Mexanese Mumbo Jumbo

I've surfed once on my 30th birthday. I managed to stand up on my very first try, primarily because the instructor pushed me in to the wave. Once he decided I got the "hang of it", he unleashed me on my own to do my own paddling. It didn't go well. The board I was using was so wide I struggled to get anything past my elbows in the water, let alone try to catch a wave.

This time around, I managed to get a board that was more appropriate to my height. We headed out the PB to do some surfing, only to have the locals move away from us when we told them we were from Vancouver. One lovely gentleman even said to me "Newbie? I can tell".

Of course it didn't help that the more appropriate board for my height was too small and I could barely paddle without falling off my board. In fact, I did a few times, much to my embarrassment.

After an hour or so in the water, sans catching a single wave, we decided to head back home and rest before heading out for the night's festivities. We ended up at a bar in PB with steins reminiscent of Oktoberfest.

As we made our way to the Comber, we of course stopped to pick up Santana burritos and dropped them off at home for the end of the night. (seriously, you don't understand how amazing these burritos are) It was at this point that Wayne became Nine. He decided to go get a piece of pizza, rumoured to be the size of his head. He paid $9 for a slice of pizza, which as Ed informed us, was about double what it should've cost. Oops!

Now, a few things about the Comber. Aside from it's ideal location, and it's deterring appeal to tourists, it smells. Of sewage. And it gets worse as the night goes on. But there's beer pong in the back. This is also the place where the largest Samoan I've ever met decided he wanted to dance with me.

He was about 6'5" and about 250lbs. I refused to leave the little stage I was standing on. It was awkward and very uncomfortable when the last song of the night came on and he wanted to slow dance. My arm didn't reach past his side. Before the last song could finish, he decided to introduce me to his 10 siblings who were all at the bar as well. And then his sister decided she needed a picture of us. Awkward!

Needless to say, our love was not in the stars that night and we parted ways as amicable acquaintances, never to see each other again, even if Wayne and Dennis wouldn't let me live it down for a while.

The next day, we were in for a treat, a deck birthday party was being thrown for a friend. Stay tuned!

SD is a great place. I went for my 30th birthday and spent 3 blissful days by myself putzing about the PB and La Jolla area. Ever since, I've been wanting to back, so when Wayne asked if I wanted to go on a surfing trip to San Diego, I didn't hesitate. I might have actually stunned Wayne into a momentary silence with how quickly I said yes.

Dennis was also coming along for the ride, and thanks to him, we had a place to stay. We were going to crash at his buddy Ed's place for the weekend. When we arrived, after being warned it was going to be a marathon in drinking weekend (hence the need for multiple parts to this tale), we were introduced to Shots in a Bag. Possibly the beginning of my demise that evening.

We headed across the street to the Beach Comber to start the night with $1 drinks. Later we decided to go dancing at another bar and is roughly where I stopped remembering things. The very vague memories I do have of this part of the evening involve some terrible dancing by yours truly, apparently forewarning Ed and his wife Jackie that I'd be kissing the porcelain throne that night however promised to clean up after myself (I don't actually remember saying this) and Dennis dancing up a storm with an amazon of a girl, whose boobs were so big, each were easily the size of his head. Amazingly enough, he restrained his motorboating skills even though the girls were at a perfect standing height.

After a pit stop at Santana's for THE best 1 lb burritos ever, we were on our way home. At this point in the night, I couldn't actually walk in my wedges without turning my ankle and almost falling, so I opted to carry my shoes. On the walk home, the boys decided to take a dip in the ocean, Wayne may or may not have thrown up multiple times in the ocean - the jury is still out. (Although he did at least once)

Jackie and I crashed for the night while the boys decided to rock out to Rock Band. Apparently Dennis was singing up a storm at the top of his lungs, I heard nothing. The next day I woke up feeling pretty good, all things considered. Dennis, not so much. Once Dennis had some QT time with the porcelain throne, we headed out for some breakie and to rent some surf boards.

Stay tuned for the Surfing adventures!