Hello All,
Yesterday, after one last man date with Pete, (lunch and surfboard shopping!!) , he dropped me off at the car rental place. I picked up my whip and started heading north up the coast. About an hour into my drive, I found myself sitting in traffic adjacent to Camp Pendleton's Marine Corp Base Camp. From Highway 5, I could see Marines doing drills both on the ground and from a few helicopters. As I sat there for a bit, watching Marines drill, I was boldly reminded that freedom isn't free. I know that I and perhaps we, take much of what the men and women sacrifice to protect our country, for granted. Acknowledging those that keep us all safe 24/7 365 days a year is something that I do far too little of. Making calls to Veterans on November 11th and hardly doing a damn thing the other 364 days a year is not good enough. Not even close. To those in active duty of any kind, as well as to all our Veterans, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR ALL THAT YOU SACRIFICE SO THAT I CAN ENJOY BEING FREE.
As I continued my way up the coast, I decided to take part in my latest adrenaline rush activity. The game goes as follows. With either little or no advanced notice, show up at an old friend's house and see whether or not they let you in or slam the door in your face. This time, I decided to drop in on Neil and Megan Ferrier in Foothill Ranch, located in Orange County just east of Laguna Beach. (previosuly I have played this game with friends in Florida, Colorado, Washington, New York, and just this past week with Pete and Amanda in San Diego! No doors slammed yet!) I had not seen Neil but once or twice since college and had not seen his doll of a wife Megan since my days as an undergrad at Clemson. I pulled into their driveway, knocked on the door AND.... they let me in! Boo Yaa! What were they thinking?? They are such great people. Neil has some nerd job at OAKLEY'S Headquarters. I have no idea what he does, I just know I am not smart enough to do it. However, I was all on board when he offered to give me a tour of their Headquarters! The place was beyond amazing with some of the coolest memorabilia and toys I have ever seen. As for Megan, she is just an absolute gem. Good luck on the tea/juice cleansing! That sounds like so much fun! I'll stick to carbohydrate loading and BEEF.
This morning, I made my way over to Laguna Beach with my new short board! I was pumped to check out one of SoCal's surfing hot spots! I hit the waves for about 3 hours! It was incredible watching some of the folks surfing around me. They were just destroying waves. I was both destroying and getting destroyed by those same waves. Mostly destroyed.
After my morning surf and a quick hike to a place called "Top Of The World" which overlooks Laguna Beach, I grabbed a quick lunch and worked my way up north to Newport Beach to test out some more waves at a big boy beach! I wish I could have something good to say about my surfing here, but I got absolutely killed by some of the biggest waves I have seen on my travels. After about an hour and a half of giving it my all, I made my way into the beach. The waves were breaking so steep and hard and the riptide was brutal. I was in over my head. Great experience though. The surfing I was lucky enough to watch was incredible and Newport Beach and Balboa Island were beyond gorgeous.
Tonight, Neil and I took out his 1965 Camero. I think it is a Camero. I don't know cars. It was old, red, and fast! Speed limits are merely suggestions right? We Survived.
Heading north in the morning. See you later Orange County. Thanks for having me Ferriers!
Mark/Chops
The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days
Yesterday, after one last man date with Pete, (lunch and surfboard shopping!!) , he dropped me off at the car rental place. I picked up my whip and started heading north up the coast. About an hour into my drive, I found myself sitting in traffic adjacent to Camp Pendleton's Marine Corp Base Camp. From Highway 5, I could see Marines doing drills both on the ground and from a few helicopters. As I sat there for a bit, watching Marines drill, I was boldly reminded that freedom isn't free. I know that I and perhaps we, take much of what the men and women sacrifice to protect our country, for granted. Acknowledging those that keep us all safe 24/7 365 days a year is something that I do far too little of. Making calls to Veterans on November 11th and hardly doing a damn thing the other 364 days a year is not good enough. Not even close. To those in active duty of any kind, as well as to all our Veterans, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR ALL THAT YOU SACRIFICE SO THAT I CAN ENJOY BEING FREE.
