And, the start of the school year means a plethora of school-sanctioned drinking activities, and all of us grad students were happy to oblige. From the Biodesign Fellows meet-and-greet to the weekly Thursday Four Peaks (where several of us got caught in the monsoon/tornado thing that whipped through Tempe and had an incredible escape to Josh's house in the storm), and finally to Friday's School of Life Sciences Happy Hour at Macayo's. I started the weekend with my fellow grad students for free food, cheap drinks, and mingling with our professors until their bedtimes, at which time we discovered the Jack Daniel's promotion. After a few Jack-aritas, I cooled off in the Depot waterfall and we then proceeded to Mill Ave. for some billiards, dancing, and more crazy antics until our bike gang ended the night at Ben's pool.
My initial plan had been to head to San Diego on Saturday morning, but when I tried to battle the sleep monster at 6 a.m., it won, and kept me under its control until much later in the morning. But, I was not a
bout to waste one of my precious three days of vacation, so I joined Phil and some of the rugby guys for some extra dirty (due to the nice monsoon rains) sand volleyball for most of the afternoon before brushing off the mud and rejoining the SoLS grads for some watermelon carving fun. I've said it loads of times before, but I'll say it again: I really do love the grad school environment. It's filled with intelligent, adventurous, like-minded, and just fun-loving people. I find it kind of embarrassing that it's taken me two years to really start hanging out with all of them on a somewhat regular basis (apart from functions that involve free food), but I am excited about the adventures that I know I'll have with them in the future. We spent an awesome evening carving, eating, bowling, wearing, throwing, and drinking dozens of watermelons among other activities such as hula-hoop soccer, wall-ball, and singing to the neighbors. All in all, it was a very fun, crazy night and I headed home with a smile on my face.
bout to waste one of my precious three days of vacation, so I joined Phil and some of the rugby guys for some extra dirty (due to the nice monsoon rains) sand volleyball for most of the afternoon before brushing off the mud and rejoining the SoLS grads for some watermelon carving fun. I've said it loads of times before, but I'll say it again: I really do love the grad school environment. It's filled with intelligent, adventurous, like-minded, and just fun-loving people. I find it kind of embarrassing that it's taken me two years to really start hanging out with all of them on a somewhat regular basis (apart from functions that involve free food), but I am excited about the adventures that I know I'll have with them in the future. We spent an awesome evening carving, eating, bowling, wearing, throwing, and drinking dozens of watermelons among other activities such as hula-hoop soccer, wall-ball, and singing to the neighbors. All in all, it was a very fun, crazy night and I headed home with a smile on my face.Though I didn't get any more sleep than Friday night, I was determined to make it out to San Diego before high tide, so I tackled the sleep monster into submission, packed up the Jeep, and headed west. I hadn't gone on a solo expedition in a long time, so I was stoked to the max, and I didn't even mind the driving. The Shins, Rogue Wave, U2, Billy Joel, and The Killers kept me company until I finally crested the mountains and descended to the sea. I rolled dow
n the windows to a perfect 75 degrees, and cruised into downtown on top of the world. The first stop was to Coronado to pick up a rash guard at Emerald City since I had forgotten to bring one, and then I headed up to Cabrillo Point to scout out the waves up the coast. It looked pretty flat, and the tide pools had already closed for the day (it was almost high tide), but I walked around and enjoyed the smell of the ocean and watched the sailboats come into the bay until the park closed at 5. By that time, I didn't care if the waves were small or not, I wanted to be out on the ocean. So, I headed down the coast of Point Loma to Sunset Cliffs and broke out the boogie board. The waves were only 3 feet tall and pretty mushy, but as I paddled out to the line-up, there was a transformation in me. I hadn't been to the ocean since January, and the taste of saltwater and the sound of crashing waves brought me right back home and I fell in love all over again. As I got through the soup of the broken waves and lined up to the north of the half-dozen longboarders, I just laid across the board and looked out towards the sun melting through the clouds on the western horizon. As far as I am concerned, there is no better thing than being part of the ocean, cradled in the cool, gentle swells. It is simply where I belong. I felt more relaxed just sitting there on the line-up than I have since I was last on top of the Atlantic swells. I just sat the
re on the board for several minutes basking in the incredible beauty of the Pacific before I even though about catching one of the waves that were swelling around me. Even though they weren't very big, the lines were long, covering the entire sandbar, and so after studying the sets for a little bit, I turned around and caught a few. And by a few, I mean exactly three the entire time I was out there. And two hardly counted, as they didn't even have enough power to get me into shore. But, I still couldn't have been happier, and was quite content to just hang out there on the line-up, which is pretty much what the rest of the guys were doing anyways, whether they wanted to or not. After a few hours, I decided to get out of the water and just watch the sun set over the western horizon as I had done so many times before. It wasn't a spectacular sunset by any means, as the clouds hid most of the rays, but it was perfect for me and allowed me to just watch the ocean. It's really amazing how much that great blue expanse of water and life means to me, and just how much I miss it.
