20 to 17

Yesterday was productive a lot of errands got done but most importantly Kat switched up here back cog from 20 to 17 so she's flying now, in celebration we had a good run out to Huntington Beach pier and caught the sunset. Whilst it may look warm on the photo it was actually really windy and a bit chilly, you can't see it but Kat had a beach towel wrapped around her to keep her from catching hypothermia. Today we're off to Laguna beach which is about 11 miles south of Balboa I reckon we'll be going at a pace the new gearing is a lot of fun, no chatting straight racing all the way.

This was massive

Here's another photo for William and Joel, this time it's a huge tow truck that I saw on the way to Las Vegas. I promise crane photos are on their way soon.

The comeback

was strong and Kat played it cool not really letting on how happy she was at beating me with a zero score. Snake eyes? Poker face? Ahdoot.
She definitely did not cycle home with her hands in the air at all at any point. 
And she definitely did not time the photos of me to make me look less than brave.

Relaxing until...

the dice came out. After teaching Kat how to play cee-lo she rapidly got into it and beat me a few times but I came back strong with this zero on the final game. She was of course very sporting about her loss and accepted defeat graciously.

The beach

After a short bike ride down the road you get to the beach which is never busy, always clean and one of the most relaxing places you can spend your afternoons.

The ferry to the beach

The quickest way to get the beach from home is by the 3 car ferry across the marina which is probably the most charming way to get to any beach. Only $1.25 and you never have to wait more than a few minutes. 

It was my birthday the other day

I turned 33 on Tuesday which if I'm honest I was feeling fairly indifferent towards but despite this Kat made sure I had a great day. I received the full treatment from breakfast brunch right through to a barb-b-que in the evening along with birthday cake and balloon, then we finished off with dancing to eighties classics down at a bar on Newport beach. The ride home wasn't much fun at all. Thanks for a memorable birthday Kat you're the best.

Goodbye Vegas

and goodbye to the Wynn, we shall be back, hello last stint on the road back to L.A. I'll miss the best hotel imaginable I wont miss the worst drivers I've ever seen.

After we sobered up...

we went for an evening stroll up the strip and checked out the dancing fountains outside the Bellagio. I'm not sure if the fountains dancing to Celine Dion were so tasteless that it made them fantastic or not, either way they were entertaining enough to make us wait around and watch the whole show. We then went on to a couple of casinos and played the 25 cent slots where we won $67 then a further $10 0n the Wheel of Fortune, so we came out of the evening up despite Kat insisting we drink more and making us drunk again. I think an intervention maybe on the cards.

Living the poolside lifestyle

After our brunch mimosas Kat decided the best thing to do would be to take it easy by the pool and drink g and t's so I reluctantly played along. I only drank them for her benefit.  

For Joel and William

Hello nephews here's a photo of a beach police truck I saw in Santa Monica yesterday.

Room 5855

When we checked into the hotel the receptionist told us we had a really nice room which you assume she says to most if not all people but apparently she was actually telling the truth. We were on the 58th (of 60) floor and to say the view was good would be a huge understatement, the view was incredible especially at night when, without sounding daft, the desert came to life. 

Sorry to go on about...

breakfast but it's the best meal to eat in America. On this particular day Kat and I went for a champagne brunch buffet where we both went for coffee accompanied by as many mimosas as we could drink, I ate your standard bacon and scrambled eggs so obviously Kat went for eggs benedict along with strip steak? We left feeling very full and a little bit pissed.

In Las Vegas all your dreams can come true.

If you drive to Las Vegas you see nothing but scrub land for miles then you turn a corner and suddenly this city pops up out of no where it's a truly impressive sight. Our home in Vegas was the Wynn which I'd researched before going and all the reviews described it as the best hotel you'll ever stay at and they weren't wrong it was incredible. That night we went out for Kat's redundancy meal in one of the restaurants in the hotel and ate probably the most extravagant meal I've had with the best service you could ask for, then suddenly in the middle of dinner the lake lit up and a huge frog appeared singing a Garth Brooks song which most of the restaurant sang along with, we were highly amused if not somewhat confused so we asked our waiter what it was all about and all he could do was shrug his shoulders and say he wasn't too sure why. I loved Vegas the minute we arrived and after this I loved it more, only in Vegas can you have such a high brow dining experience only to be accompanied with the most tasteless entertainment imaginable. Like I say I LOVE Las Vegas. 

Back on the road.

We hit the road again for stage 1 of the journey to Las Vegas and had a new road-tripper called Julio with us. After 7 long hours driving fueled by plenty of coffee, peanut M&Ms and games of hide the shoe we made it to Barstow and had our first proper American motel experience which was cheap and surprisingly good.

There's no shame in walking down hills...

when they're as steep as this and you've just taken down a bottle of wine. This picture doesn't show anywhere near how steep this hill is either.

I got to tick another S.F. box.

I couldn't wait to get out on my bike in S.F. and dragged myself up a few steep hills along with Kat, she went for it and we both got to the top of this feeling pleased with ourselves as well as a little out of breath.

The Justin Herman Plaza.

After years of watching this place on videos I finally visited the Emb! 

I'm still looking for a crane...

 but I thought this would see William and Joel through until then.

My favourite thing about America is...

breakfast. Yesterday Kat and I went to Lori's Diner and set ourselves up for the day with a huge breakfast and endless coffee refills.

American vacation day 2

We had one night at the Banana Stand then packed up and headed off to S.F. via San Luis the next morning/afternoon. This is my first road trip of any kind and I'm looking forwards to getting to see Cali from the road rather than thousands of feet up in the sky. 

American vacation day 1

I've actually been here a few days so this is really blog post number 1 and I'm dedicating it to William and Joel who are two of my nephews and are always fans of pictures of big aeroplanes. I got on this 747 for what was probably the longest 11 hours of my life but, it was worth it as I'm now having the time of my life out in California.  

Sorry Seth and Riley

I was scheduled for my usual Wednesday afternoon Primrose Hill pub session with these two today, but unfortunately didn't get round to it as I was busy doing last minute holiday preparation errands. Sorry I didn't make it today Seth and Riley I'll miss our Wednesday afternoons over the next month so the next round is on me when I return.

Officially on holiday.

I'm on holiday now but work finished with a bang 0n Saturday with the Etnies team in the shop for a signing, it was amazing how many kids turned up and the day went really well thankfully. All the tikes were really well behaved, the Sole Tech team and staff were amazing to work with and everyone at Slam as always did more than their part for the day. I finished the day feeling lucky that I get to work with such good people and glad to still be a part of skateboarding in some way.