think Tuesday was one of the better days .. Not crowded, well not as crowded as it can get! Everyone I think I wanted to see surf ..did that day :-)
Rockin Fig was a fun commentator on the beach.

A few of my favorite peeps were with me ..Irma, Laura and Tracy...
I finally got a US Open umbrella ... I have been wanting one the last 3 years
I also love the color theme they used this year... Black,teal, and blue... I got a way cool black Umbrella .. Thanks to Irma for getting there early.

Surf conditions were better than last year.. But still really not all that great! But the pros made it look easy and fun riding on a lot of closed out waves!

I want start by saying I FINALLY was able to meet a FB friend face to face! He is a ding repair guru... He was the official Ding repair dude at this US Open. Funny the last 2 Years it's been my friend Molly Logan.
Any way Alain from AB Surfboard Repairs was the man this year and I finally met him in person ..and he is a very positive and extremely nice guy! So I had to get a pix with him too! If anyone needs some dings repaired .. He comes highly recommended by the pros by the way ;-)... Check him out at www.absurfboardrepair.com


Well onto the pros.. I met Courtney Conlogue and took a pix with her! I was wondering if it seemed a tad creepy to have a middle age grandma get excited about taking a pix with her?... But I'm so proud of her because ,like me, she is from Santa Ana which is a bit of a rough hood to grow up in . Especially for a white girl. So to have an amazing talented female surfer rise from there!! Hell Yeah! ....and she is just the sweetest girl too!

Then there is the HB hometown hero. Brett Simpson.. But in all honosty I swear I always see that boy in Newport and HB.... But I got a pix with him too!

Then there is Sunny Garcia ....I love his smile!!! I was a bit intimidated to ask for a pix from him... I hear he can be a little mean. But he was not! He was happy to take a pix and again he has a very charming smile..Actually I was a little smitten after meeting him! He is one of the hubs fav surfer so I got a pix with him to make him jealous ;-) ha!

Sage Ericson walked right in front of me so I snapped a pix of her.

And the man himself Kelly Slater! I was 2 feet away from him. But his security team was tight and there was no getting near him when he got out of the water!
But I did hear about 20 minutes later after the days events ended he came out for photos. So my friend Irma's photog friend Kevin took a pix with him. I zoomed in on Kelly and cropped the pix ;-)...my friend Mitzi should not have taught me this in the I phone ....it's my new addiction.

The weather was beautiful and it was just one of those days, that I'm gonna put down as a favorite in the memories book .

Surfers just Fricken Rule!

A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS

I went to the US open today... Day 4...

I have so much to post about it...It was a crazy great day for me , for so many reasons!.....

.....but one if my fav parts would totally have to be that I met Rob Machado!!

I had just arrived and walking to the beach didn't even get to the village area yet... Was texting my friend Irma to see where she was, she scored me an official US Open umbrella too :-). So I was already pretty stoked on that.. And happy I would be able to see one of my all time fav surfers RM....
I was hoping I would be lucky enough to get a pix ... But was trying not to get my hopes up .. Then.....

I ran into him ... I mean I literally ran into him,I was not in HB but 5 minutes!! I had to step aside so he could get by .... He was wearing a hoodie.. I think he was trying to be discreet..Then I looked up to say excuse me and saw those amazing eyes and cute smile.. wait what??? Could it be??? No no I'm not that lucky then I said "Rob?" .... Yeah ...as If I know him , ha! Then this is basically how it went down from then on....
He smiled and said yes... i said it is you!! I came here today just to see you surf ,can I please have a picture with you? He said yes ,and took off his hoodie to expose that beautiful signature mane of his.. How cool of him right???...and of course star struck me babbled about my blog and that I just surfed Encinitas last week... Because that is where he is from.. Poor guy had to put up with that for a minute..lol...sorry it had to be the hair!!! It has a hypnotic power of its own ... I'm telling you!

A passerby offered to take our pix if he could have a pix with him as well..
I felt bad as if I just exposed Rob ... But he was so great about it all.. I even said sorry and he said no worries Or something like that.. I said good luck out there today and he flashed that sweet smile and said Thanks..

But seriously he is one of the nicest guys! I'm happy I ran into him!

I have more to report, like I got a few more pix , with A few other surfers too... But I will post more later ... I'm tired and just wanted to put this out there today ...:-) again I have no makeup on... And am still not completely awake ha! But don't look at me .. Look at the beautiful person we know as Rob Machado!

Day 3 the last day at San Elijo

Well day 3 I wake up before anyone in my site ... So I decided to walk the shore line... It was low tide ... Oh yeah and I was in my PJs!

So as I walk along in the very warm water barefoot at 6:30 am...looking in all the lil crevices of some of the exposed reefs I see full dead lobsters.. And crabs and remains of some kind of a jelly fish.

