All Good Things...

I have arrived in Ames after a long drive back. The drive out was much easier on the way to California, the drive back here to the midwest was a long & somber one. Had I not been offered the internship early in my trip I defiantly could see myself trying to work out finding a job and remaining out there over the entire summer. There's no way I will go that long without surfing ever again, and I would like to make this surfing/road trip something that occurs more often.

I will be updating with the remainder of my trip later on along with a little recap and look back on the trip as a whole.

Monday

I woke up late Monday morning to a thick thick fog and I mean late like ten late so this fog scared me that it hadn't burnt off by now. So I packed up my stuff and hung in the room for a little while and packed my stuff up in time for check out. The same bell guy, Andrew, that had helped me the first time I had checked into the Hilton in Huntington Beach was the one to help bring my stuff down and we chatted it up a bit n I told him how bad I wanted to return to Huntington Beach in the near future with some friends so he gave me his number and told me when I got around to planning that trip to give him a ring and he can get a room upgrade for a ridiculous discount. SO it looks like Huntington Beach may be comin up here again soon.

I left the hotel and went down to Newport Beach for a little surf action. The waves were pretty big, biggest they had been all trip! Because of the big waves I wasn't tearin' it up quite like the more advanced surfer would. Regardless, lying there on my board tryin to catch a wave at the beach beats anything else so I had a grand time.

I came up to lay on the beach and all of the sudden the two guys sittin a few feet away from me pop up and dart into the water. I looked out to the waves and there was a girl who had gotten caught in a fight against the undertow and was getting destroyed by the waves. There had been a lifegaurd on duty when I got there, but had since left post for the time being so I looked up down the beach for any other lifeguards as the guy she had been in the water with was yelling for someone to grab a lifeguard. It was quite the scary experience, but it wasn't too long til the two guys who hurried out to her from the beach had gotten her and helped her back to shore.

After all that excitment I decided it was time for some lunch so I rolled down to Main Street to TK's Burgers for a nice beachside burger-fries combo. Speaking of Main Street, you must be wondering just what does this Main Street I keep referring to look like. Wonder no more, just admire.

This is Main St. on Sunday when it was PACKED


This is the Surfers' Hall of Fame across from the Pier that welcomes you to Main St. on the corner of Main and PCH with an awesome statue of Duke in the middle (Notice on the second floor above HSS is Fred's the kick ass Mexican Baja resturant I went to twice)


Here is the Huntington Beach Pier at the end of Main St. with PCH running across

After walking around Main St. for a little while for my final time I took off North up PCH I drove through Long Beach which was a little interesting. I stopped in Redondo Beach for a lil surf action. The waves were pretty nice here . I had another great outing and on my way up saw a sea lion up sleeping on the beach. I snapped a few shots and went on my way.


I decided then to explore Redondo Beach for a little while and decided to hit up California Pizza Kitchen... IN CALIFORNIA. I thought it was pretty sweet eating at a CPK in the C. They have them EVERYWHERE out here. Lucky folks. After CPK I got back on PCH. Drove around Santa Monica for a little bit, regret not getting out n walking down the pier. I then hit Malibu and tried to catch a glimpse of the Cohen and Cooper's homes from the OC, but of course they would be in a gated neighborhood, but I got to see the backside of them so I still kinda win. Drove to Ventura and explored there, but it was pretty dead so I began looking for a place to park the car and crash, which ended up being Carpinteria.

Monday

Now I sit here today, not knowing what the day will bring. I skipped out on the morning surf because of that thick fog which has since burnt off so we’ll see… I gotta get myself checked out though.

Until next time…

Oh! And I will have some more pictures up soon. I forgot my camera cable in the car :(

Sunday

Today I woke up bright n early to the ocean and sunrise… so I pulled the covers over my head n went back to bed.

I woke up not too long later around 7:30ish and went out for my morning surf. The waves were great, however my left elbow began to really bug me again so I cut the session a little short. I ran to Starbucks for a pastry n strawberries n cream frap then rolled over to Target for some Tylenol.

I got back on the 101 n rolled back northbound. Jumped on the PCH and rolled along the coast. Made an attempt to stop in Laguna Beach to walk the streets n check out their beaches, but changed my mind and made my way through ending back in Newport Beach/Huntington Beach where it was PACKED. Silly me thinking there would room to move at the Newport Pier for a little surfing action, it was stop n go traffic looking for a parking spot. So I tried to get over to my surfing spot at the Newport Beach/Huntington Beach border, but parking was nowhere to be found. I decided to just see if the Hilton I had stayed at a few days ago had any room for me, which they did so I checked in and walked across the street to catch some waves. The surf was great! Head-high waves, perfect water, and some of the scenery lying along the beach helped too. It wasn’t one of my better surf sessions because it wasn’t really beginner’s surf, but it was still a blast to do whatever I could out there. I didn’t feel that bad because it seemed as though there was a lot of wiping out around me, so I didn’t stick out.

