Just a Teaser...

I should have more time to pay attention to my neglected blog in the next few months.  My last day of work at Trader Joe's (at least for a couple months) is this coming Sunday.  On Monday, George and I head to Puerto Vallarta with our buddy, Chris, to continue on our trip on the vessel CJ, a 42' Californian, owned by our friends, Curt and Julie Corda, who fly in on Friday.  Eventual destination... Florida... by way of the Panama Canal.  

The CJ at anchor in Bahia Santa Maria, November 2011

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to have the opportunity to be going on this trip.  I'm excited to be on the water every day.  I'm excited to be spending time with the husband and good friends.  Excited for warm weather and a warm ocean.  I'm really excited to fish and to surf and to collect random shells in random places.  I'm excited to be going to Mainland Mexico--I have spent tons of time in Baja, but I'm excited to learn about Mainland.  I'm excited about Central America and the coastline I'm going to get to check out.

I'm just STOKED.

Loving life on the bridge of the CJ, November 2011

I recognize how lucky I am.  How lucky George and I both are that we are able to travel the way that we do.  We are lucky to be able to see the places we see, meet the people that we meet, and have the experiences and stories that we have.  We are grateful everyday to be living the dream.  

Stay tuned... It's my goal to blog about our trip as it unfolds... 

We've got that Baja feeling. ..

Tecates and the sun going down... Somewhere between San Quintín & El Rosario

You know, it always blows me away when people at home freak out about us traveling in Baja.  Honestly, a lot of the time I feel more comfortable down here than I do in some places at home.  I wish that I had a better grip on the language, but that's my fault.  The actual driving is the scary part of the trip.  These guys driving up and down the peninsula should be their own Discovery show.

Quite literally, two semis passing each other requires each driver to have their outside tires on the line.  Meeting a truck in one of the curvas peligrosas is downright frightening.  And the countless shrines on the side of the road are testament to the dangers that drivers face. 

A typical truck to meet on the road...

I have lots of stories about meeting semis carrying mobile homes on the road.  Let me tell you, definitely not my favorite.  Sure they have flag vehicles... sometimes... Anyone who has traveled in Baja can tell you coming up on something that wide on Highway 1 is super sketchy. 

One of the military checkpoints

Tonight, we met up with our new friends from Redondo Beach in El Rosario.  Tomorrow it's going to be an early morning out of here and off to Punta Abreojos.  From what we hear, it's hot and the water is warm.  And looks like there's some surf coming this weekend... 

Chee hoo!! 

Until next time, ¡¡ que te vaya bien !!

Baja Bound

George & I are leaving in the morning to go to Punta Abreojos.  I should be doing laundry or being productive, but really that doesn't sound as fun as wasting time on a blog I haven't updated in literally 6 months... In any case, I'm really looking forward to my time on Highway 1.  

Somewhere between here and there... Me in my happy spot

Punta Abreojos has a special place in my heart even though my first trip there, at 11 years old with my dad and my Puppa, was really the trip from hell.  If it could go wrong, it did.  I've had many great trips there since.  George loves the spot and we've gone there several times since the beginning of our relationship.  Last summer, we went with our friends the Presties and Cory Hawk, and it was one of those awesome Baja trips.  Warm water, good friends, and fun surf.  

My George, Scott Prestie, & Cory Hawk indulging in a cold beverage at Chelos

Terrafin is reporting that the water is in the mid to high 70s down there now, and lemme tell you, I can't wait.  Some surfing, fishing, paddling, and some time to sit on the beach and read!!  Yay!

Abreojos -- August 2010

Musical Memories

713 Pecan with Mom and Uncle Giles
and Some Random... =)

I love music.  It makes me really happy.  I'd WAY give up television for music any day...  The first thing I look at in a new car is the stereo (along with toy carrying capacity I guess)....  One of my most happy memories as a kid was waking up to my mom listening to music.  It was beneficial that she listened to good music...  It's clear as day for me, walking into the front room of our little beach bungalow on Pecan Street in Huntington Beach, door open, warm beachy breeze blowing, and something along the lines of Haircut One Hundred, ABC, Roxy Music, or U2 on the record player....

Mumma, Caitie, and me with our Honolulu Ohana in the 808

As I write I'm listening to U2 and thinking about all of the cool stuff I've done while listening to U2.... Cruising around New Zealand... Getting my driver's license... Countless trips down the Baja peninsula with U2 as my soundtrack.  U2 was my first concert... My mom took me.  I've been really lucky to see some pretty rad concerts with my parents... U2, Oingo Boingo (when they were still Oingo Boingo), and Midnight Oil (consequently, 3 of my favorite bands)... My dad stoked us out a few years back and flew my mom and my little sister  and me to Hawai'i to see U2 play at Aloha Stadium.... One of my favorite trips ever.  It was probably on that trip that I decided I really didn't want to return my little sister.... I kinda liked her and I wanted to keep her.  (Kidding Caitlin, it was probably the year before when I decided that)... ☺


In the spirit of consolidating and living better in our 900 square foot piece of heaven, I'm uploading old CD's into my iTunes library and getting rid of them.  They're going to live with some friends...  Through the process though, I have come across CDs I haven't listened to in years.  It's been fun cruising down memory lane, but I'm stoked to have them uploaded and getting out of the house...


