Mucho take it easy

"Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement."

-Alfred Adler

El Salvador is like a beautiful but crazy girl that you just keep thinking about. You know how messed up she is but you overlook all of that because she is just so damn exciting. That is how surfers view El Salvador: As a dangerous country but one that entices you because t is full of empty waves. So, you buy the ticket and take the ride.

As I waved goodbye to my Dad at LAX and lugged my boardbag (with my 6.4 and 6.6) I was greeted by an AA agent who said, "you are going surfing in El Salvador? Boy, are you brave." I just smiled and moved on. I was flying on the red eye out of L.A. and was the only white guy on the flight to San Salvador. The stew came up to me and said, "surfer?" I said yep and she said that the only Americans who came down to El Salvador were surfers. I landed at about 5:30 am in San Salvador and got a text from Adam saying that his flight on TACA ( Take a chance airlines) was delayed until 4:00 that afternoon. The plan was for me to wait about an hour at the airport for these guys to arrive since I was the only one flying on American. So here I was, all alone, getting swarmed by people outside of the San Salvador airport. I had to use my boardbag as a buffer to keep taxi drivers etc away from me and tried to call the hotel for the pick-up. But this is central America and things don't really work like they do in the U.S. Nobody was picking up, I called my travel agent and got no answer. Ladies of the night were coming up to me and asking if I wanted a girlfriend for the week, people were trying to sell me all kinds of crap and I kept on reading the travel advisory printed out in big bold letters:

Do Not Get In A Cab Alone!

Finally a guy pulled up in a van and said he was from Las Flores and he would drive me on the two hour plus trip to the hotel. I said a silent pray and got in the bus with him and was able to converse in a Spanish/English hybird. We talked about the waves (olas) and I asked him if he was in the civil war. He showed me a picture of himself in full uniform holding a machine gun. The drive was insane as we passed all sorts of pigs, chickens, cows and goats just running free all over the road. I was able to see miles of just empty beachbreak with decent waves that reminded me of El Porto back home.

I got to the hotel, took a deep breath, and sat down on the deck overlooking a right pointbreak. It had a little bit of morning wind on it but it looked like a fun head high wave. Las Flores is really a surfers dream with a wave out front and boats that leave four times a day to take you to punta mango or to the other beachbreaks. Life quickly gets very simple. You wake up early, surf, have breakfast, surf, nap, have lunch, get an afternoon surf, grab a beer, surf the evening glass, have dinner, watch the sunset and go to bed early. It is incredible to be consumed by the swell, tide and wind for days on end. You really have nothing else to worry about other than trying to decide where you want to go surfing.

All of the other surfers staying at the hotel were from SB, Newport, the South Bay or San Diego. All of the guys got along and took turns in the lineup and just really seemed to enjoy being away from the crowds of Southern California. The best session that we had was an evening surf on the second to last day at punta mango. The boat pulls up and the lineup is empty. I am surfing with only three other people as we watch the sun set from the water. The shoreline of punta mango is undeveloped and you a single horse was grazing on the land. The green mountains were shrowded in mist, the right was overhead and pumping, the water was 74 degrees and I was in heaven. Thank God I am a surfer!

A couple of boys going to the Kings game

One of the reasons that I love living in the city of angels is the constant variety of options that are presented to you on any given night. Last night, I left the beach and drove 23 miles to celebrate Big Goot's birthday with a steak dinner and a hockey game. I had a hour free before I met with Garrett so I visited the Bradberry building and the new Catholic church in downtown L.A. Garrett and I had dinner at Flemings steak house and than watched the Kings defeat Carolina 4-3. I have started to really enjoy Kings hockey and even purchased my first Kings hat since 1993 (the year they went to the finals). Go Kings!

Would you buy real estate from this man?

The scene:

Opening Day Dodger Stadium 2008

A young man runs out of Dodger stadium and begins a furious late afternoon drive to UCLA to attend a real estate principles class. His real estate career at UCLA is just starting. He is still teaching at Torrance High School. Over the next two and a half years he returns to Westwood, sometimes making the 1.5 hour commute twice a week, to pursue his real estate dreams and acquire a brokers license. Fast forward to late summer 2010. He has completed all of his course work, he has studied hard, he owns his own company. This same young man now sits in his office, hands nervously logging in to look at his name and see the magic words next to it: Passed

I am a real estate broker!

So, who wants to buy some real estate?

The duality of man

"What I admire is a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity and the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."

-Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy

Some people look upon Mt. Whitney and see:

sleep deprivation, altitude sickness, a 50% failure rate, nausea, defecating in a bag and carrying it out with you, 22 trail miles of an aching back and sore knees, three miles of brutal switchbacks, gasping for breath, a massive headache, bone-chilling wind, and a day full of pain and boredom.

Other people look upon Mt. Whitney and see:

Boundless beauty, a test of will, sweeping vistas, an adventure, "a day they will never forget," abundant wildlife, roaring rivers, peaceful meadows, crystal blue lakes, God's country, lush streams, 50% success rate, camaraderie, a fun all day hike, a chance to eat gummy snakes, blue skies, pride in standing on top the highest peak in the lower 48.

