Cymer Nosara Surf Trip February 2018

I offered to lead a Cymer surf trip to Nosara.  Several of the usual Thursday surf crowd have heard of Nosara or been there themselves so I offered to arrange a trip.  After some back and forth, Roberto (& Kathy), Jefe (& Holly) and myself were committed for the first week in February.

We booked the same LAX to LIR Delta flight departing Friday, February 2, late evening.  I was to pick up a s-w-e-e-t swaggy wagon from Carlsbad airport Thursday night.  I got to the rental counter, got the key, then got to the parking lot.  I got in the car and could not find a key slot.  Hmmm.  Look, there’s a start button.  I pressed it and it said ‘use the key fob’.  The key fob didn’t have a button to start it.  Giving up, I flag down a lot worker.  Walking over to the auto he says, ‘well, that a Chrysler car and the key is a Toyota’.

Chrysler.  Didn't like the color anyway.

I’m sure that happens all the time.

S-w-a-g-g-y!!!!

Friday night we met at Roberto’s in Del Mar to load the swaggy wagon then we drive to LAX.

Travel time is about 2 hours.  Sweet when using the HOF lane!

Everyone is doing carry-on except for me so I tell them I will catch up to them after dealing with the luggage line.  The usual beer and nosh and we board for the red-eye.  Our Gypsy Cab was waiting for us at LIR, and we dropped off our luggage at Casa de Paz at 11:30am.  Then on the Kaya Sol for lunch.  Then time to pick up my surfboard, get Roberto/Jefe into rental surfboards, and a late afternoon surf session.

Daily surf sessions began at the crack of dawn.  Roberto and Jefe were out the door before dawn.  I would follow about half an hour later, after a small breakfast and hydration.  Sometimes there would be a later afternoon session but always ending so we had time for sunset with Kathy and Holly.

And Holly discovered that Gin-and-Tonics went well with sunsets!

Rob in SoCal

Rob, my Canadian surfing buddy that lives part-time in Costa Rica, had a San Diego conference.  He tacked on an additional day to spend with me.  He ubered up from downtown then chilled at Casa de Randy until I finished my workday.

We traveled up to Swamis meditation gardens to wander through the gardens and view the surf break.  There were no expectations of impressing a Costa Rican with the surf break but the gardens and koi ponds did the trick.

Time to park the auto and get on the bikes for a closer look at Randy World.  We biked to Del Mar dog beach then on to Del Mar Powerhouse park overlooking the surf.  Then back-tracked to RockPile surf spot, Fletchers Cove, wrapping up at Pizza Port (requested stop) for a pint and a pie.

Rob approved of the abbreviated Randy Tour.  In the morning I had to go do that work thing and Rob ubered to the airport, to return to Canada.

Red Fox Tails at Carlsbad Music Festival

The Carlsbad Music Festival seems to have scaled back this year, with limited evening shows.  That took away some of the crowd (good) and the ambiance changed (bad).

I plopped down amid families on blankets and kids running amuck.  The Red Fox Tails took the stage about 4pm and played for 50 minutes.  Worth it.

Nosara 2016

Bert joined me in traveling from LAX.  We had a direct redeye from LAX to LIR onto an awaiting shuttle and dropped off at Kaya Sol by 11am.  Then we had the first trip snag:  the gyspycab drive said the credit card reader wasn’t working so I depleted my cash reserves by $130+tip.  More on this later.

Kaya Sol Suite #3 was no longer available due to some business issues so I booked into La Casita.  Turned out Kaya Sol didn’t own several of the building but were the managers.  The business snarkiness escalated to the point that a fence now separates Kaya Sol from ‘the other place’.  We had to wait for our room to be available.  Hmm, La Casita wasn’t booked for the previous night – why can’t we get in there now?  So we had lunch and then the room was available.

La Casita’s air conditioner drips water INTO the room.  I had a cool water collection system to get the drops including a shoelace tied to the curtain.  The curtain gets saturated with water and then runs down the shoelace and into a container.  The containers fill up during nap time and were emptied several times during the day.  Other than the A/C issue, La Casita was nice with no stairs to traverse.  Kaya sol does have a great location.

Always something goes wrong.

An empty Sambuca bottle was repurposed to prop open a window while we were out and about, to air out the room.

Everything has a purpose.

We got our boards from Juan’s, waxed up, and got an evening session in 80F degree water.  Perfect.

Bert eventually traded in the Infinity board for an epoxy board at Juan’s.  Surf conditions were light and perfect for Bert’s new board.  I borrowed it and had a blast on waist to chest high waves.

A bonus this year is that a young woman liked to sunbathe topless near where I buried my sandals/water.  She would show up at about 10am at marker 10.  Bill NEVER saw her.  Sorry I have no pictures.  That I would post.

Sorry, no topless shots.

Bert left after 12 days.  Then Don and Cate came into Nosara, staying at Casa Romantica.  I know Don and Cate through Jeff Wolf and surfing at RockPile in Solana Beach.  This was their first Nosara visit so I provided info on shuttles, where to stay, rent boards, etc.

