Blog 37 Cardiff - California

Well, here I go…

I arrived in Los Angeles Monday afternoon. I was supposed to meet Jack just outside the airport and he was going to recognize me by my double board bag…. Not… No board bag for Saske… it was still in Vancouver… probably… they couldn't really trace it… so… I wanted to give Jack a call, but I had no phone and I had written Jack's number down somewhere (Ithought), but where exactly?? A guy I met at the airport (he was looking for his friend and I had seen his friend, but didn't know where he went), Eyal, helped me out by letting me use the internet, but Jack's number wasn't there… So I said goodbye to Eyal and went outside, hoping Jack would show up and recognize me… and he did!! Luckily :-)

We went straight to Redondo Beach, where his grandmother, Breeze, lives. We were going to stay the night over there and we'd be leaving for Cardiff (near San Diego) the next day. That day was splendid! Breeze is a wonderful, sweet, lovely lady and I adopted her as my grandma :-). Jack and I went for a swim in the ocean and a chill at the beach and we all had dinner together and there were lots of good conversations going on.

The next day, the airline company called me (on Jack's number) and we went to pick up my boards. Later on we left LA and headed for Cardiff. Jack had school that evening (nearly finished: massage therapist) and I had a relaxing evening including a walk to the beach.

On Wednesday, Jack an I went to the Elija lagoon for a walk and later that day I had my first surf in California at Stone Steps. The waves were actually really nice and there was a big south swell predicted for the weekend, so itwas only going to get better! In the evening Jack had class again and I was still very tired after my last couple of days in Vancouver, so I couch-potato-ed in front of the television.

The next morning, Jack and I went to Bikram yoga, which was really good and way easier than I remembered… obviously because I've done so much hot yoga in Vancouver. The only difference between these two is the sequence. We had an awesome Mexican lunch, burrito's with an amazing guacamole made by Jack and that knocked both of us out (me sleeping on thee couch and he on a very comfy chair). Another yoga class in the late afternoon: yoga with Chrystal Bowls. It was a yin yoga (Bikram was yang), meaning way more relaxing, more a mind thing than a body thing. And it was awesome, especially when they started playing the

crystal bowls.

I had to have a night out and a friend of Jack celebrated her birthday at the pub, so we went out to Encinitas. In the Saloon there we 3 funny, drunk Dutch girls, having a good time. Now I think about it.. those were the first Dutch people I've met in a long time.

Friday morning I was super tired, so I did a bit of a sleep-in. In the afternoon, Jack dropped me of at Seaside, where I had an awesome surf! The swell arrived ànd there was a big school of dolphins surfing with me: it was amazing! There was even a calf, a baby dolphin. I did some yoga myself in the evening. Jack had to work, so I had the evening to myself. Yoga, some dinner and a movie (maid of honor).

Jack worked till late that night and I ended up sleeping late as well. So the next day I had a lazy day, while Jack went to class. Again a movie (Enchanted): nice movies on US television if you have cable.. Later on I went for a walk and in the evening we went to a barbie at Jack's friends place. That was really nice: hypes of nice people and good food and even some jamming in the end.

Since I didn't surf on Saturday, I needed to have two surfs that Sunday. First Jack dropped me of at D-street, where I surfed for nearly 3 hours; dolphins again! But also a huge wipe-out (wanted to take of but this girl was paddling out right in front of me, so I had to bail… too late… my board hit my lower leg several times and it hurt pretty bad. It's funny though: al the scary reefs in Fiji and Hawaii: no problems (just some scratches and little scars) and then on a sandbank in California, fairly easy waves… pffff….

To the beach again that afternoon, to meet up with Jack's Friends (Jen and Jason). I convinced Jack to come for a surf with me and we surfed 25th street/Del Mar: swell was slowly dying, but there were still some nice sets coming through.

The next morning we went to Bikram yoga again and we did some shopping. After that, Jack worked on his project for school: me :-) He had to observe and analyze someone's body/posture: quite an eye-opener…. We had dinner at a Thai place, which was really good (I so love Thai food now) and in the evening Jack 'practiced' his massage skills on me… I was só relaxed that I even fell asleep!

On Tuesday we went to do Kundalini yoga: a yin yoga as well and very special. Later that day I had a surf with Chad: Chad is Eyal's (the guy from the airport) cousin and Eyal introduced him to me on facebook. We went to surf at Beacons and Chad brought 2 long boards with him, since the swell dropped of big time. We had a really nice longboard session though!

In the evening, Jack had class again, but Breeze came over for a visit. She had to be in the hospital nearby earlier that day and stayed the night nearby as well. So we had a really nice evening together.

And then suddenly the time flies again! Wednesday we went to yoga: Sacred movement, we said bye to Breeze, before she left and Jack and I went to buy me a Gravity skateboard. You've probably already seen the pic's of my new baby :-) We went to the factory, 'cause Jack knew the main guy over there, Michael. Thanks to that, I got my board for really cheap! And we got a t-shirt and a cap and stickers… nice! Afterwards we went to see the meditation garden: really pretty! If you're ever in Cardiff: don't miss out on that! And we went for a body surf. After dinner I started packing, cause I had to leave again the next morning.

Luckily Jack was so nice to bring me to the airport and, after having paid 100 USD to get my surfboards to NYC, I was just in time to catch my flight….

Thanks Jack, Breeze, for a really beautiful time in California. I miss you!!