I later looked up to see what kind if Jellies they were and I found an article that the prior week up and down the coast if Encinitas over 100 stings wee reported.. I'm glad I read that article after I was home .. I prob would not have gone in the water if I knew about this jelly fish invasion before hand!

As I was walking I hear some one whistling from above the cliff and it's Artie and Laurie... They were headed to 7 eleven to get coffee. So I join them ... Still in my PJs we walk and get coffee and I get Tracy a cup too! As we walk by the Cardiff Kook I notice he has been changed again!!! Wow 3 time this weekend! When we got there he was dressed up for a congratulations it's a boy! Then it was celebrate Love... Pix on Pabs posts.. And now as a well wishes for Tiger Woods..

Get back to camp wake Tracy up with a fresh cup of coffee !! I am a good Lola roommate! A good way to ensure I get to camp in Lola again ;-)

We have to wait for tide to fill in to surf again. So Tracy goes and gets a breakfast burrito from Bull Taco we split it and then start to clean up and break down camp!

I took a pix of my sleeping quarters .

While we are doing all this one of the girls hubs said the spare we had on Lola looks cracked in the side and we may want to get a new tire before we head up North. .. Another husband confirmed we prob would not make it home .. Since we now did not have a spare ... It's Sunday we get a bit worried if we will make it home.

So Tracy started looking for places to get a tire for a 1986? Westfalia on a Sunday in Encinitas...

... I am meeting Pabs and Valerie for a surf sesh ... So I ask Tracy ifit's ok I still go and she says yes.. But now she was not wanting to go.. Surf was not so great and tire issue was bringing her down :-(

Pabs and Valerie show up while we were still getting organize ... I tell them I will suit up and meet them down there .. Pabs has already surfed Swami's and was not felling 100 %.. I later found out he somehow injured himself in the rib area...more on that later :-(
Kathleen also showed up for a last surf session with us ... So a bunch of the girls and I head down the 100 stairs to surf and catch up to Pabs and Val. I was a smart girl and brought my Rail Grabber invented by the one and only Linda Benson!!! Oh yeah that puppy saved my arms carrying my board up and down that killer hike of stairs!

Not much surf really... But Pabs and Valerie were taking off a lot... They are both much better surfers than I ..

Even though Pabs was in a lot of pain.. You would not know it by his style! He is poetry in motion on his board!

And quite the character. One time he was on a wave and I was paddling way indside trying to get the same wave and he came swooping by me and goes right in front of me and holds out his hand and asks If I need a tow!! He was here Michelle grab my hand!! It was hysterical and no I never caught the wave! But all the girls got a good laugh out of it! Laurie said it was one of her favorite parts of the day. Artie sort of got it on her gopro.. She posted it on our clubs page and I'm trying to figure out how to copy and post it here! I have not been able to yet .

Valerie gets out and takes a few pix.. She got one of me standing on Mo.. Not the best ride but a ride none the less.
It was cool surfing with Valerie and our 2 Mere Made surfboards! She is one above and beyond talented and artistic shaper.... I suggest you check out her Mere Made Blog... It's on the side here......>
It was a lot of paddling and a lot of Seagrass and a lot of small waves but not much catching for me:-(

I was sitting next to Pabs chit chatting and getting worried about how much pain he seems to be in.. When a wave starts to form so I go for it!
Then I finally paddle and get on one decent ride with a relatively smooth pop up and I rode that baby to shore!! It was my wave of the whole weekend! Yep sometimes it just takes that one wave... And all is well in the Universe .....but where was Valerie with her camera then?? Oh yeah back in the lineup with me and Pabs. Hahahaa

After that Pabs came in so we did too! He seem to be in A LOT more pain than when he got there. But he still managed to take some pix with us.
(Pabs is a stud...he surfed and smiled for pictures and the poor guy was dying with pain)
I see If anyone in my group can help diagnose him. We all felt he either dislocated a rib or pulled a muscle.

Jens hubs Alan carried Pabs board up the stairs and then he went to the lifeguards to see if they had any advice.

They suggest he go to get seen by a professional. I felt so bad it was just the beginning of his vacation.

He and Val leave and you can read his posts on his blog to see what he did from then on.... But as of the last time I personally spoke to him after we were all home for a few days he was still in pain :-(

As for me I get dressed and pack up and Tracy and I head off to get a new tire for Lola we have till noon according to the tire place so we have to hurry.

We get there all goes good. While waiting for the tire we have lunch and walk around TJ Max..... About 1 1/2 hours later we are on the road home.
Yes we made it safely!

Bean is Happy I am home and now won't leave my side!

Wow what a weekend! But Yes... I Can't wait for next year!

Day 2 at San Elijo & The Meeting of Pabs!

Next morning we wake up and its low tide.  I notice we had a visitor in our campsite the night before.. He or she left some evidence on our Table.

