Finally back on the Ice

Well, I finally got to test out the skates. Man, my feet are not used to being in skates, let alone carrying my weight on a thin piece of steel. I definitely had some issues stopping but turning and getting around was no problem. It all came back to me. Unfortunately, I gave myself one heck of a blister on the inside of my left heel. (Didn't wear socks 'cause thats how I used to do it, but from now on, I think socks will be standard.)

Got some fresh ice before my first time skating in over 6-7 years.

It all came back to me.

Looks like the next step is Stick Time.

Welcome to 40!!!

Well today was my 40th birthday, and contrary to what everyone was "planning", no big party happened, no surprise, no nothing. Now I should be upset right? NOPE! I had a great time. If fact, I can honestly say, I had an awesome day...compliments of Brian Dawley.

The journey began here.

Thanks to some borrowed gear, I'm gonna start playing Hockey on my 40th birthday.

The ice at the Toyota Center is amazing. I guess that's why the Kings practice there.

After a little over an hour of skating, puck handling, and agility drills, it was time to eat. You'll notice it was a beautiful day going into the "speed tunnel" connecting the 105 east and the 405 north.

Further evidence it was a nice day in fact...

...we had the AC on it was that warm on Jan. 18th, 2011.

I have a birthday tradition of eating at Denny's on my birthday. Big Slam, every time with eggs, hash browns, bacon, whole wheat toast, and a tall glass of Coke.

All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow, I'll be purchasing my own hockey equipment.

Hockey Monkey....here I come.

Only in Vegas

Saw this sign in the Vegas Airport. Gotta love this place and the next time I'm here, I'll be visiting The Gun Store.

Off to Idaho

Lake Pend Oreille

This is the second year I've traveled to Idaho for a USASA judge clinic. After the first time, I actually looked forward to returning. Northern Idaho is beautiful but I'd remiss if I didn't say I was worried. The last time I flew up here, they sent my luggage to Oakland and I didn't get it until the next day. Spokane airport is infamous for loosing luggage and last year, I experienced that first hand. If my luggage showed up, I knew it was going to be a fun trip.

The sign says it all.

My bags showed up. This is a good sign.

The clinic went really well considering they put us in what appeared to be a living room.

...with a fireplace.

I had to watch the PHX Supercross online and believe me, it was no easy task. Apparently Speed doesn't have a live webcast which means I had to find some site oversees that was streaming the race. The quality wasn't that great but at least I got to watch the race live. I also enjoyed some Bugles and Mt. Dew. Mmmmm.

Time to fly...

Sun Country Shoot

Greg from Sun Country Marine called and wanted me to shoot 4 boats, interiors and exteriors, 3 new, 1 used.

I really enjoy shooting boats. Its give me ties to the boating industry, allows me to see the new feature standard on many of today's modern yachts, and hones my shooting skills.

The SR 370 swim platform seat folds up and hides in the transom .

The SR 370 has the same feature. Here's what the seat looks like when its hidden.

The SR 470...a beautiful boat.

...and here's the aft deck and swim platform.

Anchors away!!!

The Vintage D

I've been wanting one of these New Era Vintage D's for awhile, and my Christmas gift to myself, albeit a little late, was buying myself this hat.

The Vintage D hat is actually the official logo of the Detroit Cougars before they became the Red Wings. I can't wait for them to make this hat in black but for now...the red one is totally awesome.

The Trip Home

On my way back to SoCal from Tahoe and US 395 is, once again, a much better choice than driving down the I-5.

It was a beautiful day all the way down, but as I approached Mono Lake, a fog bank socked in the valley and provided me with yet another photographic opportunity.

I love this drive...

Return to HellTrack

So today I tried to set up and HDR shoot at HellTrack. I'd find later that it didn't work but it was fun trying. Here's the set up:

Step 1: Find a place for the camera.

Step 2: Set up your flashes.

Step 3: Get HellTrack photo ready.

Step 4: Have some fun.

Even though the photo experiment didn't work, I still learned some new stuff. It seems like I always learn something at HellTrack.

I'll be back....Oh I'll be back.

Donner Lake

I had some time before BJ left work so I decided to head down to Donner Lake. I brought my camera gear and snapped off a few hi rez photos but I also managed, in the spirit of taking photos with my phone-camera for this blog, to take a few shots with the phone.

Truckee River

Donner Lake looking up to ASI

Donner Lake looking towards Truckee

Off to another session at HellTrack...

Battery x 2

Remember how I said the next project for the big red machine was going to be a new front grill? Well I was wrong. (BTW: The big red machine's name is Eddie but everyone still prefers using his older brother's name Clifford The Big Red-Neck Limo.) It turns out that the teeny tiny 675 Batteries (yes I said batteries plural) were no match for the cold last year and they decided to pick this week (the first week of 2011) to die. I saw this coming but dropping $240 isn't easy when you're looking for work.