n the windows to a perfect 75 degrees, and cruised into downtown on top of the world. The first stop was to Coronado to pick up a rash guard at Emerald City since I had forgotten to bring one, and then I headed up to Cabrillo Point to scout out the waves up the coast. It looked pretty flat, and the tide pools had already closed for the day (it was almost high tide), but I walked around and enjoyed the smell of the ocean and watched the sailboats come into the bay until the park closed at 5. By that time, I didn't care if the waves were small or not, I wanted to be out on the ocean. So, I headed down the coast of Point Loma to Sunset Cliffs and broke out the boogie board. The waves were only 3 feet tall and pretty mushy, but as I paddled out to the line-up, there was a transformation in me. I hadn't been to the ocean since January, and the taste of saltwater and the sound of crashing waves brought me right back home and I fell in love all over again. As I got through the soup of the broken waves and lined up to the north of the half-dozen longboarders, I just laid across the board and looked out towards the sun melting through the clouds on the western horizon. As far as I am concerned, there is no better thing than being part of the ocean, cradled in the cool, gentle swells. It is simply where I belong. I felt more relaxed just sitting there on the line-up than I have since I was last on top of the Atlantic swells. I just sat the
re on the board for several minutes basking in the incredible beauty of the Pacific before I even though about catching one of the waves that were swelling around me. Even though they weren't very big, the lines were long, covering the entire sandbar, and so after studying the sets for a little bit, I turned around and caught a few. And by a few, I mean exactly three the entire time I was out there. And two hardly counted, as they didn't even have enough power to get me into shore. But, I still couldn't have been happier, and was quite content to just hang out there on the line-up, which is pretty much what the rest of the guys were doing anyways, whether they wanted to or not. After a few hours, I decided to get out of the water and just watch the sun set over the western horizon as I had done so many times before. It wasn't a spectacular sunset by any means, as the clouds hid most of the rays, but it was perfect for me and allowed me to just watch the ocean. It's really amazing how much that great blue expanse of water and life means to me, and just how much I miss it.After the sun went down, I made my way up the coast past Mission Bay. The camping on the bay seemed pretty full, so I didn't even check it out, and instead headed to Pacific Beach for some Chipotle and people watching. Nourished once more, I continued north. My intentions were to just keep going, but I could hear the waves crashing on the cove from the car, so I pulled over to investigate. You would think that based on my past experiences, that crashing waves would be a negative sound, but I still do love them, and couldn't pull myself away. I sat down on the sandstone above the cove and just listened and watched the ocean. The surf may have been flat to the south, but it was going off there at the cove, and it was truly beautiful.
Eventually, though, I needed sleep, so I continued my way up the coast. It's illegal to just park your car overnight at the beach - much to the chagrin of the surfing community - so I was hoping that with the chance of rain that there might be a free campsite open at one of the two beach campgrounds. No such luck at either Cardiff or Carlsbad. In the end, I joined the beach bum crowd, found a neighborhood adjacent to the beach that allowed parking on the street, pulled up behind a VW Westfalia, spread my sleeping bag out in the back, and curled up with Fish to the sound of waves crashing on the distant shore.
Before I knew it, the dark night had turned to a gray misty, southern California morning. I woke groggily, but as soon as I made the short drive down to the Tamarack Surf Beach, my face lit up again. It was only 6 a.m., but there were already a few dozen vehicles in the pa
rking lot, and a few spots down from me, sure enough, there was the VW bus with a few boards hanging out the back. Since the surf shops wouldn't open for a few more hours, and I wanted to catch the perfect breaks that lined the beach, I hauled the body board out of the Jeep and headed barefoot down to the waves. Tamarack really is a great surf beach, and there was plenty of room for all of us, even body boarders who generally aren't welcome in a surf line-up. My tiredness wore off the second that I hit the cold Pacific water, and I had to smile. This was life. No sooner than I had paddled out of the breakers, I caught my first wave of the morning. If I could wake up every morning like that, I would be a very happy kid. The waves weren't huge by any means, 5 feet max, but they had some energy to them and definitely kept me entertained. For about two hours, I played in the swells, catching at least one wave out of every set, which came in pretty regular intervals. When I had tired myself out pretty good, I rode one more into the sand, rinsed off, and just sat and watched the waves and other surfers.
