Surf Trip Part 2

We're back from our trip to the Bay Area we had a blast!  I think we packed in as much fun as possible into our quick, 2 day trip.  Our adventure started at the Nor Cal Surf Shop on Linda Mar Beach.  We got there a little early and walked down to the beach to watch the surfers.  I started to get butterflies in my stomach while I watched them; I couldn't wait to get in the water and start surfing too!  They made it look so easy and I thought to myself, "I can totally do that".  I soon realized that surfing is a lot harder than it looks....

It was freezing that day, so we had to bundle up in jackets on the beach

Once the rest of the group and teachers got there we were fitted for wetsuits, which made the cold a lot more bearable.  

                       























We were introduced to our instructors and had a quick lesson on the beach about how to pop up on our board.  (One of our instructors, Shawn, is a professional surfer for Billabong and surfs at the big wave Mavericks competition in Half Moon Bay!  He was such a nice guy and so down to earth.)  After a couple tries on the beach, we got in the water and they showed us how to paddle out.  

Paddling is one of those things that is a lot harder than it looks, especially if you're not in shape like me.  My arms and back were burning after the first hour.  It didn't help either that it was a really windy day and we kept drifting away from where we needed to be.  I drifted away from the group a few times and had to paddle against the wind back to them.

After a few tries, I was able to almost stand up for a little bit.  I kept doing what they told us not to do and stood up on my knees before trying to stand all the way up.  By then, I would lose my balance and fall off the board.  It was still so much fun though!  Even those little baby waves can push you pretty fast and it was fun to ride them, even if I wasn't standing up all the way.  I'll admit, I spent more time in the water than actually on my board.  The instructors who surf 30 foot waves must have been laughing to themselves while watching; I know I would!

Scott on the other hand, picked it up really fast and stood up 3 times.  He rode a wave all the way to the beach once too.  I feel really bad that I didn't get any pictures of him surfing!!  We were both in the water the entire time and he finally decided to get out and take a few pictures of me at the very end.  I was going to go in and take some pictures of him after but by then the waves were flat and we had to go in.

Proof that Scott was actually on this trip :)

At the end of our lesson, we had a picnic lunch on the beach and watched the surfers in the water who actually knew what they were doing.  It was so much fun to try something new and to cross something off my bucket list.  Scott and I both really want to go back and keep practicing.  Hopefully someday we'll live by the beach and we can go surfing and paddle boarding all the time.