Being up in Tahoe doesn't help either. The price of everything is inflated here and I was really looking at closer to $260-270 for a set of batteries. Luckily, Johnny was heading to Reno...where everything is significantly cheaper. It also helps that Nevada's sales tax is lower as well. (Screw you California and your poorly managed government and your high taxes.) So before Johnny left for Reno, I removed the old, tired, and ready to die batteries...core charge, loaded them in his truck and left for HellTrack.

Johnny returned with 2 fresh 750 Motorcraft batteries. YEAH!!! I'm so stoked to have new batteries. Not so much on having to part with $240 but it was gonna happen anyway, why not check this off my list.

The batteries installed nicely. No major issues. And then the moment of truth...which really wasn't a moment because once I opened the door and the dinger went off, I knew Eddie and I were back in business. Did he start up? You're damn right he did. After sitting in the cold for over 30 hrs, Eddie and his new batteries work harmoniously together. In fact, he's running right now as I write this, warming up. Doesn't he look happy?

Well, I'm on to the next one....

HellTrack Redux

Back to HellTrack. With all the snow in Tahoe, HellTrack has been neglected due to, well lots of snow and the holidays.

BJ, Roan, and Kevin put some serious work in at the top and its paid off.

The big jump near the top is stil a work in progress but with some new construction techniques, the process is much quicker.

We took some sweet shots tonight and I'm please with the results. 3 shots have already made the trip worth while. We'll see where they end up. This show of B.J. is just a taste.

More to come tomorrow...

The Snow that Stopped the World

If it snows just an inch in a place where people aren't expecting it, you have yourself a serious mess. When it snows in the high desert on a Sunday, its even worse. Every road coming from the mountain was closed except for Hwy 2 and it wasn't moving. In fact, traffic was moving so slow, I actually got out of the car I was in and walked down to my friend Mark's house to link up with my big red machine and head north to Mammoth to conduct a USASA Judge clinic.

MAN WAS I IN FOR A SURPRISE.

1:30 pm: Leave the West Resort.

4:15 pm: Make it to East resort a mile away and find out the "back way" is closed. That option is off the table.

4:40 pm: I start walking from the East Resort to Mark's house, in a snow storm, luckily down hill.

6:10 pm: I get to my truck only to find the batteries were dead.

7:10 pm: The journey to Mammoth begins and I get behind every slow driver snowy road scared silly.

7:50 pm: Hesperia In N Out Burger. Hwy 15 South is a parking lot as is 395 South.

8:10 pm: Finally get my food after getting behind the slowest person ever. I think this was their first time using a drive thru.

8:35 pm: The skies clear up as does the road. Smooth sailing until....

9:40 pm: Just south of Ridgecrest, the road get slippery and, once again, amazingly crappy driving skills slow my progress thanks to an uphill accident on a slippery hill. at least 30 cars waiting.

9:45 pm: Reroute myself, 30 miles out of the way to the Hwy 14 North.

10:15 pm: I get behind some tweakers in a 1987 Ford Thunderbird driving super slow due to foggy-ish conditions. I guess meth affects your vision or ability to use the accelerator.

10:43 pm: I make it to Inyokern and punch it...20 miles later I'm slowed by slippery roads and signs directing me to lower my speed to 35mph. DAMN!

1:15 am: I make it Lone Pine, the roads are grippy and I was supposed to me sleeping peacefully in my hotel by now.

1:35 am: Grab fuel at the Indian Casino in Bishop, its snowing but no "go slow" signs so I get on it.

2:20 am: Pull up to the front desk at Mammoth Mountain Inn only to find some YO in a Honda Element pulling in right in front of me. Yep...another line at 2:30 in the morning to check in.

2:50 am: I finally get to my room.

3:15 am: The last time I remember seeing before I woke up at 6:45 am to begin my day molding the minds of future snowboard and ski judges.

15 Hours to travel what normally takes just under 5 hours. At least I made it and had a great group of students.

Off to Tahoe....

Another One in the Books

Well, I wasn't really planning on doing anything for New Year's Eve. However, seeing as I'm a guest of Brian and Diana, it was only polite to honor their invitation.

If you thought it was always perfect and warm in LA you were sadly mistaken. In fact, after the record rain fall, a nice little cold snap hit. It didn't get warmer than 55 degrees during the days and at night it usually dipped into the low 40's. NYE was not different.

We went to Monsoon, a Japanese restaurant, that just so happen to have Salsa dancing upstairs...bizarre combo I know but considering we had a latin and asian women with us, I guess it made sense.

My last meal of 2010 was probably the best Orange chicken I've every tasted. Paired with white rice and accompanied by a tall class of Sailor Jerry and Coke, I was a pretty happy camper.

The night ended pretty late with Brian, Diana, and I heading of to Paul's house to find a pretty awesome game that involves teams guessing the names of famous people (Roman and his chick went home and missed out big). I can honestly say that I will never forget Jessica Besner, the daughter of my partner Diza, simply because her name was the reason we lost. We were destroying everyone for 3 rounds and in 1 final round we hit the "I don't know this person" wall.

It was a fun night, even though I hate loosing, but considering I wasn't even gonna go out, I'd say it was totally worth it.

Happy New Year.