Randy, Cate, and Don at Kaya Sol Restaurant.

Wave size was perfect during Don and Cate’s 6 days but they did have trouble adjusting to the offshore winds.  Paddling into waves with offshores is difficult with the solution being later takeoffs.  Don adjusted by the second day and Cate dialed in later.

Silvia was scheduled to join us but canceled due to having a nasty cold and logistics (getting from Mammoth Mountain, 4-hour sleep, and then travel to LAX).

Bill arrived on December 30.  He said the shuttle was a half-hour late due to a girl needing to be dropped off at a house ‘near Casa Romantica’.  When the shuttle finally dropped her somewhere she offered to pay by credit card.  The driver said the credit card machine wasn’t working.  She said ‘I only have a credit card and no cash’.  Suddenly the credit card machine worked.  Hmmm.

The common theme when dining out (lunch or dinner) was to prepare for a long wait.  We waited for almost an hour at the Paris Bakery for lunch.  BUT the Casado at Rosa Tica’s was worth the wait.  We were educated on the difference between chicken with sauce Casado and grilled chicken Casado.  Go with the grilled chicken Casado.

Rosa Tica's Casado.  Yummy.

Nachos, Pasta Carbonara, and Chicken Cesar Salad at Kaya Sol restaurant were great.

Every day we were up and out at first light 5:30am so we could watch the sunrise on the beach.  Then back to the room for the first breakfast of either French toast or banana and peanut butter on coconut bread.  Both yum.

After breakfast #1 we picked up the boards and back to the beach for yoga and surf for 2 hours.  Afterward, it was back to the room to put away gear and clean up for lunch.  Twice we walked the town and then had lunch.  Walking the town twice a week seems to have been enough mid-day walking.  After lunch was nap time followed by reading at the pool till it was time to return to the beach for sunset.  Everybody went to the beach for sunset.  Then it was dinner, drinks, and in bed by 9pm.

One sunrise we saw that a turtle had just laid her eggs and was slowly returning to the ocean.  Someone said they lay 180 eggs at a time with hatching in 28 days unfortunately she laid them in the middle of the main walking path.  Not a good chance for that breed.

Funny thing.  It took a week to figure out bringing half-frozen water, topped off with more water, was excellent refreshment after an hour in the ocean.  Not until the last week did I figure out topping off with OJ was even better due to the citrus sugar.

Several other surfers were there for annual trips.  Patrick and Margaret returned from San Francisco.  Shawn and Nate were their friends and stayed an additional week.  Scott and Kelly returned from Maine.  We met Terry and Maggie, and their son Dan and his girlfriend Jessie.  Dan and Jessie both live in the San Diego area so a good chance to see Terry and Maggie when they visit.  Terry is a musician that plays at Beach Dog café and also works at Red Rocks in Colorado.  Ben was staying at the Kaya Sol hostel; he works at a San Francisco startup that is a cannabis clearinghouse.

??, ??, Margaret, Patrick, Shawn, and Nate.

Scott shared a not-too-favorable story of reserving a Kaya Sol place then having them pull the reservation.  But he did have a good review of Mamma Rosa Resort.  Bill and I toured Mamma Rosa – thumbs up except it is situated more south.

One negative discovery was that dining costs were now on par with the US.  Lunch entrees were priced $6-9, and dinners were $9-18.  Notable high expense dinners were Burger and Beer, and Beach Dog Café.  Burger and Beer was promoting their craft beer.  Come on, I am from San Diego, I think we got that market covered!  So a burger and pint came to $22, but the mahi-mahi burger was tasty.  As for Beach Dog Café, I noticed their dinners were the priciest in town last year.  This year their prices didn’t change so they were in line with everyone else.  Dinner of Pad Thai and Bohemia beer was $21.

Beach Dog Cafe.

Ahh, but the local market fixed their freezer so trits were good and frozen.  Last year the local market freezer wasn’t doing the job so trits were melting away right out of the container.  Cost about $2.25/each.

The local market well-stocked for my visit.

Ever have a day you want to do-over?  That was our departure day.  My LIR departure was for 9am and Bill’s was 2pm(?) but he wanted to try and go standby on an 8am.  So we shuttled in and arrived at 5:30am.  Then waited 40 minutes for things to start opening at the airport.  I got through no problem.  What, no departure tax?  Bill discovered standby is only for domestic flights, and he could not check luggage until 11am so he was stuck on the other side of security.  I thought about exiting the airport to hang with Bill then realized that involved customs and could not see how that would work out.  Lucky for Bill he packed the last Pilsen in luggage so he got to enjoy a mid-morning warm beer.

Add this to Randy’s screw up list.  I decided to buy a duty-free Sambuca in LIR.  Duty-Free changed their methods so now they hand the purchased goods to you in a sealed bag in the duty-free store.  On previous trips, they would hand it to you as you were boarding your flight.  Not thinking much of it, I stuffed the bottle in my backpack.  But when getting to LAX I totally forgot the bottle when picking up the luggage and resubmitting it for the LAX-SAN flight.  So when the TSA agent confiscated the Sambuca I told her it goes well with an espresso.

