September 18, 2007 Good Things Come to Those Who Wait...?

When it comes to love...maybe so...but life in general?

No, I don't believe this anymore.

I watched a really good movie tonight. It's called The Pursuit of Happyness. It makes me hope that I never bitch about my life's hardships ever again. I know I am human, and I'm not perfect. But this movie really moved me tonight. This man went through so much to get what he wanted out of life. If he can do it, anyone can. It made me cry my eyes out.

"I don't believe the old cliche that good things come to those who wait. I think good things come to those who want something so bad, they can't sit still."
- Ashton Kutcher

Don't ever give up on your dreams folks! "Anyone who ever tells you can't do something is probably saying that because they have already failed at it themselves." - Paul Stanley from Kiss

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. We all have the power to make this a better place. Be the change that you want to see in the world.

September 13, 2007

Rumbling Bald, NC

This is where I'm doing my very first outdoor climb on the 22nd.

These pics I've been looking at are making me so nervous. I'm sure once I'm up there, it will be fine.

Wish me luck!!! :)

I found this:

Climbing and Bouldering videos

I thought it was kinda cool.

September 1, 2007 Learning to surf; Avila Beach in CA

Sue and Vince's Excellent Adventures:

Saturday morning the 1st of September, Vince took me surfing. I have never surfed before, and I have wanted to try it. You never know unless you try, right?

Anyways, the swell wasn't really doing anything at Shell beach, so we headed to the touristy Pismo. Vince didn't want to take me there, but we really had no choice. Any other place probably would not have been too great for a beginner!

I was so stoked about going out there! haha

We get to Pismo and we suited up. Vince let me use this awesome wetsuit. It had long sleeves and a turtle neck. I put my hair up in pig tails! (as always) We started walking toward the beach surf boards in hand! It was heavier than I thought it was going to be. He started running with the board. So I begin to run with mine to catch up.

He yelled out to me, "Hey, Sue, turn your board around so the wax is on the other side. You're a surfer now." I laughed. I couldn't believe I had the board turned the wrong way! The wax was getting all over my wet suit, etc. lol It had already began to heat up. He found a spot for us to practice getting up on the board. It was really fast paced.

My concentration wasn't really good that morning. I kept looking at all the surfers! Vince was like, "Sue, focus. It's really hot, and I'm burning up in this wet suit. I've got to get in the water soon." lol Anyways, I laid on the board and practiced getting up. My right foot naturally just came out in front. So he put the leash on my left. We got up and started running towards the ocean. I was so nervous! I was yelling out to him, "how will i know what to do?" He says, "You'll just feel it." Great!!! Um, yeah, whatever you say there! haha

As I'm running after him, my right leg keeps getting caught in the leash cord or tangled in it rather. Jeez! I'm a faller. I always fall, so I was so scared I was going to fall down with this surf board and everyone on the beach was going to laugh! (Just like at happy hour after work the other night. I decided to wear heels that day. I walk inside from the deck area at Liberty, and I slipped on the hard-wood floor and almost busted my ass in front of everybody in the bar!) (I have more falling stories but I'll save those for another time...usually involving high heels)

Anyway, we finally got in the water. Getting out there really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I mean, it was hard, but just not the way I thought.

Every time a wave would come at me, I would put my hands on the surf board and push down and jump the wave. Just like as a kid when we used to swim with floats or rafts in the ocean. Not that bad.

Then we got to deeper water. So, I had to lay on top of my board. Vince yells out, "Start paddling", and I start doing this stupid breast stroke looking maneuver. (I don't swim. I doggy paddle and I'm a good under water swimmer) I was basically doggy paddling on the board! lol Hilarious!!! Vince yells, "Sue, paddle." I yelled back, "I am paddling." He says, "No, like this." and he starts to paddle with arms...I'm like "Duh!" I felt like a complete idiot! hahaha Too funny! I finally start paddling correctly.

I got hit by so many freakin' waves! Head bashed! They kept knocking me off the board. After like 10 times, it gets kinda hard and tiring to keep getting back up on the board and paddling out with no upper body strength.

Anyways, we finally get out to the nice part where it felt calm. That's where we waited for a swell. Vince told me I could sit on the board instead of laying on it. It was so nice out there and peaceful sitting there like that. Vince got out farther then me. I tried to watch how he maneuvered, etc. The hard part was getting myself turned around in time to catch the swell at the right moment.

