Skateboarding on Vacation

On the Strand
On the Strand

After getting our new skateboards last summer, Bay and I decided that we should take our boards when we travel and go skateboarding on vacation. So for our Christmas trip to visit my family in Los Angeles, we packed up the boards and brought them. Actually, I only brought over my trucks and wheels since I had an old deck at my parents’ house, while Bay brought over his whole skateboard.

The first day we were there, we rode to the park and skated around there. My old deck is a real ’90s style, with a squared off tail (and tail guard!) and front of the board goes a bit wider. It is such a comfortable cruiser shape! I loved riding it again!

On Christmas Eve day, we all went to the Strand. Most of the group was on bikes, but my oldest brother, myself, and Bay rode our skateboards. I also borrowed some rope from my dad because I was anticipating being towed by one of the bike riders. And as you can see from the photo above, we made good use of the ropes! Riding on the Strand brought back so many memories. It was なつかしい!(nostalgic)

The only thing I would change is that instead of bringing my Bones wheels, I’d bring the OJ’s instead. The softer and quieter OJ’s would have been more comfortable and easier on the ears than the hard Bones.

When the vacation came to a close, I was going to bring my old deck back to Texas but decided to just bring the trucks/wheels home. I’ll leave the deck in California for the next visit!

Camping at Choke Canyon State Park, TX

The day after Thanksgiving we took the kids camping to a new place for us: Choke Canyon State Park. It’s located between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, about three-hour drive from our house. We really enjoy camping and since we have all the gear it’s easy to go spur-of-the-moment. Going the day after our Thanksgiving feast wasn’t a problem at all. We went basic with the meals, just stopping at the supermarket to fill up our cooler with steaks, breakfast sandwiches, bread and deli meats/cheese. And of course we had to have s’mores!

The campsite was pretty nice, but it’s mostly RV campers and only a couple of people in tents. But it was ok. The only downside was that most of the RV campers left the lights on at their campsites all night. Plus there was also the constant hum of electric appliances. It was kind of fun seeing all the lights strung up at the campsites (I have never camped at an RV area before). I only wish they would have turned off the lights when they went to bed. It would have made the star photos a bit better.  But, the bathrooms there were super-clean since I think most of the people at the campground prefer to do their business in their RVs. Just a guess.

Anyways, the camping was fun as usual, with a nice campfire, steaks, and s’mores. I bring my BBQ grill when we go camping, so we have a nice controlled cooking fire, and then we have the campsite fire pit for the larger campfire.

I woke up at about 1:30 AM and decided to take some photos of the night sky. Luckily I remember to bring the tripod on the trip! It was a lot of fun! I wish the kids would have joined me, but I didn’t really want to wake them since they were snug in their warm sleeping bags. I did manage to get a few decent photos and see one shooting star before retiring back to the tent at 2:30.

The next morning after breakfast, we headed down to the lake and did a little fishing. We didn’t catch anything or even get a nibble, but we were able to see a huge alligator sunning himself on the bank. It was pretty impressive!

The camping trip was just one night, but it was fun and nice to visit a new place. I can’t wait for our next camping trip! Please enjoy the photos below.

Snacktime, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Snacktime, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Our Campsite, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Our Campsite, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Around the Campfire, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Around the Campfire, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Night View, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Night View, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Night Sky, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Night Sky, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Writing with Light, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Writing with Light, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Morning, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Morning, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Big Gator, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Big Gator, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Fishing, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 10mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO50
Fishing, Choke Canyon State Park, 2014

Too Cold to Run

Yesterday I ate a ton of pizza at Conan’s with my friend Scott so I was looking forward to a long evening run in the neighborhood. But when I went out, it was too cold! It was about 50ºF and windy.

I told myself that I should at least run the first leg of my normal route and see if I warm up. I ran a couple of miles, but my face was so cold I decided to cut the run short and try again during the day. (Maybe I need some winter running gear?)

Looks like it will be lovely weather for a lunch run today!

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