Our View From The Road

One year ago yesterday L & I decided to take an introductory sailing lesson.  The very next day we signed up for a series of classes and experiences with the intent of advancing through enough levels to be able to bareboat charter sailboats word wide.  This past weekend we completed the final course that allows us to do just that (which means we “skipper” the boat ourselves without hiring a captain).

Friday night we met at the marina just before sunset.  After getting the boat ready with the help of the other four students the six of us (plus instructor) cast off.   We arrived at our Friday night anchoring spot in Long Beach harbor just after mid-night (Saturday morning).  At dawn all were up cooking and getting ready for Saturday’s coursework and sailing to Catalina Island.  By late afternoon we were on our mooring in Emerald Bay near Two Harbors/Isthmus on Catalina Island (L &I visited the same spot on our Trawler School trip).  After a few hours of studying for Sunday’s exam we took a water taxi into Two Harbors for dinner and then had a moonlight trip back to the sailboat after dark.  More boat handling practice Sunday morning before setting a 6+ hour course back to Newport Harbor.   During the passage home we took our written exam.

L&I both passed (yeah!) so we have more stickers in a book to prove we’re “insurable” for open water bareboat chartering.

No pictures from this weekend’s adventure.  I originally packed a big camera thinking I’d take lots of pictures.  In the haste of trimming the amount of gear we took on the trip I purposely decided to leave photo gear at home.  There will be future trips on which to make lots of images.

J

Thirty-one guys were here at the Nelson B&B, Recreation, and Event Center this past Thursday night.  Church men’s group.  We’re having BBQ’s once a month during summer break.  During sharing time one of the newer guys mentions he is the surfing instructor at a local high school (only in Cali!) and that he’d like to organize a dawn surfing session some Sunday morning.  A dozen hands flew up and suddenly I’ve signed up for my first surfing lesson.

Let me add that on Thursday night I mentioned that I was an eighty degree minimum water temperature kind guy.  79.9 degrees means I don’t go in.  80.0 degrees minimum.  Period.  End of discussion.  I was told the Pacific Ocean will never be that warm here, but since it’s nearly August, I could expect low 70′s.

The excursion was also sold as a sunny dawn surfing class followed by breakfast and then we’d all go to church as a group with mostly dry swim trunks.

At 5:30am this morning I woke to a light rain.  Rain!  We haven’t had any of that in months.  Why today?  But not being a quitter, I was there on time.

The boards are stored under the lifeguard office at a Newport Beach.  First items out were the boards.  Next item out was a wetsuit that almost fit.  They said I’d need it.  Heck, I needed it just standing there shivering on land!

After some words of advice and pop-up practice on the sand we headed to the water.

OUCH!   OH!   THIS WATER IS COOOOOLD!  @#$%^&*!!!   “Oh yeah, it’s cooled off in the last couple of days” because of some storm, yada yaadda, yaaaddda.

Wet sand. Light rain. Yup, this looks promising....

Cool fish stand next to the pier

Is this for the fish stand or a sign to welcome me out of the surf?

Where's the sunrise that was promised?

Official city time

Look at all of the other people out here at this time on a Sunday morning!

Men. Here are your weapons.

By the time we were frozen the donut shop had a line out the door

Ready or not surfers, swimmers, and other marine life... here I come!

Although I’m not sure this sport is for me, I greatly appreciate the experience.  In fact, I hope we do it one more time this summer on exactly the warmest water temperature day of the year!  But, I’ve decided the sales pitch was not 100% correct!

So how cold was the water?   Low 60′s!

J

It’s a sad, tired, yet reflectful day here on the left coast.  For the past eight days we’ve had friends from LA (lower Alabama) here to experience Summer Camp 2011 (O.C. adult version) at The Nelson B&B, Activity, and Event Center.

Here’s what the schedule turned out to be:

Arrival Day

• 1:00pm PAV pick-up at SNA
• Quick PAV tour of the surrounding area (including drive-by’s of the expensive car dealers)
• Pool/Hot Tub & snacks
• Dinner off the B&B grill

(not too much activity today as I had my coastal navigation certification exam that night… I passed!)

