Focus. Play.

Windows Live Writer

Clark Weber — 2006-08-14T11:53:40-07:00

This is a test of Windows Live Writer. I'm liking what I see so far. Let's see how it looks after we post to Typepad. I'll throw in a picture to make it more interesting.

Engaged

Clark Weber — 2005-11-15T18:36:39-08:00

Best friends just became better... Celese and I got engaged!!!

It all happened a few weeks ago during a three-day surf trip to Big Sur -- one of our favorite nuggets in California. Nothing better than a classic loop starting from San Francisco blasting south on Hwy. 101 towards San Luis Obispo and working north on Hwy. 1 through the heart of the Central California coast. Every trip to Big Sur for us entails a mix of funky stores, eccentric food, remote hikes, random accommodations, and of course, the search for perfect surf. But this one turned out a little more special for us.

Day 0: Sausalito - Morro Bay
Not much to report on this leg of the trip. Highlights included the smell of garlic driving through Gilroy and the vast line-ups of tract housing in nowheresville. Throw in an In-n-Out, Target and Home Depot and you've got the American Dream. Not bad living, huh? Ugh.

Celese, in typical fashion on our loop, passed out by King City leaving me with the harrowing effort of one-eyeing the drive to Morro Bay. In between listening to the chatter on the AM dial and the Engadget guys' podcast, I had plenty of time to think of how I would propose.

Similar to past trips, we hit Morro Bay late in the evening and went scouting for cheap motels. You'd be surprised how fast motels fill up in this sleepy coastal town. This year... we donned the Motel 6. Nothing but the best for Celese.

Day 1: Morro Bay - Sand Dollar Beach
We've been blessed with great surf every time we hit Morro Bay. Not sure if it's been good timing or just a great break. I knew it would be good again this year. The swell size and angle were setting up just right. But before jumping in the water, we needed to energize with some Kitty's Kitchen grub -- nothing stellar, but oh so good. You know what I mean.

After breakfast, we hit the water by 8:30am and surfed for close to 3 hours -- lots of great rollers that quickly built up to 3-6 foot faces as you hit the line. Celese caught some great waves. I was so psyched for her.

From Morro Bay we made our way north to the quaint town of Cambria for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants -- Wild Ginger Cafe. After some yummy Vietnamese rolls and Thai chicken wings, we continued our loop.

I knew the swell was building and would most likely be too big for Sand Dollar Beach on Saturday. So, I hit the gas hoping to get a quick sesh before nightfall. The waves looked doable from the bluff, and I saw two other surfers in the water, so I made a go of it.

After a brutal paddle and countless duck dives, I finally made it past the break -- only to find myself alone in the water with a building swell. The waves easily crested 8-12 feet as I searched for any make-able wave to take me back to the beach. I love Sand Dollar, but it was too menacing for this kid.

That night we stayed at great new place -- Treebones Resort -- which is situated on a stunning hillside overlooking the Pacific. The cool thing about Treebones is that you stay in modern yurts or at one of their campsites. We missed out on the yurts because they booked up months in advance. In fact, the campsites fill up quickly as well. Even when camping, you get full access to the lodge -- dinner and a killer hot tub that seems to float over the Pacific.

Day 2: Sand Dollar Beach - Big Sur
We woke up Saturday morning to thundering surf below us. I knew right away that surfing at Sand Dollar would be out of the question. This quickly proved to be an internal dilemma as I had convinced myself on the drive Thursday night that Sand Dollar would be the perfect place to propose to Celese.

"Hmmm.... should I ask Celese to marry me in the morning? Is the sunlight at a good angle that time of day? If I ask her to marry me in the morning, would it be insensitive to scout out surf later in the day?"

"Sand Dollar is the perfect place to propose -- the bluff, the beach, the water, and our history there. Do I risk finding another spot or just go with the sure thing?"

I really wanted to surf and I really wanted to find a perfect place to propose. I thought through my emotions a little longer and decided I could get the best both of worlds. It's what got me here. No sense in stopping now.

After a yummy homemade waffle at Treebones (another bonus to stay here), we packed up the tent and hit the road. For shits and giggles, we pulled into the Sand Dollar parking lot to check out the waves. I threw the ring in my coat pocket in case I found the "right" moment. We peered over the bluff and watched in awe as 20-25 foot bombs hit the crescent-shaped beach. Fortunately for my ego, a few local surfers stood in amazement and shook their heads as they strolled back to their cars. No go at Sand Dollar. And no go on the proposal -- just didn't feel right. Onward.