rking lot, and a few spots down from me, sure enough, there was the VW bus with a few boards hanging out the back. Since the surf shops wouldn't open for a few more hours, and I wanted to catch the perfect breaks that lined the beach, I hauled the body board out of the Jeep and headed barefoot down to the waves. Tamarack really is a great surf beach, and there was plenty of room for all of us, even body boarders who generally aren't welcome in a surf line-up. My tiredness wore off the second that I hit the cold Pacific water, and I had to smile. This was life. No sooner than I had paddled out of the breakers, I caught my first wave of the morning. If I could wake up every morning like that, I would be a very happy kid. The waves weren't huge by any means, 5 feet max, but they had some energy to them and definitely kept me entertained. For about two hours, I played in the swells, catching at least one wave out of every set, which came in pretty regular intervals. When I had tired myself out pretty good, I rode one more into the sand, rinsed off, and just sat and watched the waves and other surfers. Eventually my hunger overcame my fascination with the wave riders, so I made my way to the final stop on my north county adventure: Oceanside, my birthplace and home for the first few years of my life. I don't know if it's nostalgia or that the waves really are better there, but that's where I decided that I'd s
pend the day. The gray day hadn't really helped to dry me off any, so like a local, I squished my way in my soggy flip-flops and damp boardshorts over to Johnny Manana's for a breakfast burrito. I love local places, and Johnny Manana's is the real deal. From my red plastic chair in the colorful little shop, I chatted with a few of the early morning surfers and listened to a group of old men as they talked about weather and baseball over coffee and beer, as they probably do every morning. After I was completely nourished by the potpourri of local flavor, I went over to the pier to see what the waves were doing. The south side of the pier was looking really good, with a bunch of shortboarders having a blast, and even the north side sandbar looked to offer some decent swells. With a steady wind coming straight out of the west, it promised to be a decent day.
pend the day. The gray day hadn't really helped to dry me off any, so like a local, I squished my way in my soggy flip-flops and damp boardshorts over to Johnny Manana's for a breakfast burrito. I love local places, and Johnny Manana's is the real deal. From my red plastic chair in the colorful little shop, I chatted with a few of the early morning surfers and listened to a group of old men as they talked about weather and baseball over coffee and beer, as they probably do every morning. After I was completely nourished by the potpourri of local flavor, I went over to the pier to see what the waves were doing. The south side of the pier was looking really good, with a bunch of shortboarders having a blast, and even the north side sandbar looked to offer some decent swells. With a steady wind coming straight out of the west, it promised to be a decent day.As soon as Asylum opened up, I rented a 7' softtop (noone rents real board
s) and headed out to see just what the waves were doing. I paddled out in between sets and lined up a few hundred meters south of the pier. The waves were pretty much perfect for what I wanted to do, but for all intents and purposes, I hadn't been on a board in quite a long time, and I spent the first hour pretty much displaying to the world how much of a grom I was. Catching the waves wasn't my problem, actually riding them was a whole different story. After half a dozen nose plants, one or two good rides, and too much time spent fighting the breakers, I gave in to the fact that I should probably practice a bit, so I joined the rest of the softtops in the soup and rode the mushy waves until I was exhausted but finally getting the hang of it.
s) and headed out to see just what the waves were doing. I paddled out in between sets and lined up a few hundred meters south of the pier. The waves were pretty much perfect for what I wanted to do, but for all intents and purposes, I hadn't been on a board in quite a long time, and I spent the first hour pretty much displaying to the world how much of a grom I was. Catching the waves wasn't my problem, actually riding them was a whole different story. After half a dozen nose plants, one or two good rides, and too much time spent fighting the breakers, I gave in to the fact that I should probably practice a bit, so I joined the rest of the softtops in the soup and rode the mushy waves until I was exhausted but finally getting the hang of it. After I was absolutely exhausted, I took a bit of rest on the beach before spending the rest of the afternoon on the waves of the sandbar on the north side of the pier. By 3 in the afternoon, I was waterlogged and tir
ed, but the stoke of a good ride justifies the next one, and I was completely addicted. I told myself "just one more good wave," about 10 times before I finally rode one into the sand and hauled myself back up the beach and called it a day. After rinsing off and returning the board, I headed back down the PCH to drive past my potential future employers at the Torrey Pines Science Park and get one last look at the ocean at the Glider Port. I knew it would probably be awhile before I came back to the beach, so I spent an hour on the edge of the cliffs watching the hang gliders float over the beach and enjoying the sound and smells of the ocean before I hopped back in the Jeep and made the long drive back to Phoenix.
ed, but the stoke of a good ride justifies the next one, and I was completely addicted. I told myself "just one more good wave," about 10 times before I finally rode one into the sand and hauled myself back up the beach and called it a day. After rinsing off and returning the board, I headed back down the PCH to drive past my potential future employers at the Torrey Pines Science Park and get one last look at the ocean at the Glider Port. I knew it would probably be awhile before I came back to the beach, so I spent an hour on the edge of the cliffs watching the hang gliders float over the beach and enjoying the sound and smells of the ocean before I hopped back in the Jeep and made the long drive back to Phoenix.
No comments:
Post a Comment