As I continued my way up the coast, I decided to take part in my latest adrenaline rush activity. The game goes as follows. With either little or no advanced notice, show up at an old friend's house and see whether or not they let you in or slam the door in your face. This time, I decided to drop in on Neil and Megan Ferrier in Foothill Ranch, located in Orange County just east of Laguna Beach. (previosuly I have played this game with friends in Florida, Colorado, Washington, New York, and just this past week with Pete and Amanda in San Diego! No doors slammed yet!) I had not seen Neil but once or twice since college and had not seen his doll of a wife Megan since my days as an undergrad at Clemson. I pulled into their driveway, knocked on the door AND.... they let me in! Boo Yaa! What were they thinking?? They are such great people. Neil has some nerd job at OAKLEY'S Headquarters. I have no idea what he does, I just know I am not smart enough to do it. However, I was all on board when he offered to give me a tour of their Headquarters! The place was beyond amazing with some of the coolest memorabilia and toys I have ever seen. As for Megan, she is just an absolute gem. Good luck on the tea/juice cleansing! That sounds like so much fun! I'll stick to carbohydrate loading and BEEF.
This morning, I made my way over to Laguna Beach with my new short board! I was pumped to check out one of SoCal's surfing hot spots! I hit the waves for about 3 hours! It was incredible watching some of the folks surfing around me. They were just destroying waves. I was both destroying and getting destroyed by those same waves. Mostly destroyed.
After my morning surf and a quick hike to a place called "Top Of The World" which overlooks Laguna Beach, I grabbed a quick lunch and worked my way up north to Newport Beach to test out some more waves at a big boy beach! I wish I could have something good to say about my surfing here, but I got absolutely killed by some of the biggest waves I have seen on my travels. After about an hour and a half of giving it my all, I made my way into the beach. The waves were breaking so steep and hard and the riptide was brutal. I was in over my head. Great experience though. The surfing I was lucky enough to watch was incredible and Newport Beach and Balboa Island were beyond gorgeous.
Tonight, Neil and I took out his 1965 Camero. I think it is a Camero. I don't know cars. It was old, red, and fast! Speed limits are merely suggestions right? We Survived.
Heading north in the morning. See you later Orange County. Thanks for having me Ferriers!
Mark/Chops
ur |
| I NEED TO GET THIS SURFBOARD INTO THAT CAR.. |
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| LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA |
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| TOLD THE LIFEGUARDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON ME. BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR A CHANGE |
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| "TOP OF THE WORLD" LOOKOUT, LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA. UNFORTUNATELY IT WAS A LITTLE HAZY BUT STILL AMAZING. |
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| OVERTURNED EVERY ROCK AND BUSH WHILE HIKING TO FIND ONE. NO LUCK. |
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| I THOUGHT BRIAN MCGILVERY AND DANIEL COBBAN PLUS ALL YOU OTHER REALITY TV WATCHERS MIGHT LIKE THIS. |
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| HITTING THE ROAD |
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| NEWPORT BEACH HARBOR, CALIFORNIA |
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| IS MY RENTAL CAR REALLY IN THE OCEAN?... TAKING A FERRY TO BALBOA ISLAND OFF OF NEWPORT BEACH |
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| "THE WEDGE" ON BALBOA PENINSULA. CHECK OUT THIS PUNISHING WAVE SMASHING PEOPLE INTO SHORE! |
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| NEWPORT BEACH BIG BOY WAVES |
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| CRUSIN' NEWPORT BEACH WITH THE NEW BOARD! AT LEAST I LOOK THE PART ON MY WAY TO THE WATER! |
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| POST NEWPORT BEACH SURFING. STILL VERTICAL AND BREATHING! |
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| MEGAN THE SWEETHEART!, NEIL, MACK THE DOG, ME EATING MACKS BONE. SO NICE TO SEE MY OLD CLEMSON FRIENDS. |
The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days
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