On August 3, I stood with five other people who decided to look at things from the second point of view. This was my third trip up Mt. Whitney and I enjoyed myself in experiencing all that the mountain has to offer. This time our group had perfect weather, not a cloud in the sky, and temperatures that allowed me to nap on top of the mountain in my boardshorts. We spent a few days getting acclimated in Mammoth and took a nice day hike down in Red's meadow to look at Devils post pile and Rainbow Falls. The following is a brief recap of my fellow hikers.

1) Tasha aka "sweaty" aka "jabbermouth"

This trail veteran was the only one who seemed immune to the lack of oxygen and just kept on climbing. I would stop to take a breather and Tasha would just calmly wait as Mark and I caught our breath and took a rest. Once again Tasha brought the candy, never complained, always had a smile, and just serenely moved along and seemed to be in her element at all times. A trusted companion on the trail and always up to buy me a sandwich but not down to buy me a McFlurry. (also can throw a wicked snowball at you when you least expect it)

2) Tina aka "blackbear"

I was able to get to know Tina a lot better on this trip as we had more time to spend together in Mammoth and on the trail. She dedicated this hike to her Grandmother and carried a picture of her up to the top of Whitney. Tina is a very strong hiker who showed true grit and determination to reach the summit.

3) Mark aka "lucky bear"

Mark did a fantastic job on this hike and was a constant source of positive energy. He would stop frequently to take pictures, marvel at the scenery and was in awe at the beauty of the hike. I really hope that lucky bear comes with us next year because he brought the perfect weather and sunshine with him.

4) Laurent aka Frenchy

We did not see much of Laurent on this trip as he went ahead and hiked with his faster buddy up the trail. We would see him at trail camp and the summit and he experienced some altitude sickness but was overall in good spirits and was a great addition to the group.

Another summer, another summit in the books and I look forward to next year with the Nespors and the crazed red billy goat joining us in 2011!

The Epic of Half Dome

"There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."

-Bruce Lee

After my Dad and I said goodbye to the Mammoth fishing crew we got ready for the next part of our vacation: Climbing Half Dome!

Monday: We slept in a little bit, grabbed coffe at the Looney Bean, and took the beautiful drive up the 395 and turned west onto the Tioga Pass Road. We made our first stop of the day at the Whoa Nelly Deli and had breakfast overlooking Mono Lake. I decided to have smoked trout for breakfast because I got skunked on the fishing trip. We drove on up and over the pass, into Tuolumne meadows and finally down into Yosemite Valley. We checked in at our tent cabin at Curry Village and spent the day looking at waterfalls, meadows, deer and riding the free shuttle bus around the valley. We had dinner at the Camp Curry buffet and turned in early in anticipation of climbing half dome.

Tuesday:

I was up at 4:00 am and eager to begin our climb. I waited until 5:00 am to get my Dad up and we began our hike at 5:30 am by walking out of camp curry and adding an extra mile to get to the Happy Isles trailhead. As we began our walk we noticed that many other hikers of all ages and sizes were up with us and on the way to hike half dome. It is interesting that people complain about "crowds" on the trail when in reality it is an amazing thing that so many people are up early pushing their bodies to the limit. The hike goes along a paved road for about one mile until you reach a spectacular view of the falls and than we veered off on to the John Muir trail for another 1.5 miles. We reached the top of the trail and saw our Aussie friend form the night before, Shane. He was doing the hike solo and in true Aussie fashion he was in excellent spirits. Along we walked through little Yosemite valley, up the swithcbacks and than on to the subdome. After a brief rest we were ready to tackle the cables and this is where Bob used his patented death grip himself to the top. We enjoyed our time up on top of the world, took a rest, and than began our descent back down. The return trip is always long and hard as you have used up so much energy to get to the top of the dome. We took our time and stopped along the river to rest and get water. Our day ended at 7:30 pm when we got off the trail and were able to get the shuttle bus (thank God) back to camp curry. I got my Dad a couple of gatorades, some ice-cream and got myself some beer. It was an epic day that we will never forget! My Dad has set the bar very high for me by summiting half dome at 62!

Wednesday:

After a great night of sleep we woke up and headed over to the Ahwahnee hotel for breakfast. We drove up to glacier point to look at the spectacular view of the valley and than drove on home. It was a fantastic trip!

Fishing Trip

We had a great trip up to Mammoth for the first "guy's fishing trip." I can't tell you that we caught a lot of fish but we sure had a lot of laughs. The crew was Jeff, Mike, Dennis, Joe, Kevin, Zach, Bob, Garrett and Matt. All of us stayed in the Riley house so it made things real cozy. Kevin really enjoyed his time fishing and learning all about the bait and how to cast. A couple of highlights from the trip:

1) If you are eager or in a hurry to go fishing, stop by Brocks in Bishop. They are world famous for their speedy service.

2) Dennis and Mike going off-trail to summit Mammoth rock and look at the old mine.

3) Fishing at Lake Mary on Saturday in a beautiful alpine setting.

4) Walking a mile to the gorge in what has been described as a "post nuclear" setting.

5) Telling Kevin and Zach that I am the King of the Raft.

6) Playing Mike's new favorite Sinatra tune, Chicago.

A moment of Zen

"The hardest thing to do in life is to simplify, it is so easy to make things complex."

-yvon chouinard

photo: Mattsel Adams