We celebrated our 4th anniversary on August 13th by heading to the Oregon Coast for camping and surf lessons. Leave it to us, to celebrate four years of wonderful life by risking our necks on thin pieces of foam in the freezing and ruthless waves of the Pacific. We were joined in our lessons by 11 YMCA camp youths, 4 other adults, and our instructor Ollie Richardson and his helper "Devon."
They don't waste time at surf camp...the first thing you do is get into your horribly tight wetsuit. I'm just saying...it leaves nothing to the imagination. I could now understood why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they wanted to look good in their wetsuits. We grabbed our boards (which our heavier than expected) and trekked down to the beach. I know understood why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they carried these boards around a lot. We then spent some time on the beach (like 5 minutes) practicing "paddling out" and then hopping up to our knees, then feet. We were then left to ourselves and the roaring 80 ft. swells of death (okay, they were 3 ft. swells). I immediately knew why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they had man handled their boards with waves crashing towards them for a while know.
M paddled out farther than I did, but I got up to my feet first. M also did, briefly. At the end of our lesson he stated that I had better balance - but he is much stronger and bolder (which counts for a ton). We felt sore almost right away and were pretty useless for the rest of our 3 day camp. I immediately knew why Ollie and Devon looked like they spent several hours in the gym....they did this on a regular basis. We had fun and both got pretty comfortable on the boards - but, we're no pros. We need a little more time for that.
The highlight, of course, was M's encounter with a wild seal. He was pretty psyched. I, on the other hand, know that seals are a sure indication of sharks....right?
The beach was beautiful and certainly different from the coasts that we are used to. No sundresses and bikinis here, folks. We were donning jeans, jackets, sweatshirts, etc. But the wildlife was amazing we were able to see seals and sea lions (which are ginormous).
Okay....here are pics. We love you all. Hope you enjoy seeing us in our waterproof leotards.
Ollie, our instructor, laughing at us.
L - Paddling.
L - trying to get to feet.
L - having eaten it...and laughing.
M - Super awesome wave - L is watching.
No Guts, No Glory. M's somewhere under water - his surf board is in the air.
Adult Group Shot. Last Day.
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