Day Two

• Early walk to Back Bay
• Breakfast at Haute Cakes
• Kéan Coffee
• Lunch of homemade Chicken Salad sammys
• Kayaking in Newport Harbor
• Dinner at Sushi Town

Day Three

• Egg Scrambles from The Nelson B&B Kitchen
• Crystal Cove Beach
• Lunch at Beachcomber Express
• Susie Cakes
• Pearson’s Seafood Market
• Dinner of Sea Bass of the grill

Day Four

• Brunch at Memphis Cafe
• Bike ride over to & around Balboa Island
• Ferry ride to Balboa Peninsula (including a visit to the infamous Wedge surfing spot)
• Chocolate Strawberries at Balboa Produce
• Pool snacks
• Visit to The Montage (L “borrowed” one of their drink ideas for the rest of Summer Camp 2011)
• Dinner at Nick’s in Laguna Beach

Day Five

• Breakfast at Sugar Shack in Huntington Beach
• Sailing in/around Newport Harbor on Zabuloot (a Catalina 36) – yes, I was the skipper L was the winch
• Dinner off the grill while on the hook in Newport Harbor

Day Six

• Men to The Galley for breakfast
• Men to the marina for my Polar checkout
• Girls to the gym then off on a bike ride
• Lunch at Bear Flag Fish Company
• El Morro Canyon 5.5 mile hike (including BFI hill)
• Guest tour of the HT mega store (LA folks demanded it be their first stop on all OC return trips)
• Dinner dockside at Blue Water Grill

Day Seven

• Early Catalina Flyer ferry ride to Catalina Island
• Golf cart tour of Avalon
• Metropole Cafe
• Shopping
• Avalon Grill
• Dinner back in Newport Beach at The Dock

Day Eight

• Biking to breakfast at Eat Chow
• 15 mile bike ride including the Back Bay Loop
• In-N-Out Burger (for strength)
• Nothing Bundt Cakes (for strength)
• 7 hr poolside/hot tub hors d’ oeuvres session (one new food item every hour)

Departure Day

• Early PAV transportation to SNA for departure flight

Next up for Summer Camp 2012… a different location… (perhaps Italy?)

J

We took the PAV up to Mammoth Lakes area in the Eastern Sierras over the July 4th holiday weekend.  We saw many firsts.

First first is Obsidian Dome.  This is a steam explosion volcano that aside from lava rock made the glassy obsidian rock.  It was wild to look down into cracks in the ground knowing that a furry from underneath made these rock formations and the endless piles of rubble.

Just at the edge of beautiful forest starts a large pile of rocks several hundred feet high

The rubble seems to go on forever

Part lava & part obsidian - the holes are from the hot steam

Obsidian

Glass-like obsidian rock

Yes, this is a crack that goes down, down, down

Another crack

Next first was Mono Lake.  Mono Lake was formed by the same seismic activity that formed Obsidian Dome.  It is one of the oldest lakes in North America. There are large calcium carbonate tufa formations made by underwater calcium rich springs bubbling up from the lake bed.  Over time when these springs mix with salty Mono Lake water these tufa tower formations are made.  It’s too bad that the City Of Los Angeles Water Department has drained much of the lake but restorations are in progress.

Mono Lake

Tufa formations

Tufa formations

Mono Lake

More tufa formations

Tuff forms

Next first was summer skiing.  This year Mammoth Mountain ski resort was open through July 4th.  We went up to check it out and I found my next business.  Yes, a burrito truck build on a snow cat.  For you southerners a snow cat is like a giant combination between a bulldozer and a snow mobile.  They are used to groom the snow on ski slopes, transport equipment and personnel, or as we learned… sell burritos.

It might need a coat of red paint but I can make it my own!

"One burrito, one beer, ten bucks please" See, I can do this!

Taking a break from by busy burrito selling

Yes, we're in lounge chairs in the snow slope-side... What? Are we wearing the wrong clothing?

Any clothing goes here! Yes, those are high heeled clogs...

We drove around to other nearby places to check on places for a return visit. We’ll be back!

The guide-book lists this lake as just a "7" (out of 10) on the scenic scale. This was as far as we got on our hike up to Crystal Lake. Liz deemed the snow cover patch as "closed till spring".

The last first was downhill mountain biking.  We survived but felt intimidated by everyone else who had more skills.

Just to prove that we did do some mountain biking

Video in a post sometime soon

J

Last weekend our beach excursion plans fell through at the last moment so Liz and I woke up Saturday morning and decided to head out for the night.  We tossed a coin between a 7,ooo’ elevation forest two hours north or a desert several hours southeast.  After checking the weather forecast we decided to have L’s first trip to the Western Colorado Desert before the daytime temperature really heats up for the summer.

We didn’t leave until early afternoon, hit lots of traffic, and arrived at the ranger station two minutes before closing. We rushed in and ask the ranger where we could camp.  He looked at us, hesitated, and said “The Anza-Borrego State Park has 650,000 square acres.  Pick a place.”  So we did.  (There are a few rules about not making new roads and campfires but basically it’s wide open land with a lot of off-road trails).  We picked a road heading east toward the Salton Sea. Forty miles later the pavement ends.  Take a right up a flash flood wash toward sandstone canyons and that’s where we parked for the night.

