"I know how to get to Tenaja Falls"

Saturday. February 19 2011.

10:00AM - all packed up. Looney and I met Shawn, Jeremy & Lincoln at Camp Pendleton to make our way towards Lake Elsinore to find Tenaja Falls. Jeremy has been there before so he "knew how to get there." After a little more than an hour truck ride, we came to the conclusion we were all lost. Looney and I in his 2 wheel drive Tacoma and the other three guys in Shawn's $2,500 rigged 4 wheel drive Tahoe, we plowed all wheels into the mountains to search for the waterfall. We came to an area in the trail where there was a small area to the left to turn-around (if need be). As we drove a few feet further up the trail, a HYUNDAI - WAS - PARKED - IN - THE - MIDDLE - OF - THE - DIRT - ROAD. No passengers in it, all belongings out of the car and this Hyundai blocking the trail from traffic to go through. Needless, to say - we needed to get through to see if the waterfall was up that way.

4 guys, 1 girl and 2 trucks later::: Shawn plowed over the hill incline, through the brush, dodging the Hyundai and landed on the other side of the trail with a few scratches on his vehicle from the brush. I say to Looney, "let's just park your truck and go hop in the truck with them. There's no way your Tacoma is going to make it - your ass end is going to fish tail right into that car." Looney, on the other hand, had FULL FAITH in his 2 wheel drive baby. "Nah, I'll be fine" Here goes nothin'....SMASHHHHHHHHHHHHH - pegs off the hyundai's right side mirror and scrapes up the side of the car!!!
Looney "oh shit, did I hit that?"
Me "oh my god..yep."
The look on his face was priceless. He wanted to laugh but wanted to be pissed at the same time. He writes a note, hangs onto it in case he sees the dumbasses who parked their car in-the-middle-of-the-flippin'-road up ahead and we all carry on our way to explore what's ahead.

Highlight of this moment: First Looney laughed. Then he was a little mad. Then he laughed again. I seriously wish I would have gotten pictures of the damage/incident but I was wayyyy too busy almost peeing my pants from laughing, then trying to be serious, then peeing my pants from laughing again. He handled this situation better than a lot of people. He was ready to make the most of the rest of the day - and not just call the day quits. haha. -----after this incident, we found a dirt biker who told us to walk up to the top of the mountain (which wasn't very far away) and take in the beautiful view. From being so far East, we surprisingly could see the ocean coast at the distance from that high up. The view was so green - it reminded me of the hills, in the Sound of Music. [Funny side note: Yes, it's extremely personal but sooooooooo funny. Jeremy had to do the dirty deed in the wilderness. He had nothing to wipe with and he was - desperate. I mean, when a guys gotta go, he's gotta go. So he used his hat - R.I.P. baseball hat. HA!!!!]

Famous words came out of Looney's mouth when talking about what he's going to do about hitting the car and getting back across to the opposite side of the trail: "I'll leave the note on their car or I'll just hit it again!" We get back over where the Hyundai is parked - and damn, it's a lot steeper of a lift going back the other way. All of us try shifting the car over towards the left side of the road - and the car alarm goes off.
Shawn "Don't worry - it will only go off for 2 minutes"
Shawn and I take the Tacoma's tail end, start pushing it and as Looney gets some speed, the mud underneath us makes us slip...and well, Looney called it, hitting the car again. A note left on the mirror with his name and phone number and we were getting the heck outta there.

Still determined to find Tenaja Falls? YOU BET!!! After asking someone, we came to find out we were rather close. The mile hike to the fall was sketchy - we had to cross over a river that is usually easy to cross (until you get inches and inches of rain like we had just gotten). The river was flooded and we carefully needed to find rocks to hop on. Shawn on the other hand, ended up falling in. HAHAHA. The waterfall was breathtaking. How God created such naturally beautiful scenery is beyond me. We went at a perfect time. Rain had just hit the waterfall, so it was flowing pretty awesome. We climbed up and down the waterfall rocks for an hour or so, took it nature's beauty and called it a day because we didn't want to be stuck in the mountains once dark hit.

The day adventures had called for a chill night. Lincoln made dinner at my place and we all took turns dominating Super Nintendo. Epic day & awesome night. Little did we know we'd have just as many problems the next day on our mud cave adventure....

SUP &Surfing.

Weekend of January 15 2011.

SUP = Stand Up Paddling
Surfing = one of the most peaceful, realization moments.

I recently tried two new water activities and must say, I'm extremely satisfied with both.

Stand Up Paddling (SUP)- In the early 1960s, the Beach Boys of Waikiki would stand on their long boards, and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of the tourists learning to surf. The sport is an ancient form of surfing, and reemerged as a way for surfing instructors to manage their large groups of students, as standing on the board gave them a higher viewpoint, increasing visibility of what was going on around them. Today, the sport benefits athletes with a strong 'core' workout. SUP'ing is popular at warm coastal climates and resorts, and is gaining in popularity as celebrities are sampling the sport, and cross-over athletes are training with SUP.

My experience: At Liquid Force, two of our boats are docked at the Carlsbad Lagoon Wakesports. Since I work for Liquid Force now, I get all of my rentals for free (SUP, Kayak, Jet ski, etc.) - SOOOOOOO...I decided to try Stand Up Paddling. I had a short board (which is harder to stabalize yourself) & I decided to paddle from the Wakesport cove to Bristol Cove (which is my backyard) and totals to probably about a mile or so, if not a little more? I paddled to my dock, chatted with my roomie for a little while and then paddled my way back to Wakesports. It was very relaxing. Gave my shoulders and core a workout, so I didn't fall in the water, but it was just me. my paddle. the board. and the sunset :)

Surfing: a surface water sport in which a person (the surfer) rides a board on the crest of the wave as it carries the surfer towards the shore.

My experience: I went down to Mission Beach with Peanut, Jake, Mario & some other dude. They taught me how to surf. Wet suits, surf boards and decent waves - it was so relaxing yet tiring at the same time. You realize the world is so much bigger than what we see everyday, when you're out in the water plopped up on your surfboard, feet dangling waiting to catch the next wave. I got up a handful of times. It is a really hard technique to get down and you just have to "feel the wave."


"Everyone has a 'risk muscle.' You keep it in shape by trying new things. If you don't, it atrophies. Make a point of using it at lesat once a day." - Roger Von Oech