Perfect Weather...Surf???

Nice off-shore breeze and there is some swell but the angle is still a little funky with lots of closeouts and extreme tides. I'll check it a little longer before going out. The wind is warm...Santa Ana's?

Seattle

It took awhile but Michelle and finally posted some photos of our trip to Seattle. Check them out!

Nimitz III

My first memory of dirt jumps at Nimitz was 1996. A group of people built a bunch of jumps on the east side of the dirt lot. I wasn't really into jumping at the time and only hit them twice. Eventually they were plowed.

My second memory of dirt jumps at Nimitz was in 2009. The guys who started the jumps were friends from Barnard. The jumps were towards the west side of the dirt lot. Good times and a severely tweaked wrist is what I remember.Of course.....they were plowed again...

I drove by Nimitz a month ago and saw some small "mountain bike" style jumps. Basically that means they were underdeveloped jumps that mostly involved launching off of ledges and hills....not really my thing. Last week I noticed someone built a legit set of doubles. Nice lips and fun landings that pump you immediately into the next set. I swapped out my front tire for a knobby, showed up with a shovel and spend a few days digging.

Perfect timing because soon it rained pretty hard. This gave me a couple of days to rebuild the main section by building up the lips and adding to the landings. The goal is to make it through the entire line without pedaling. Today was the first day since the rain that I ran the line and was able to make it through without a pedal. As the dirt dries, the jumps will become faster and better.

See below for a photo of me chilling at the bottom of the second jump in the main set, a video of me making it through the whole line, and another video of what happens when things go wrong. Regardless of what happens, it made for a good time. I love dirt!

By the way...I made the video by jamming my ipod into my helmet....that is my cheap-o version of a helmet cam :)

Super High Tide

It has been 4 to 6 feet with super high tides....as big as 7.8 feet. The weather is perfect....too bad its a little closed out. I may surf anyway...or go dirt jumping....what? More on that later!

Nine Rules Card

Nine Rules card

Click on the link above to see a photo of a card that Wayne received when he went to Vietnam.

Goodbye Seattle

Boarding the plane and on our way home. I am wearing my new Pendleton wool shirt. Nice and warm. Back in San Diego soon!

Metal Owl And Maximum Oysters

Found a wacky poster for 400 in a bar. I also met a large oyster at the oyster festival. I think I ate about 20 oysters....ugh.

Got Wood?

Found a store in Seattle that sells tables and benches made from giant chunks of wood...some of it was driftwood. The owner asked me to help him flip a table over....it was REALLY heavy! Later on we watched a guy play piano on the corner...look for the guy in the photo who is in the corner.

Breakfast At Lowell's

Michelle and I woke up, had a coffee at the origional Starbucks, read about what Mr. Clean (the cleaning liquid) means in Chinese (it means "chicken meat") then we met Henry and Niki at Lowell's for a late breakfast.....a beautiful view of the sound!

Seattle Hat Store

Looking for a place to eat in Seattle and found a cool hat store...this poster in the front window....reminds me of my black cowboy hat.

Back At The Inn

Grabbed a latte and made it back to our room where we waited for Henry and Niki to arrive. They are here now so we are off to an early dinner overlooking the sound!

Pike's Market

Made it to Seattle.  Walking around Pike's Market. A fish vendor was scaring people with a halibet on a string.... nice. Next stop was the polish pottery store. Michelle found some neat stuff.

Green Flash

Stopped by the beach at sunset after the rain and took a couple of photos before a green flash. Nice!