Off season in the desert starts promptly at the end of Memorial Day weekend. The temperature is heating up and the tens of thousands of off-road enthusiasts have packed their toys away for the summer.  As we drove through the town of Borrego Springs CA at 5pm last Saturday it was a ghost town.  We saw two people.  Ocotillo Wells was boarded up.  By the time we arrived at Fish Creek Wash around 6:30pm we hadn’t seen another vehicle for a while.  There were a few college biology majors camping near us studying lizards and snakes.

Here’s proof we made the trip.

L asked for chairs as soon as we arrived to sit out in the last rays of Saturday's sun and "warm-up"

"Umm... honey... there's no cell service out here..."

Dusk in Fish Creek Wash, outside of Ocotillo Wells, CA

There were plenty of stars out later but I was asleep by then

Just checking on breakfast

It turned out just fine

On our way Sunday morning deeper into Fish Creek Wash to check out the Wind Caves

L asked for a pause on the way down Fish Creek Wash for a photo opportunity

Trail marker, desert version

Wind Caves carved out by the sandstone yielding to relentless wind

Anyone home?

Two city folks out in the desert

Ancient petroglyphs. NOT!

J

This post is several weeks late (which is earlier than some!) but I thought we’d share the experience.  L& I signed up months ago for a three day/two night Trawler School around Catalina Island.  I’ve always been curious about the trawler experience so we signed up for this class with the local maritime college.

Despite dark gray clouds on the horizon when we arrived at the school docks on Friday morning, this trip, like many of our boating experiences, turned out better than we deserved.  There was supposed to be other students along.  They had paid their tuition.  Food and beverage for many had been provisioned.  After two hours of waiting the other students finally called and said they’d be no-shows. So, off we go, just L, myself, and the captain/instructor!  Despite our best efforts we could not even make a sizable dent in the great food (thanks to Ana’s provisioning we ate like kings!).  We also felt like kings as we altered our itinerary each day to suit the weather and our moods.

Like the first day, each morning would start out gray and gloomy and be bright and sunny by noon.  This was our first overnight trip  (I took my nighttime Coastal Certification to/from there) to Catalina and we already want to go back!

Here are a few pictures to share our experience

Our personal gear waiting on the other students before boarding

This was cooler #1 of two (plus the onboard refrigerator was full!)

L's organization of the carb shelf

Finally underway - wondering what the waves on the horizon will be like at 8 kts

L's first view of Catalina

Yes, the water really is that color (and supposedly gets clearer as summer sets in)

L & I took the dinghy out for a little exploring

First night's mooring field at Two Harbors, Isthmus, Catalina Island

On the docks at Two Harbors morning of day #2

Here's the trawler just before casting off from Two Harbors for day #2

Couldn't figure out how to put these puzzle pieces back together

Emerald Bay, Catalina Island

On the mooring for night #2 in Emerald Bay, Catalina Island

Part of the Emerald Bay onshore landscape

Relaxing before dinner in Emerald Bay

Last rays of sun, night #2, Emerald Bay, Catalina Island

I don't need no sticking GPS, I've taken Capt. Armando's navigation classes!

Merry Christmas from Emerald Bay, Catalina Island! (no, wait, Memorial Day is next weekend, I've lost all track of time!)

J

After last weekend’s trawler trip to Catalina we decided to use the holiday weekend for our first excursion in the PAV (Pleasure Assault Vehicle).  Thanks to Shane for entrusting us with his 4th adventure vehicle (as he goes on to build his 5th) as we take to the highways once again.  After a late start and hours of 5pm LA traffic we were finally in the Sequoia National Forest.  We traveled the back country roads there for two days and then headed east to the Eastern Sierras. We thought we’d found all of the cold weather at 8,250 ft on Saturday in Whitney Portal at the base of Mt. Whitney.  Little did we know we’d find a snow storm at 9,200 feet on Sunday at Onion Valley.  It’s hard to believe that all of this wilderness is just a few hours outside the second most populated city in the US.  Here’s a few pictures to prove we had fun.

Great Western Divide Highway

L At The Base Of A Giant Sequoia

New Growth On The Trail Of 100 Giants

The PAV In The Alabama Hills

More Rocks In The Alabama Hills

Still Some Snow On The Ground At Whitney Portal

Keeler Beach On Owens Lake (Drained Years Ago After Purchase By The Los Angeles Water Department)

Sign At Keeler Beach

Yes, It's Snowing

L, Climb Down Off The PAV!

J

We went kayaking with Stephanie, Tom, and Jack. Great way to end the week.

J

We passed and have certificates to prove it!

This weekend we made one of the steps (back) to add powerboating to our “insurable” status.  Lots of practice backing in-to slips on a twin engine boat.  Liz likes control with two sticks!

Happy student and instructor

Liz at the helm of the Tiara off Newport Beach, CA

J

We had great fun yesterday with our friends Phil & Ryan from back in VA.  You can’t do this on a March day (or any day) back in Richmond.  Thanks for coming to visit!

J