Go North

Headed up north for the weekend with Paul, Alex, Chris, Lisa, Jacob, Sara and Jenny to celebrate Paul's birthday.  A great weekend of friends, food and surf.  Even scored a moonlight session with some very fun waves.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Don't let responsibility cloud your judgement

Last week Sara and I decided to make an irresponsible decision and fly down to Mexico for her birthday. We were inspired by all the Aussies we met in Indonesia who had just popped over to indo for the weekend.

We told ourselves that coastal mainland Mexico is closer and cheaper than New York. And nobody would look at you funny if you said you were heading to NYC for your birthday weekend, right? We booked tickets and less than 24 hours later we cancelled them. But the next day we knew we had to go. We rebooked and took off.

Plenty of tacos, beer, surf, sun and now we are home. Like we learned a few years back at the Ostrander hut, don't let responsibility cloud tour judgment.

Stay Stoked, Pass It On

My last blog posts sparked a few emails from the peanut gallery.  Everyone is loving the basic idea of raw adventure.  No matter how or where.  Like I said in my last post sometimes it's hard to find the time and space to get after it.  But at the end of the day, the people I love and I have an itch for another empty road, another flat tire, dead battery, snow storm, heat wave, killer bee attack, squall, another adventure.

Dad on the far left.

Like it or not we are all passing it on.  While we fix dings in the backyard Chris and Lisa are passing it on to Jacob.  Jimmy and Sarah pass it on when the fam loads up in winter gear and heads out onto frozen Lake Winnipesaukee.  Every time Bernard takes a crazy crew of midwestern kids to the summit of a Michigan dune he is passing it on.  When Kevin and Laura take little Riley on a camping trip to Point Reyes they are passing it on.  When Mike and Elena strap a set of skis onto the bottom of Miles' boots and send him down a hill in their Summit County backyard they are passing it on.

Stoked.

And one day those kids will be 32 years old.  And you will send them a picture of yourself in 2012.  And it will look like these pictures that my dad sent me tonight of his adventures with surfboards strapped to the roof of his bus decades ago.  Going right on a lovely peeler not too far away.  Thanks dad.

Stay stoked, pass it on.

Keep Movin'

The honeymoon was an amazing recharge for Sara and I.  It has also reminded us how nice it feels to move.  We are back to taking little trips down the coast and even a last minute trip to Mexico this weekend!  Work is light, we have a little bit of money in the bank and we know this kind of thing might not happen again for a long time so we are taking advantage of it.

Even Chris is getting in on the act.  Chris and I took a secret trip up the coast Wednesday morning for some extremely fun waves.  It's been awhile since we went to work late with sand in our hair and salt on our lips.  Sure takes the edge off the day.

Here a are a few pictures and videos to inspire you to keep movin'.

S and J.  First ride should be soon.

J, practicing his stand-up barrel stance.

Post surf brew with dad.

Here are three great videos.  The last one from the southern california filmmaking crew Korduroy TV.  And the first two from a UK filmmaker I first heard about on Korduroy's blog named Calum Creasey.  Creasey's work is so raw and soulful.  And for me really captures the essence of what these adventures are all about.  I urge you to take a few minutes and watch his videos here and explore more on his blog Stoked Ever Since.

'Nico' from Calum Creasey on Vimeo.

FILL YOUR LIFE from Calum Creasey on Vimeo.

Hot and Glassy - Sea Movies from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.