patriot passenger dogs, cool garage doors and a walk on the pier 

there was a sandbar so shallow it broke the waves going out as well as the waves coming in. The water is warm enough to trunk it.  

same shallow sandbar making fun for everyone 

Mia and her dad, Ben. Ben is a long-time surfer and it's always great hearing his perspective of the state of surf culture and trends.  

I went in for an oil change, came out $1,200 later with half a new coolant system, spark plugs, a belt, a couple filters, and a water pump. Ouch.  

The big event finally arrived - A 4-day-weekend long celebration as a family for my mom's retirement. We arranged a rental house in Santa Cruz to host a laid back weekend filled with ice-cold bodysurf sessions, tons of great food, competitive shuffle board, hanging out with the babies, and a couple of failed pizzas (that last one was all me). Oh and another thing happened: Mia's family came up for an afternoon visit and it was the first time my family got to meet Mia's family. Oh and another thing happened: I got myself a mirrorless digital camera - more about that in a separate blog.

Sophie and Andrew hanging out on the floor - they even had a private ball pit!  

Andy with Grandma  

Sophie with Nicole and Scott

Matt with Sophie and me with Andy

Andy was given Sophie's bow, he was happy about the attention for a second until he realized we were all laughing at this. 

Sophie's face expressions are great  

Skinner squad

On Saturday we packed up beach gear and walked to the beach at the harbor entrance. It was fun to watch all the boats going in and out, but the wind was really gusty at times and the sun began to burn us.  Matt and I went bodysurfing while everyone else called it quits in the elements and retreated back to the cozy house. After that, I made an excuse to go ride the beach cruisers with Matt to a nearby store, stopped on the way back along 41st Street / Pleasure Point and took some pictures.

afternoon offshores and small waves at 38th and 41st street  

before saying bye, Mia and my mom and I walked through Capitola on Monday morning. Stopped for some good coffee before hitting the road.  

a collage of photos of Capitloa  

The other nice thing about Santa Cruz as a location is that Mia and I got to swing by SLO on the way up and back. We also got more pictures of the puppy.

We took another trip up to SLO for a major event: Graduation. Mia’s brother James graduated from high school and is going to Santa Clara University in the fall. This was a major achievement considering how many days he was in the hospital or too sick to stay in class.

The school’s ceremony was at the mission right in downtown, brought a huge crowd for the small class size, and was altogether a really great thing. I found it interesting how much of the speeches were emphasizing how technology will take over everything in the future. It was very different than my graduation 13 years ago. They had a party for James and the next day we went to their friend’s house for another party. The backyard setting there is amazing and something I would try to have someday. The property is tucked along a canyon road and railroad track, but that acts as a good thing – they have an expansive backyard with chickens and other farm animals, gardens, fire pits, and so many other small touches to make it comfortable.

In between the celebrations I got to surf with James and we all entertained an energetic and teething puppy. At one point the neighbor golden retrievers came over to give Rosie her first experience that she isn’t the only dog in the world. Rosie went from trying to be the alpha in the house to totally letting the friendly bigger dog run the yard. Then she fell asleep on a backpack next to two different empty dog beds. 

The super sweet airbnb, we were the first guest staying here and it offered great views on the Pine Mountaint Club valley  

To celebrate our four year anniversary, Mia and I drove up to Pine Mountain Club and spent a day up there. It's a small town with mostly vacation homes, up in the mountains south of the grapevine. These are the mountains that sometimes get snow on them and close down highway 5 between LA and the California central valley. The weekend before we arrived it snowed about a foot, we could see all the photos on instagram and the place looked like a winter wonderland. When we were there it was in the high 70's and seemed like all the bugs were out trying to do their spring nature thing. On Saturday morning we drove into the town where an annual Lilac Festival was going on - some art and clothing vendors in tents, fair stuff, and live music. But we were taking cover from the flying bugs and even had to flick them off on another. It felt like a scary movie scene. The rest of the trip was fun but we mostly stayed safe inside and trying to keep the bugs from crawling in through cracks in the windows and doors. I had envisioned something else I guess.  

Smokey Bear showed up to the Lilac Festival and wildlife was all around the house.  

I got Mia a stove top pizza pan that bakes pizzas in 5 minutes, so we gave it a try with handmade pizza. It takes some trials, this picture is actually of a pre-made oven pizza we bought as a backup. You can also see my camera just before it fell over.  The bugs swarmed to my truck, I'm pretty sure some are still in there. 

