2 years since last departure
It will be 1 year and eleven months - almost to the day - that I left for a trip to the South Pacific. In under a week I will be travelling to Hamburg for a week and then to Greece for a week. I'm going to Hamburg for a tradeshow with work, and then I am taking advantage of already being overseas and taking a week of holidays in Greece. I'm finally getting excited about my holiday, which I think is because I sort of have an idea of what I'm going to be doing. No solid plans yet, but I know for sure I will be going to the Greek Islands, specifically Santorini, and maybe another one.
The Second September Surfing Safari - September 2 to 4
Another Unitent Adventure
Prologue:
After the incredible success of last year's September Surfing Safari, plans for this year's trip commenced a whole week ahead of the departure date. Only two of the original members returned for this version, but were joined by a crew of 5 others.
Chapter 1: Borders and Berries
We reached the border lineup around 9am, only to discover that the predicted report of 30-45minutes was completely incorrect. The wait ended up lasting over two hours, but we managed to pass the time. Some of us gorged on blackberries, while the other more considerate participants picked black berries and offered them to the general public waiting in line to enter the United States of America. We amused ourselves by pushing the cars instead of driving, since the intervals between line movement were at least 15 minutes. Alberto had his last Bovine Growth Hormone Free dairy product before crossing the border too.
Chapter 2: The Uneventful Drive
Mt. Vernon was the lunch spot, but there was lack of lunch options. Next stop REI in Seattle which proved to be a valuable stop since Jon picked up some roof racks on sale. Without them it would be an interesting situation transporting surfboards to the beach. We stopped in Aberdeen to shop for groceries, which included purchasing 14 Tillamook yogurts with such delicious flavours as Mountain Huckleberry, Marionberry, and Key Lime.
Chapter 3: Accomodation
Alberto had booked us a campsite at the American Sunset RV Resort for the low price of $38 for two nights. Upon arrival the manager informed us that the site would only hold 2 people and the price per person would be just under $10 a night, contrary to what the BCAA campbook said. Everywhere else in Westport was full so the manager put us on half of a group site which actually turned out to be decent. Much better than camping on an RV site. The Unitent was re-erected in the headlights of the car, along with its smaller sibling.
Chapter 4: Where's the Waves?
The next morning brought a heavy fog and moisture laden air, with no trace of the hot sun we had yesterday. Nevertheless, we packed up the surfboards and hit the beach. From the dunes, the swell was not visible due to the fog. This could prove interesting to surf in... Once we got out into the water and could actually see the waves, we found that they were breaking quite nicely and we all got some good rides in. There was a slight hint that the fog might burn off and reveal a perfectly sunny day, but, alas it did not. We were also intrigued by this large group of people with shovels that were creating these giant piles of dirt with driftwood in them.
Chapter 5: 100+ Things to do in Westport
After a full day of surfing we made a huge dinner which we cooked in the fire. The after dinner entertainment consisted of reading the "100+ Things You Can Do Right Now in Westport" supplied in the brochure from the Resort. Some of the tasks we completed:
#1) Go to the Visitors' Information Center (it was closed)
#8) Squish Sand Between Your Toes (it sort of happens when you walk in the sand)
#18) Get a Sun Tan (even when its so foggy you can barely see the beach from the surf, you can still get burned)
#46) Stop for Lunch Anywhere (how about on the beach?)
#83) Breathe the Clean Pacific Aire in Deeeeply
Some of our favourites which we didn't manage to complete:
#24) Feed a Seagull or Crow anywhere
#41) Buy Some Bait
#60) Wave "Hi!" to Our Friendly Police Persons
#70) Bicycle Everywhere!
#87) Rent a movie
#98) Be Brunswicked...Go Bowling
#99) Sit on a Great Lawn at the High School
Chapter 6: Bob the Surfer Dude
We checked out the surf on the second morning - the fog was gone but it was overcast - and the surf wasn't great. So instead we had Jon drive his car up the dunes and took pictures of it. Then we headed to the surf shops to check out their boards. We entered "The Surf Shop" and Bob was there, who Jon described as looking like a furniture salesman and nothing like your typical surfer, but when he talked, he took the surfer stereotype to the extreme. He didn't have any boards in either the size or price range we were looking for, but did provide us some entertainment. Alberto had a banana peel that he wanted to throw out and Bob replied with a monologue something like this "Hey man, I usually don't take garbage, dude I only have so much space. There's garbage cans all over the place...they have them in the park...they're at the gas station, man they're everywhere." He then took Alberto's bananapeel anyways, and as we were leaving said, "Hey Bananaman, be careful who you hang out with." Good times, I think we'll have to stop in to talk to Bob every visit to Westport.
Chapter 7: Nothing too Interesting
Driving back to Canada wasn't too eventful. After leaving Westport we stopped briefly in Seattle, ingested 120g of sugar each in the form of a fizzy drink and chocolate bar, and checked out the outlet mall in Tulalip. We got an excellent deal at the quiksilver outlet before finishing the drive home.