I put my board back in the room, showered up and traveled down to Main Street. There I grabbed a Jamba and went down to TK Burger for a delish cheeseburger. I walked around the crowded Main Street and tried to look for a church to hit up. While I am used to later masses, most of their late Sunday masses begin at 5 so I caught the crowd as they were leaving. I rolled back to the hotel, sat around the room for a few and threw on the suit to hit up the hot tub n pool to watch the sunset. I then went back out to Main Street where I visited Fred’s again for some tacos and a margarita, strolled the streets and called it a night to come back n watch a lil HBO n relax.

Friday

Well there is a thick fog rollin in from the ocean right now so instead of going out for my morning surf I’ll enlighten you guys with a little more from the coast.

After waking in my car alongside Huntington Beach I got right up, threw on my suit, grabbed my board, and hit the water. The surf was great, I haven’t gotten anything less than great all trip. As I came out of the water I got another comment about how ballsy it was to be out there without a wetsuit and replied with my typical “whatever, I got thick Minnesotan skin. We’d love this water in our lakes some days.” This sparked a great conversation as this guy had come out from Baltimore right after his high school graduation and called this place home for the past 14 years. We talked for about half a hour n then I rolled up the street to the café to get a nice lil breakfast.

After breakfast I decided to do a little exploring of Newport Beach to see the roots of my favorite crew of Seth Cohen, Summer Roberts, Marissa Cooper, and Ryan Atwood. I visited the OC-kids favorite, Fashion Island which is pretty baller. It’s a really nice outdoor mall. I then decided to roll along my way after looking up online where other fun OC locations were, but I was saddened to find many of my favorite OC locations were sprawled out, not necessarily in Newport Beach. Sad day.

I then set out northbound. I made a stop at San Juan Capistrano and took a tour of the San Juan Capistrano Mission, which was very beautiful. The chapel at the mission is the oldest building in use in the entire state of California, having been built in 1872. The mission was also the first winery in California, kinda a big deal. After my tour I found it only appropriate to find the nearest liquor store to pick up my first wine bought in California being that it was the birthplace of California Wine-making.

I then rolled through Dana’s point on the end of the PCH then visited drove into Carlsbad. Carlsbad was a pretty nice city that I didn’t know much about so I decided to get a hotel, seeing as it was about dinnertime. After throwing my stuff in my room I went right across the street to the beach to get some surfing in. The waves weren’t all that, there were few rideable ones, which was a real test to my surfer’s patience, but I’ll take any time just layin on my board out in the ocean.

Soon my stomach was grumbling seeing as I had only eaten breakfast and it was past dinnertime so I called it a day, went back to the hotel, utilized the pool and hot tub for a few minutes before going in to shower up for the night. I took my much-needed warm shower, threw on my brand new Lacoste polo and hit the streets. I walked over to this baller restaurant, the Ocean House. They had a delicious baja chicken sandwich, which I washed down with a margarita or two. I then proceeded to stroll the streets for a little while checking out all Carlsbad had to offer before heading to the hotel for a little bit then back out to one of the bars for a long island, back to the hotel for a trip to the hot tub and then calling it a night.

Saturday

I slept in the next morning, not getting in my early morning surf and packed my stuff up to check out. After checking out I went to a café down the street for a bagel and smoothie for breakfast, grabbed my board and went out to catch a few waves. The surf was MUCH better compared to the evening before. After eating it and bumping up my elbow I decided to roll out and make camp in one of the parking spaces by the shopping district in hopes of finding a wi-fi signal, which I was fortunate enough to bum off someone so I went ahead and updated the blog for a good long while. I then hit up a little Mexican food shack along the road for some tacos and it was off.

I then rolled down the coast to check and see if the campground at San Elijo Beach, where I wanted to spend my night at had any walk ups available. I was dumb for thinking I coulda sniped one of those spots for a Saturday. The place was PACKED, so my plans for the day were in jeopardy. But never fear, I had been going off no planning whatsoever all trip so I was used to it.

I ended up a few miles down the coast at Solana Beach at Fletcher Cove for some amazing surfing! I spent a while in the water here, all the way until sunset. At sunset I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures. People were driving up to the beach by the masses just to catch the sunset, it was a beautiful sunset with the waves crashing on the cliffs to either side of us. It was great.

I then rolled over to the Tidewater Tavern for a little dinner action while checking out the San Diego – Seattle game. They had a great teriyaki chicken sandwich. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my Saturday night so I rolled down the road a little ways just barely into San Diego. On the way there along the 101 there was a sick overlook of the ocean so I pulled in there for a lil while to just chill n take it all in. Then I rolled around the outskirts of San Diego when I figured it was time to roll back north toward Encinitas, where I decided to crash alongside the 101 right off the beach.

I’m kinda bummed because right now I am not quite sure if I’ll be able to spend an actual night with my inflatable mattress on the actual sand of a beach, but my two nights in my car alongside the beach have been just as nice, maybe nicer considering I’m much safer in the car than in a tent. Sleeping in the E with a surfboard has gone much smoother than I had imagined it would. I do have the roof straps, but no way Jose am I sleeping with that shit on my roof.

Photo Album

You can view my photos from this excursion on my Facebook photo album @

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2208137&l=98bc8&id=16915460