One time, I got up on my knees but in like a mad second, I was turned over! lol

I just kept getting hit and knocked off by the waves. Frustrating! But it made me laugh for some reason. It's hard to swim when you're laughing at the same time.

Finally, I caught a small swell. I wasn't able to get up again on the board, however, it didn't knock me off either. I got to ride the wave in on my belly. It was so much fun! I felt like a kid. I was laughing hysterically.

Anyways, when I hit the shallow end, i decided to come on out. I was so tired after struggling in the water like that for almost an hour. I considered it dangerous for me to go back out. So, I sat on shore and watched Vince surf. It was pretty cool. I definitely would like to try again. It seems everything I want to do right now involves so much core body strength! And a lot of upper body.

The rest of the day we just hung out on the beach. It was so nice out there.

Then we went to Avila to the San Luis Obispo Harbour.

I really miss my friend, Vince!

Sorry, I couldn't resist posting this pic:

This is for Vince! haha I was taking so many pictures out there, I couldn't remember to keep putting my seat belt back on!

Jeez! Updating this blog really makes me realize how much I really miss CA!

August 31, 2007 Bishop Peak in San Luis Obispo County, CA

If you read my previous blog, and if you read about the Nine Sisters, you will know about Bishop Peak. It's the tallest out of the Nine Sisters.

This was a fun outing! We hiked up Bishop Peak and scrambled around.

We found the cutest tabby cat on the way up. Look what it's collar said!

Vince ran right across this pipe! No big deal! lol

On our way up, we came across some people top-roping.

I can't wait to climb!

Anyways, as we made our way up, we came upon this one wall. And Vince jumped on it and started climbing up. I was like, "Dude, are you crazy?"

I wonder what that wire thing was?

Of course, I wanted to do it.

But I was thinking, God this is so crazy...!

It was a bitch coming down though. It was scary. This was probably not one of the smartest things to do...but the wall wasn't really that tall though...still not smart!

I had to rest a lot on this hike! I can't wait until the day I can climb...it seems better to climb up than to hike up! No clue, but it just seems so.

This was the trail from below:

Vince ran some of it and waited on me to get to him. It was hot as hell.

Vince could've just ran up the whole thing! One good thing (among others) about Vince is that he is so positive. I mean, every time we went on an outing, he raised his hand up, and said, "Hi Five!" As we were hiking, he would be a little farther up than I and he would just yell out, "You're doing great Sue" or "we're almost there", even though I would remember him saying that "we were almost there" like 15 or 20 minutes before that. lol

The hike up to the peak was about 3 to 4 miles uphill the entire time. It was hot that day! I was however glad it was a dry heat and not a SC heat! Jeez! We weren't just walking...there were boulders on the way, etc. so it was a good work-out. And with Vince, you can't take a leisurely stroll...so we were walking a good pace, needless to say. This was great for me though. I want to rock climb. I need to do things like this. Vince being an athlete, gave me some advice while I was out there. He told me about anaerobic exercise and about cross-training. Of course, I won't be competing in any Iron Man competitions like he does, but it would help me a good bit in rock climbing. My endurance would definitely get better. It's the hike up that would completely drain me! However, I think I am so excited right now though about climbing, that once we got up to the wall, my adrenaline would pump back in! :)

Resting!

It was so beautiful out there! I love these hikes, but I will be so ready when I get to actually climb the face of a mountain to get to the peak instead of hiking up the backside. :)

We had so much fun playing around on the boulders and scrambling around. It was a huge playground for me!

House-sized boulders and stuff! ;-)

Thanks Vince for holding my camera! Not only for all the great pics, but because I probably would've dropped it! :)

Lots of boulders to hike up! :)

I can't believe I climbed around on boulders in California! When I was a whole lot younger, I remember I used to say that I would never visit California b/c of earthquakes, etc. I didn't even think about that when I was out there. I also didn't even think about sharks at all when I was sea kayaking or surfing. I was more worried about hurting Vince's board!!! lol

It's funny the things that different people are afraid of. You know? Or what we were afraid of when we were little compared to now...more afraid of earthquakes back then rather than now and less afraid of heights back then than now!

Cal Poly is down there somewhere! :)

Moving on to the next group of boulders:

I have an "Oh Shit" look on my face here! lol

Great shot, Vince! :) (It took me forever to jump over to that other boulder! I was so scared.)

We found this cave. There were all kinds of little cave or holes you could walk in to peer out over the cliff. Vince went in first. He said there were buzzards hanging out the cliff outside of the cave. I wanted to see the fuss!