As we pulled out of the lot, I thought about the local surfers and questioned where they would go with these conditions. The waves were too big for anything exposed to the north or west, so it had to be a south facing break. Where could I find that in Big Sur? Then, I recalled a photo from an old issue of Surfer's Journal where they showed two guys scouting out surf at Andrew Molera State Park from a hillside. Judging from that shot, it looked like it faced due south which would protect the break from a direct hit but still produce enough energy to surf.

I knew that surfing at Andrew Molera would require a 1-2 mile hike so I wanted to find that same viewpoint from the photo to check out conditions. When we approached the park entrance I scoured the hillside for any roads that would give us that vantage point. On our first try we meandered up a dirt road, turned the bend, and saw a pretty thing...

Gold!!!

As we zipped down the road, Celese notified me that she would opt out for surfing that afternoon. So, she dropped me off at a closer roadside trailhead so I could get a headstart while she parked the car -- what a gal! Before I made my way to the beach, I ran through my checklist:

Board - check
Wetsuit - check
Booties - check
Wax - check
Ring - check
Towel - check

Cool. Got everything.

When I arrived at the beach, the conditions were awesome and everyone with a surfboard in the surrounding 50-mile radius knew it as well. The place was packed. Oh well, might was well join in on the fun. So I geared up, looked around to see if anyone was watching, stashed the ring in my fleece pocket, and then stuffed my fleece in my board bag. Should be safe. No prob.

Actually, the crowded surf gave me plenty of time to scout out "the spot". After an hour of contemplating clever "Will you marry me?" lead-ins sprinkled with a few rides, I looked back towards the beach and could see Celese hanging out near my board bag and towel -- and RING!!! Shit, did I hide it well enough in my bag? Better get in... quick.

As I approached Celese, I noticed that she was sitting on my board bag just a few feet from the ring. While I took off my wetsuit, she placed her hand near the tip of the board bag and asked, "What's that? Did you bring a fleece? Can I wear it?"

"Hold on there nitro. Let me get it that for you."

And with one motion, I managed to bring the fleece out of the bag while removing the ring from the pocket. One of my better moves to date and one I could never repeat in a lifetime.

In classic form, I asked Celese to take a hike to the point to which replied "Ehh... it's kinda cold. Let's go back to the car." Sigh.

After some prodding, we packed a small backpack and made our way to the point. As we hiked to the point, I noticed a beach cove that was roped off due to a hairy descent from the bluff. Perfect. We scurried down the eroded dunes and hopped onto the beach. It was windy and far from ideal to propose, so I looked for a spot protected from the wind. After few hundred yards of walking on the beach, we turned the corner and voila.

We sat down for a few minutes and for the life of me, I can't remember what I said. But at some point, I must have proposed because Celese had a gleam in her eye that I will NEVER forget. We embraced for a long time and gazed out to the Pacific just laughing -- everything was perfect.

As we made our way back to the car, Celese commented on how it would be nice to stay at a better place than a cheesy lodge in Big Sur. Check.

Knowing this was going down at some point during the weekend, I secretly made a reservation for one night at the Ventana Inn. When I sprung that surprise on her, she was so stoked. And who wouldn't be... the Ventana rocks!!! We lived it up for the remainder of the trip -- lounging on our private hammock, soaking it up in the Japanese hot tubs, and taking in endless views from every spot on the property.

Day 3: Big Sur - Sausalito
Time to go home. Thankfully, the Ventana Inn has a late check out time of 1pm giving you plenty of time to soak up every last minute of nirvana. On the way north, I went back up that dirt road to check something out. Would it work? Maybe? Yep.

Surfers spend countless hours looking for that mysto spot. That spot that leads to complete bliss, perfection, and happiness. I found that spot on this trip. But it wasn't a surf break. This spot will be ingrained in my spirit for a lifetime. This spot marks where I began a new chapter in my life of complete bliss, perfection and happiness. A spot where best friends became better.

I love you Celese.

BTW... he hit some great surf in Santa Cruz on the way home.

[Check out my photo diary of the trip]

Barry

Clark Weber — 2005-09-13T08:59:54-07:00

Barry is back... and that is a big deal. He adds immediate impact to a team looking for that extra spark that turns them from mediocre to good. The Giants won't make the playoffs despite the Padres willingness to let them back in the hunt. But the Giants will learn how close they could have come if their star player had been with them all season long. It will give them solice knowing they are good players and a good team which could have been notched up with that one missing ingredient. Watch out in 2006.