Here's one of my favorite songs by a guy who died way too soon... Hasta next time blog readers...

Clearing the way for the new year...

Today during lunch, I came across the horoscope section while reading the most recent copy of the Coast News.  I don't really believe in the whole horoscope thing, but anyway, I still always read mine.  With that being said, today's horoscope read: "With the new year about to begin, you'll want to be free to focus on several meaningful objectives, so do what you can to clean up as many old objectives as you can."  

One part of getting ready for some new meaningful objectives

This horoscope kind of served as a reinforcement for what I've deemed important for this year... namely that I want to have a better environment to get what I need done, done... Getting rid of excess clutter is a big part of this and just before lunch, I took a pretty good load of clothes and random stuff that I haven't worn or we haven't used to the DAV thrift shop.... The guys working there taking deliveries were super nice, and I'm sure I will be seeing them again soon.

I've got some pretty important objectives on the horizon this year--rehabbing this shoulder and being a bit more organized in life being among the top of the list--and I'm stoked that 5 days into the new year, I'm still in the "all" side of my "all or nothing" kind of mentality.  Give me a few more days, and we can check on the progress then...

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou friends!

Preparing for 2011...

It’s the end of 2010 and really, thank God, because this year isn’t going down on the books as one of my favorites ever… Between natural disasters, accidents, injuries, and illness, my inner circle of family and friends have had a rough year… I turned 30, not one that I was looking forward to, and now with this shoulder surgery, my style is being cramped… Complaining only gets a couple sentences of my time, so let’s move on to the reflection that this time of year provokes…

 Coach John Wooden
1910-2010

Sleeping in a chair and having the Ambien fail typically around 3am (I promise I’m not already complaining again) has given me plenty of opportunity to reflect.  I have thought about lots of different things in the early hours of the day while listening to the hum of my circulating ice machine, the sounds of George sleeping, and occasionally the R&B/Soul or Radiohead channel on Pandora.  I thought about how uncomfortable I have been through this process and, aside for being grateful for being in the financial position to have an awesome surgeon and physical therapist and to be able to fix the issue, I thought about what I can do to avoid ever going through this again.  Interestingly enough, a quote from coaching great John Wooden kept popping into my head.  Coach Wooden said, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”  Without going into the deep philosophical thoughts that I had surrounding my injury and my failing to prepare, I will say that it is around this quote that my resolutions for 2011 center.

My resolution this year is to be prepared for what I can prepare for.  I resolve to be prepared to live a better, healthier life.  I resolve to be prepared to be a better wife, a better daughter, a better sister, a better friend, and a better citizen.  I resolve to be prepared to be a better teammate and prepared to contribute more to my team.

Father's Day 2010
A family that surfs together, stays together... =)

In year’s past, I have been one of those people who resolve to not make a resolution because I’d “blow it” in the first few weeks of the year anyway or I’d set totally unrealistic goals and feel like crap when I didn’t achieve them.  This year, I am resolving to resolve more frequently—to refocus and regroup when I experience setbacks… To accept that it doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” mentality in achieving my goals—that this year brings a life long resolution.  This is not saying that I think I can be prepared for everything.  Life happens, and I love that life happens because it’s where we learn how much we love our family and how great our friends are.

I am prepared to make 2011 a great year.  It’ll be the year my shoulder gets healthy and I’ll get to surf and paddle again. The year my baby sister graduates from Rutgers University.  And the year that I prepare to make a better life for George and I, and for those we love around us.   

    

The Beginnings of a New Blog...

When I think about what makes me happy, the first two things that come into my head are backpacks and sandy feet... To me, there's nothing better.  Backpacks get my books and my clothes to my next destination and sandy feet... well... I chose sandy feet because it was better than putting something about drippy sinuses in the title of a blog... who wants to hear about that? In all seriousness though, because blogging is such a serious business, I love sandy feet.  It means I've been surfing or paddling or playing volleyball or even just reading a book on the beach.  I am not one of those people who don't like to get sandy at the beach...   

Pretty much every trip I've ever taken somehow revolved around surfing or the ocean.  It wasn't until I was out of the house and out in the "real world" that I realized how lucky I was growing up and cruising all over the coast of California and Baja with some trips to Mainland Mexico thrown in for good measure.  My husband, George, and I have the same love of surfing and of traveling and together, have been fortunate enough to be able to surf some of the most sought after waves in Baja, California, Hawaii, and Bali, Indonesia.  We truly are blessed to be living the dream.

Off on another adventure--Mainland Mexico circa a long time ago.
With my parents and my dad's friends, Dave and Spencer

This photo is amazing.  I love the backpack that I was carrying--my tiny blue backpack with balloons on it--overflowing with books and arts and craft supplies for the trip.  More than that though, my mom looks gorgeous in this photo.  It's one of my favorites of her from when I was growing up.  And it really makes me miss my sun-kissed long hair.

Palapas & a good place to take a siesta -- Still important parts of my life!!

I'm excited about this blog.  I'm excited to get back to writing more than 420 characters at a time. And I'm excited for my next adventure with a backpack and sandy feet.  Stay tuned...