Isn't this amazing? Thanks Vince for getting pics of this! :)

When I go out to climb at Joshua Tree, you better get some shoes, etc.! I want you to take my pics! :) hehe

All of these openings were so cool.

Vince scrambling around...actually, this was pretty dangerous of him to do..."be careful Vince"!

Afraid of heights???

Bringin' sexy back!

I love how these pics turned out! Awesome!I can't wait for my first time out on rock on the 22nd!

Vince caught me day-dreaming! I felt so peaceful up there. I think Vince snapped several of these photos of me. He said I looked really happy at that moment. I was! How can anyone not believe in God or a God or that there is not another supreme power out there? Who created all of this beauty? Yeah, earthquakes and plate movement, etc., but there's more behind it all...it's so gorgeous! It almost brought tears to my eyes!

The last few boulders and coming out of the last "cave":

As I'm trying to get out of this spot, Vince says, "We would be so screwed if there was an earthquake right about now!" lol

He said that there are pretty much earthquakes there every day, but you just can't feel them. They're so small on the scale! I hadn't even thought of earthquakes at all while we were up there the whole time! haha

It was neat to see earthquake remnants though at Shell Beach while we were kayaking. And in some other areas...the cracks, etc. It was interesting. I'm fascinated by earthquakes and volcanoes! I always have been.

Some climbers on the way down:

I'll be doing that one day soon!

The most famous:

I fell in love with this place!

This place saved my life after that hike! lol (protein shakes)

I was exhausted and pale and confused...Vince said he'd never seen anything like it before. He told the cashier to put a shot of protein in my Mango shake. I seriously thought I was going to faint! haha

August 30, 2007 Morro Bay State Park/Montana De Oro State Park, CA

This is a pic of Hazard Canyon. (Hazard Reef)

Talk about feeling like a big kid! Woah!!! This place was awesome! I miss it so much!!! So beautiful...it has "stolen my heart"!


After our sea kayaking event and grabbing lunch, Vince took me up to Montana De Orro State Park.

Talk about something amazing! Jeez!!!

This is a pic of Morro Bay Rock:

It is now illegal to climb here. A lot of the climbing on the peaks near or in this area is now illegal. Very interesting...

It's part of the Nine Sisters (The Morros). The Nine Sisters are a chain of 9 extinct volcanoes. They are major peaks that lie in a linear fashion extending from San Luis Obispo to Morro Bay. The Nine Sisters are: Morro Rock, Black Hill, Cabrillo Peak, Hollister Peak, Cerro Romauldo, Chumash Peak, Bishop Peak, Cerro San Luis (Madonna) and Islay Hill. The highest of the peaks is Bishop 1,559 feet.

If you want to read up on it, here's a link: Morro Bay Rock

Also: The Nine Sisters

Going into the this area was so gorgeous! Eucalyptus trees everywhere. They 're not native to California either! They are Australian! Interesting, huh?

Vince took me to this place called Hazard Reef in the State Park here in Morro Bay.

I had the most amazing time here. I saw things up close I've really never seen in "real" life. There were awesome dunes. It was like a coastal desert or something.

We hiked to the edge of this trail. It came to a cliff drop off. I looked at Vince and said, "Dude are we actually going down this thing?" Of course he said yes. I was thinking "hell no" i am not! hahaha

He jumped and showed me it was all dune...sand. It was a huge playground!

Some of the pics are really deceiving! It was really steep!

Vince took the first leap! Then I wasn't as scared....

Vince had a blast! He said he hadn't been down these since he was a kid!

Yeah, I was still a little scared, but it was a freakin' blast going down that thing! Vince took some pics...probably hoping to get some carnage shots!

This is what I was headed towards:

Whoo hoo! Yee haw! What a blast!

And....

...done!!! Finally!!!

"Look what I slid down, Mom and Dad!" :) hehe

The adventures of Vince and Sue:

This place was so amazing!

Vince, you are the man! Thanks so much for taking these pics for me with my camera and showing me some features on my cam!!!

Of course, I had to run up and down the dune again!!!! This one was fun! Just a straight up sand dune! Whoo-hoo!

Leaving the beach and hiking out on the Hazard Reef trail:

It was like a jungle or something on the way back!

This was the pic I took at the end of the trail looking back towards the coast:

The sun was setting, so it was kind of hard to really get the shot I was hoping for.

What an exciting adventure! I had so much fun. It was a learning experience too. It felt kind of like I was on a field trip or something! lol