Bookin' down to Baja 36

Today Unkie Lucas and Dad are going to take surfing lessons. We needed adequate fuel for such a physical endeavor, so off to Same Same but Different for waffles covered in extreme amounts of chocolate (Nutella actually). Alec had a shirt from a different Same Same but Different. We are discussing opening a restaurant called Same Same but Different Different.

Nutella generally ends up just about everywhere.

The surfing lessons were at a different part of the Cerritos beach than we normally go to, but we didn't figure this out until we were already at the parking lot for our normal spot. This hiccup necessitated taking a few back roads to get to the correct beach, and there were moments of worry that Unkie Lucas's rental car might not make it through the pot holes and ditches. We all made it in one piece, although we aren't sure if we left any of the rental car behind.

We had about an hour before our lesson, and the only logical thing to do was to build as many sandcastles as possible. We gave Alex and Unkie Lucas the breakdown of our sandcastle building technique and let them go at it.

Remy likes to play "foreman" while everyone else plays construction worker.

We also buried Alec's feet in the sand out in the waves. We were hoping to use him as shark bait but we weren't able to catch anything. I guess we'll have to go out for dinner again.

Dad left his phone in the car (it just gets sandy usually), but the confirmation email was required to verify that we had paid. Dad had to run a few sprints in the already hot sun to retrieve his belongings, and he was definitely winded before lessons even began. Surf lessons started on the beach, with an explanation of how to properly ride the board while getting out into the surf far enough catch the waves before they break. We did a few practices moving from a prone position to standing up, and then we were off.

The first task was to get out far enough that we wouldn't have waves beating down on us. Luckily the beach extends quite a ways so we were able to walk out without having to worry about keeping ourselves from flying off the board. Once we were out at an appropriate spot, our instructor helped us by holding the board in position and then giving us a push to get us going along with the wave. We used 11 foot boards, which offer a lot of stability, but also require and enormous amount of effort to turn around. The process usually went something like this:

Walk the board out past where the waves were breaking. The 11 foot boards are cumbersome.

If you are walking, and a wave is coming toward you and hasn't broken, or has already started to break, push the nose of the board up and "jump" with the wave. This worked pretty well in most cases.
If you're on the board and a wave is coming toward you, do a pushup to help get the board up over the wave.
If you're on the board, or walking, and the wave has already broken, and it is very very large, ditch the board and dive under the wave. The board won't go too far because it is tied to your leg. I didn't learn this method until about 3/4 of the way through. I took quite a few tumbles trying to maneuver around some of the bigger waves.

Once you get to the appropriate spot, hop on the board and wait. If the instructor was assisting, he usually gave the signal and then gave the board a push back toward the shore. If the instructor was helping another student, you had to sit kind of perpendicular to the shore and try to get yourself turned back toward the shore before the wave came.

Identifying when to start paddling in order to catch the wave was the hardest part in my opinion, especially with the very large board.

As soon as the wave catches the board, do a pushup thing and go into a sideways pose. Foot placement was very important, as feet too far toward put the nose under water (you're going flying), and feet too far back pushed the back of the board under water (you're going flying). You also have to stand up relatively quickly otherwise the wave just kind of passes by you.

Success!

Failure!

Close call. Almost didn't make it up over this one.

We made it back in mostly one piece.

The only thing twisted was Dad's spine.

While Lucas and Dad were surfing, Remy, Alec, and Mom were very busy playing in the sand and water.

After we finished up our surfing lessons it was time for Mom, Dad, Remy, and Louie to head home for naps. Lucas and Alec stayed behind to grab lunch at the very delicious Barracuda Cantina.

For dinner we went to the Green Room to enjoy the sunset and get just a little bit more sand in our underpants. This garden is just outside the hotel next door to the Green Room. We aren't sure if the giant sculpture serves a purpose or is just decorative.

Cheers to a great weekend!

The beach just beyond the Green Room has a very large drop off, probably four to five feet depending on how big the waves have been. It makes for a great jumping spot.