After I cleaned and sanitized our table. I make coffee which took FOREVER... next time 7 11 on the corner. HA! Then we eat a lite breakfast  nonfat yogurt and a hard boiled egg. We were deciding  if we are even are going to go in.

We are all extremely tired from yesterday. Plus not sleeping in our own beds and the train goes by and is loud at night. Although Tracy and I didn't hear it in Lola. =).

But a few others did and one of the girls doggy, Sabre, was throwing up in their tent and had diarrhea all night
Then some of the girls who parked off site got parking tickets. I guess you can only park on a certain side of the main street. There obviously were signs.. but no one seem to see them. Between that and the flat yesterday.. we were all thinking wow where is this trip taking us. But regardless we all stayed in great spirits.. we were all tired, But Happy!

Well as some of us were just chilling.. we decided we would save our energy to surf later. When Cynthia came running back and we thought something happen to someone. She said NO surf looks fun I am going in!!

So How are we too pass up an oppurtunity when it was so done in a SURFS UP GOTTA GO style.? She said everyone is catching waves...and it was just tooo fun sounding..
We all hurried to get our suits on. This time I surfed in my shorty..BUT I am 10 lbs heavier than last time I wore it.. I am so surprised I did not bust out at the seams. BUT it zipped I could move my arms.. so that is all that mattered. Again I put on my fancy booties..but so did a few other girls.. so I didnt look too goofy.. at least there was a group of us..maybe we started a new fashion trend..spring suits and bootys!

I like this shot ^

I am so glad we decided to surf, that was the only surf session that day. I had a ball!!  Also we found a place just a tad North of  where we surfed the day before that had less kelp and sea grass.. DON'T get me wrong it was still grassy and yucky and ewe... but better!!! I caught 2 rides on Mo. Then I took my friends 9'0 Walden, which had her go pro attached. She got a good shot of me. I love it and a video. BUT I am not sure how to post the video yet. Or if I even want to with my "Grandma Crawl style Pop Up"
But it was the first time I rode her board and it felt weird. I caught 2 rides on her. I think, I caught a few rides  on a few different boards that morning, I can't remember how many on what board?
Then I borrowed my friends 9'6 Harbor.. yeah I caught quite a few on that board. That was fun!! Although it was my first time on a single fin. It felt a bit weird. Not really wobbly but different.

Tracy rode Mo and said it was fun and understood what I meant when I said Mo catches waves and just glides with a floating experience! She also rode Artie's board..I didn't try that ..but next time I hope too.

Well after that fun session! We were all starving and went to Union in Encinitas to eat. We were gonna hit up Swamis, but it ..as usual was packed, and thought it would be nice to try something different. I had a bison burger, and a bacon bloody mary.! YUM And YUM!( I prob should not have eaten that..but I was soo hungry)

Then we walked around the Hansen Surf Shop, they were having a fund raiser outside so some of the us did the cake walk and Laurie scored a  lemon sponge cake for dessert later that night,.

Hot surf chicks.. Laurie, Tracy and I in Lola!

After we got back we just chilled In Lola, Tracy and I bought some San Elijo sweatshirts. Then before you knew it, it was time to get things ready for dinner and our bond fire.

(Oh my goodness.. my belly is so big in this pix... I joke I have a  food camping baby!) I ate & drank so much and gained 5lbs after this trip.. needless to say I am on after surf camp trip detox.. HA!

Valerie and Pabs showed up! It was my first meeting with Pabs..and I have to say a few of the girls were a lil  smitten by him.  ;-)..( YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!) He is quite handsome ..as you can see in the pix! Of course Valerie is quite a cutie too and her lil french accent is killer! Let me tell you.. their charm and sweetness is exactly as it is when you read their blogs! Us surf bloggers are pretty cool peeps.. if I do say so myself. I have not met one I didn't admire... so far I met 3. Surf Sista was the first, then Valerie and Now Pabs...KK and DD and I have had a few misses.. BUT soon we shall surf together!

They brought me my fav wine.. Rodney Strong.. (take note everyone ;-) )..but Valerie didn't even know it was my fav!

They stayed and helped with dinner.But had other dinner arrangements.

I played somewhere over the rainbow on the Uke for them.. although it really was not my best performance.. I am not that good to begin with. BUT when everyone is starring at you.. It really does put you on the spot!

We say goodbye and plan for a surf session in the morning around 9'sh.

After that it was dinner time, then we gathered and chit chat around the fire. After everyone went to bed.. some of the "Hot Flashes" our pseudo surf string group practiced a bit. Then when we were too tired to strum, we called it a night.(I cant believe we have no pictures of us playing?!?!?!!)


I wanted to go and see and listen to the ocean one more time before bed. So that is what we all did. It was relaxing and bit of zen moment. What a nice feeling before heading off to bed. 


Stay tune for part 3 and the final chapter of our surf camp experience....