The drive to San Diego gave me an opportunity to tackle #57: surfing.
Last summer, Beth Spitelli, Amanda Ferro, and I took a trip to New Buffalo, Michigan, to attempt surfing. It... was... fine. We had a lovely time together. It turns out we were on the wrong part of the beach to catch waves though. We tried with the bitty ones but it was tough without the momentum. It was a great girls' night though so definitely not a waste of time.
I knew the far-fetched road trip was a go when Nader Elmasri texted me, "Can we go surfing in San Diego?" Yes, we could. And we did.
Kinda.
We only had about an hour with the boards due to our complete lack of planning and the spectacular generosity of Dino & K Rob in planning events for us. We squeezed in surfing between fish tacos and the Padres game. We found a place near PB (Pacific Beach) to rent boards and wet suits - only $10 for the hour or $18 for the rest of the day! Kirk Tracy had texted me some pointers. We walked to the beach and surfed. Kinda.
Surfing is hard. I still don't understand how surfers get out past the break. I'd swim forward 10 feet and then get carried back at least 6 with each wave. Plus, salt water hurts. I couldndt' see for probably 15 minutes while my eyes were adjusting. Walking was especially difficult at first as I didn't realize that if I didn't have some kind of strategy for carrying it, the board would come up and hit me in the face. Or I'd get sucked underwater and salt water in my mouth, nose, and eyes.
It then took awhile to get the hang of just catching waves, doing nothing but clinging to the board. Eventually that got easier. But the best I managed to do was kneel without holding on. I'm counting it. And I can't wait to try again. You know, when I live in San Diego.
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