I sat in my seats last night in awe as to what it means to watch Barry at the plate. Every time he stands up to the plate, you think he's gonna jack one over the fence -- every single fucking time. That is amazing and no one in baseball creates that energy. As the crowd at SBC gave Barry a 60 second standing ovation before his first at bat, he settled into his game and proceeded to foul the ball to an eleven pitch count (wearing out the Padres pitcher and ego by the way) and then it happened. He cranked one out to centerfield that came inches away from a home run -- inches. He still managed a double from the hit. But can you imagine had the ball gone out the park -- legendery. And that's what makes Barry a legend. And that's what keeps me coming to the game. I love the Giants. But I love the Giants more with Barry in the lineup. Keep it coming Barry... I'll be watching.

Coastal View Trail

Clark Weber — 2005-09-11T15:15:37-07:00

The Golden Gate park system recently created a new trail -- Coastal View Trail -- connecting Pantoll and Muir Beach -- and believe it or not -- they opened the trail up to mountain bikers. While the singletrack is not perfect for cycling -- a lot of off-camber turns -- the views are incredible making the ride worth it. I suspect that when more riders get on this trail -- especially after the winter rains -- the banks on the turns will develop making it better for riding.

I've ridden it twice and keep forgetting my camera -- so I've included some screen shots from Google Earth to give you some perspective of this ride and the views.

I normally ride up the Deer Park fire road starting near Muir Woods and top out near Pantoll. From there, you just cruise the singletrack on Coastal View trail until it hits Highway 1. You can see in the screen shots how this new trail criss-crosses the old fire road. Then you ride a few miles on pavement back to the car. Check out my route on the MotionBased Viewport below.

Luther Spires

Clark Weber — 2005-09-08T10:02:57-07:00

Finally hit the crags this weekend in South Lake Tahoe. The mighty crew -- David, Elisa, Zoe, Enzo, Deuce, Steve, Hallie, Celese and myself -- jaunted up to Luther Spires to get back on the rock and work on some easy sport routes. The weather was awesome and the climbing was fun. We didn't step up to anything hard, so I need to get back before the winter to tick a few 5.10s/11s.

Check out some pics

South Lake Tahoe Trail Running

Clark Weber — 2005-09-07T07:48:38-07:00

I'm sure the locals know this but the trail running in South Lake Tahoe is sweet. I found a couple of gems this past weekend. These were perfect rolling trails with no major climbs or descents -- perfect for those of us not in shape.

Too bad I was getting such shitty GPS signal during my runs. I'm not sure why? I wasn't in a deep canyon and while the runs were forested they weren't under heavy foliage.

Tire Trouble

Clark Weber — 2005-09-07T07:41:13-07:00

Some stronger lungs and legs would have helped too. Steve, Jonas and I were hoping to nail Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on Saturday but I spent the better part of the morning fixing my shreaded bike tire -- 3 hours later and under the heat of the sun, we finally embarked on our ride.

Knowing that Mr. Toad's is a commiting ride, we opted for something shorter right out of the house we stayed in South Lake Tahoe. We planned to ride up High Meadow Trail to Star Lake Trail to Tahoe Rim Trail down Armstrong Pass Trail. But after a long suffering haul up the High Meadow Trail, we opted to save the big loop for another day, hang out in a gorgeous meadow, and shoot down a technical signletrack that ran parallel to the High Meadow Trail -- awesome ride with some hiking in spots. I'm sure the chargers could hit most of the technical sections -- not me.

Not a day past 80... errrr 85.33

Clark Weber — 2005-08-31T07:55:36-07:00

I've always said that I don't want to live a day past 80. I figure 80 years on this planet is a good stint of time -- especially if you make the most of those years. Get on it and have no regrets.

Well, I came across this nifty Life Expectancy Calculator today, and it looks like I have nothing to worry about. I'm right in the wheelhouse give or take a few years. Here are my results:

Life Expectancy: 85.33
Lower Quartile : 77.57
Median Lifetime: 87.76
Upper Quartile : 95.82

Holy Fog

Clark Weber — 2005-08-22T22:32:39-07:00

Went for a sunset run this evening only to experience fog soup. Legs felt okay given thier lack of use over the past few months.

Bungalo B

Clark Weber — 2005-08-21T22:49:00-07:00

Quick hit list of the celebs we saw in LA for Packy's bachelor party at the Chateau Marmont:

Kirstin Dunst
OJ (didn't slit our throats)
Orlando Bloom
Kumar
Scarlet Johanssen
Rick Fox
John Mayer

What a funny scene.