On this trip, I was using my old film camera on a new tripod that Mia gave me to try to get a self-timer shot of us on the front porch (when the wind calmed down less bugs were making their way to that side of the house, so we went outside for a minute). I set the camera timer and ran across the wood deck, apparently stomping enough to knock the camera tripod over and then the camera's light meter stopped working. I was bummed out, Mia was getting attacked by flying pincher bugs. I impulsively ordered a used one on eBay right away. It was listed as "Excellent ++++" conditon and shipping in from Japan. In the meantime I did some internet forum research for my malfunction, took a few camera pieces apart and bent one, now it seems to be working (thanks internet).  The replacement camera arrived from Japan two weeks later and it's in not even in good condition, it has some dirt and the back feels loose. I requested a return but they refunded me and said to keep it anyway. I've gone a little mad, I dug out a 10 year old Sony digital point and shoot just to see it that's a better alternative to the film. Of course, the pictures aren't as good as manual focus on a film camera, but it's instantaneous. So I now have 2 clunky, 20-40 year old manual film cameras, 3 lenses between them, and an almost obsolete decade-old point and shoot. 

 I've been eyeing a new mirrorless camera but it's hard to justify the price for just a few blog and instagram photos...I think. We'll see. On the mirrorless camera side of the argument, I mailed in two rolls of film (the past two months of activities) and USPS lost the package in the mail. So the money for the film and developing as well as the two months of 72 photos is just gone.  Whereas 72 photos is just ordinary memory card space on a digital camera which would instantly produce the picture and transfer it to my phone. There's a reason everything has become digital, but I want to make sure I wouldn't be buying a digital camera to look like or try to be a good photographer, I need to convince myself that it's a worthwhile investment and that having all these better and more convenient photos produces some value somewhere.

The drunk kid who bit it trying to run a red light. Some other photos I took.  

One night I was waiting at a red-light right-turn along the horribly designed street and bike lane in the harbor. The bike path is parallel to the road and they have their own street lights because they must be stopped to allow me to turn right. Safety first. A group of drunk younger people were biking and skateboarding through the intersection when the light went yellow to red. One kid having yet to cross was speeding up and pedaling as fast as he could to run the red light and catch up to his friends ahead. You know how bikes sway back and forth when people pedal really hard? His swayed too far, he lost control and went over the handlebars, face first into the ground. As he smacked the pavement and tumbled the bike was kicked out my direction and hit my truck, So the kid lays there lifeless for a few seconds as I get out and his other friends turn around and come back to help him up. Of course, the reputation of this dangerous street and bike path was leading everyone else to believe that I somehow hit the drunk cyclist. The commuter cyclists in their spandex were coming from all directions, voices raised and red-faced at me, until they realized this was just the sole fault of a tourist on a rental bike who made a drunken miscalculation. Eventually we called 911 and I was able to continue the 100 more yards to get home. I'm thankful for having that grille guard on my truck because it stopped the bike from denting things and all that was left is some rubber friction mark from the bike tire.

I took the top photo on Mia's DSLR and Mia's friend Alex captured the bottom photos on her *shiny new mirrorless camera* 

For Memorial Weekend Mia and I went back up to SLO to help puppy-sit and hang out. I was on the fence about whether to spend the three day weekend doing boat work but a relaxing weekend with people always sounds better than dirty clothes, bloody hands, too many trips to West Marine and a sore back. That'll be in a few weeks from now.

The weekend puppy-watch reminds me that having a puppy is a full-time responsibility. Rosie is learning her surroundings and limitations by trying to eat everything in sight. 

Mother’s Day weekend was really special this year. My mom drove down to San Luis Obispo and we drove up and all stayed with Mia’s family along with even more of Mia’s relatives. We all enjoyed Mia’s sister Maeve’s confirmation ceremony on Saturday morning and the rest of the day seeing visitors and enjoying the great weather, company and food.

 On Sunday morning I was the last person to wake up. Downstairs Mia’s aunt, uncle and cousin were about to leave for a hike. I had expressed interest in going because the hiking in SLO is always great and when my mom said she would like to go too, it was the tipping point for our whole group to head out for the trail. After that we had homemade breakfast and went to see one of the horses.  My mom had to hit the road but I was really appreciative and happy for the opportunity we had to hang out at a fun and welcoming half-way point.

In addition to all the Mother’s Day excitement, there was another big thing. Mia, her mom and her sister flew out the Chicago on the Thursday prior to get a 8-week old goldendoodle puppy. Currently named Rosie, she’s a hypoallergenic and non-shedding ball of energy and fun, seemingly already on the way to be well crate trained with really pleasant behavior. Can’t wait to see how she grows up and brings smiles to so many people.

I got a 3rd (my last one, I swear)  used lens on eBay for $35 and it's a wide angle 28mm. I couldn't wait to see how well it would turn out so I took a photo with my iPhone camera through the manual camera lens. This will make for better close up, realistic-view, and landscape photos. 

April 21-23: With the days getting longer I can sometimes leave work before it's dark. On Friday I left with enough time to sit through an hour of traffic to drive 10 miles. Sitting in long lines at red lights, windows down to feel the warm air cooling a bit, I realized there was almost no wind. Looking at palm trees lining the roads they proved my guess. I knew there was swell building, did some math in my head: how long until sunset? How long until I can make it to El Porto (the most reliable surf break in the south bay), I know I left my old wetsuit and board in my car, but do I have a towel?

I found a parking spot with about an hour of light left, the waves were overhead, slightly crumbly but the larger the size the more the shape of the wave overcomes the crumble that wind puts on the surface. I did not have a towel though, so a Mexican blanket that I keep in the back had to do the job. El Porto is right next to the Chevron refinery and the waste water treatment plant, so the water quality is grimy, smells like oil and cannot be trusted. Don't accidentally swallow it. Try not to step in oil tar on the sand.

The next morning I replaced the break light bulbs on Mia's car, took apart my passenger seat to check that the wiring was okay, did some random stuff and then visited my dad for the first time since he moved Planet to Cabrillo Way Marina in San Pedro. The marina was incredible - so nice and new, and really made me realize what a dump marina's with old wooden docks and rusty pilings are. They had a way to pumpout at every slip for free! All of the plumbing runs through the docks into the city pipes, they have people clean the docks, and the view around Cabrillo down the channel to Hell's Gates always offers something to watch thanks to how busy the harbor is.

On Sunday I woke up and times the shifting wind to bodysurf in Redondo and followed that up by running errands making a big breakfast and going sailing with Connor. There was a red flag warning for the high surf and predicted winds around 20, but it wasn't actually that bad. We Reefed the main in his boat and took a couple-hour sail, the best part was back inside the channel going as near upwind as possible and doing some quick and what I imagine looked like perfect tacks in front of KHYC. Overall a fun weekend enjoying the local offerings of water, boats and wind, however my own boat maintenance looms.

These sailors were the only ones out and were also jibing with a spinnaker up. 

I arrived home from work before dark one night and took advantage of the sunset to try a new used telephoto lens on my camera 

In the morning I wake up and I have the same consistent first-thought as I do every single morning no matter where I am or what time it is. It's the same thought that I've had for ten years, every morning. This thought provokes a sequence of memories that flash by and that tell me that I need to clench with my toes and shake my ankles to make sure I still have that connection from brain to feet. Next, engage my core for a second to rotate my waist thereby measuring how much pain I will be for the day. When I was 21 I was in a car accident that herniated a disc in my lower back. The lawyers mostly disagreed about the cause because of a million factors that kept me from seeing a doctor as soon as possible. Since then, other discs have worn down to compensate for the degenerative ones and it's a problem compiling on itself, crunching my spine, bulging into my spinal cord, pinching nerves. I usually dream at night and when I wake up during a dream I was just fully aware of the fact and that I felt no pain in my back or legs, my focus was on my environment and whatever my brain was creating for me. When I'm awake, my focus on my task at hand is always weighed down by variable constant pain and limits from my injury. On most days the think I look forward to most is being able to do something physically active to stretch and engage my affected parts because nine times out of ten I feel better afterwards. Last Saturday was a one out of ten result. I was able to wake up early, knowing full well that there would be good surf and that Mia had promised to come to the beach with me and support my hobbies. I woke up, checked the feeling and mobility of the lower half of my body, noting that just yesterday at the gym I was really feeling great, almost as good as I could feel since the injury. I shouldn't have ever acknowledged that, it will jinx me. It did.  We drove to the beach, walked down the steps, set up Mia's beach chair and a towel and I zipped up my wetsuit and started to do some light stretches. I squatted down, engaged my legs muscles, stood up and SNAP, or BOOM, or POP, or PLUCK, SCRATCH, TEAR, whatever it would translate to, it's a feeling like a bear trap the size of my body just closed on my back, a hundred sharp teeth locking into various parts of my back, neck, and legs, reducing my range of mobility without pain to around 1%. Every muscle movement feels abrasive. The waves were good, we carved out the time for me to do enjoy my hobby of bodysurfing and surfing. Maybe, I thought, the pain would subside after I got in the water and started to paddle and let my body weight float. I caught two head-high barreling, low-tide draining waves and if not for the adrenaline forcing my muscle-memory to stand up on the board, I would've just been tossed off the lip of the breaking wave from 6 feet in the air to really shallow water below. After the second wave, I floated to the beach only using my arms and when I got my feet on the sand I had enough range of motion to make six-inch steps and shuffle across the sand back to Mia. I didn't want to waste my opportunity to enjoy free time and good surfing conditions and I thought there was still a chance to get in the water and relax the muscles. So I put on my fins and paddles back out to bodysurf and stretch in the weightlessness of the ocean. A few minutes later I got out, we made our way back to my truck and it took about 5 painful minutes to contort myself out of my wetsuit. I fought with my reflexes, which were telling my body to stop moving, in order to sit in the drivers seat and operate the pedals. I decided a long time ago not to let this injury prevent me from doing what I like to do, and it still often does, but today there were already plans. 

We took the boat to pump it out, packed our bags and drove to Sierra Madre to visit Mia's family for Easter weekend. From then on, thankfully, I was able to roll around on their wide open floors (something the boat lacks) and stretch my legs and enjoy a few beers to ease my sensitivity to the pain. We hiked on Sunday morning and I think for the most part I was able to silently deal the creaking door and shooting pain from my back sufficiently enough that it didn't take away from enjoying everyone's company, the weather, the meals, and the fun. It's been 10 days since that occurrence and I've been doing what I can at the gym to nurse myself back to a more tolerable level of pain but I'm not going to peg a status on the improvements to re-jinx myself.

I was searching for any campsites that accepted reservations off and on for a couple weeks. There wasn't a single thing in Southern California that wasn't "first come first serve" - which we knew we'd have a low chance of getting because we were only going on Saturday and assume most campgrounds would be full.  Finally, on Thursday night, a single campsite was un-reserved and about a 2-hour drive away.

Up in the mountains at 6,300 feet? No Problem. Forecast to drop to 24 degrees at night? Fine, we'll have a roaring fire and sleeping bags. Frequented by bears often? Well, the truck shell seems safer than a nylon tent anyway. So we went for it.

We got there in the afternoon, hiked up to Jenk's lake, came back to start the fire and relaxed camping we were wanting. The temperatures dropped, neighbors got rowdy, the fire kept us warm, it was a mellow camping trip. I tried a used (new to me) lens for my film camera and had some thought-less mistakes with the light sensor for a few of the pictures here, which is why they're really dark. It's always fun to get to use my truck for activities like this and is fairly low setup/maintenance/cleanup when camping out of the shell. Mia's family let us borrow a fold-out table and 2-burner stove, too. We're almost self-sufficient except for the fire pit. Next I want to go into more drive-in deserted locations or a nice beach area.

Mia at the fruit stand  

We got out of LA as early as we could on Friday but the traffic was already building up. Luckily the app had us taking highway 126 through Piru, Fillmore, and fruit stands to 101, then on 154 up the Santa Barbara mountains past lake Cachuma. We played along and got fresh strawberries, huge Valencia oranges and trail mix, then pulled over at a vista point to view the lake that just months ago was almost dried up. 

We walked horses, tried to please cats, and enjoyed the weekend with Mia's family.  

Journey looking attentively at Maeve

Maeve, Journey, and Lincoln one of the ranch dogs  

Unsure whether the manual Pentax camera even still worked since my mom gave it to me for my high school photography class, I got a roll of film from CVS and began shooting. Turns out the camera works perfectly. 

Nowadays most place don't do photo development but there is a company in San Clemente that can develop you negatives and provide the digital downloads of photos for a base price, and then offers a variety of options for prints and higher resolution. The company is TheDarkRoom.com