But while walking about LAX wishing I took Amtrak to Solana Beach I ran into Oscar Wolf and his girlfriend Laura.  They were on the same flight to SAN and were coming from Colorado.  And that flight was late for takeoff due to not have a flight crew.  Bill and I entertained each other by texting our travel progress, seeing who will be lying down in a bed first.  I won by 5 minutes.
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Next year’s trip may be different.  Several of the Cymer surf team have expressed interest in joining, meaning there might be enough to rent a house.
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Until next visit.

Kaaboo

The opportunity to see Hall and Oates convinced me spending $130 for a Friday day pass was worth it.  In their second year, Kaaboo targeted their lineup for the ‘mature’ audience.

Unfortunately, I had to chair a 1-2pm work meeting so I left work right after 2pm.  This cut into seeing some of the lesser-known acts that played earlier Friday.  I arrived during Saint Paul and the Broken Bones show.  Great horn-based soulful music fronted by a flamboyant singer/showman with a matching voice.  Worth seeing again.

Saint Paul and the Broken Bones

During intermission, I ran into an ex-neighbor Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was with 2 friends and I assumed since they were about 24-25 in age that they were there to see some of the acts targeted for the younger audience (i.e., Fall Out Boy).  No, they were there for Hall and Oates, and Jimmy Buffett.  Then I noticed their matching Hawaiian shirts.

Hall and Oates took the stage.   They were excellent and the crowd was into them.  Most songs became sing-alongs.  Check seeing them off the list.

Daryl Hall

I walked around during the next intermission.  Kaaboo did have the acts stick to the schedule probably due to their hard shutdown of outdoor concerts of 10pm.  I did find Vietnamese noodles ($10) that were tasty.  But $18 for a gin & tonic didn’t make me want a gin and tonic.

Jimmy Buffett took the stage.  Parrot heads were everywhere with gaudy hats and shirts.  I moved about to avoid several Bro packs that were loudly talking amongst themselves.  Hey Bros, enjoying the concert?

I burned out with 30 minutes left and started the walk home.  Already the Lyft line was 150+ people waiting and a steady stream of cars queued into their area.

Alan Doyle in Fairport

Alan Doyle playing Rochester is a good excuse for another New York trip.

I took the usual Wednesday night red-eye, arriving in Syracuse on Thursday, August 24.  A flight low light was in Chicago airport – my united pass was not good at the united club in my terminal and the person said I needed to go over 3 terminals.  No thanks.  A light rain preceded my Syracuse landing.  Bill picked me up, drove to Dunkin Donuts for an emergency coffee then off for the first of many Onondaga park walks.  Then the required nap.  We then drove to Borio's to watch the slow sailboat races.

Friday was an all-day tour of Rochester.  Tried to get Adam Donle at RIT to join us, but he had singing try-outs.  As co-pilot, I could not determine why Google maps had us leave a highway to later join up the same highway.  Then we ran into road construction and will forever believe Google maps.  Our first stop was for a double IPA at Rochester’s Dinosaur Barbeque followed by the River Walk to the High Falls.

I Think We Found the Trail.

Enjoyed a stop at the River Walk Museum.  There was a pedestrian walkway over the Genesee River with a spectacular view of the falls on one side and the Genesee Brewery on the other.

View towards the falls...

...and view the other way.

Reminder, the brewery had an outdoor cafe with a perfect view of the falls.  Need to return to take a tour and check it out.  After our walk, we ended up back at the Dinosaur for chili nachos and another beer.  We then drove to the East Side and walked around East Street and Park Avenue.  There was the usual wow housing.  Then we wandered around the Eastman House’s outdoor gardens.

The first floor is only french doors.

The Alan Doyle concert was outdoors in Fairport.  The site was a quaint stop on the old Erie Canal whose waterfront has been developed since Randy lived there.  The Jumbo Shrimp, a 2 person band, opened the concert and were great.  The second band, out of Boston, was more popular but I still liked the first better.

Bill and I were again second row.  Worth the Trip.

Alan was third and was his usual greatness.  Bill sent Rick Soliway a picture of the High Falls with my usual “where in the world is Carmen Sandiego” question.  He recognized it. He was in Rochester for his High School reunion.  We wanted to get together after the concert, but I was dead tired.

Saturday was the usual grab a bagel breakfast from Bruggers and enjoy it with a walk in the park.  Lunch was ice cream at the mall and the highlight was dinner at the Stevens.

All 5 were there plus Emma, a friend of Mesi.

Sunday:  another bagel and walk of the park, farmers market, ice cream at the mall.  The day was highlighted by dinner with Tina and watching the Laura-trained Liverpool HS band perform.  Laura was out of food and broke, so we all went to Wegmans shopping so mom could buy.

Monday (fly day): Stella’s for breakfast followed by a long park walk.  Always great conversation on those walks.  As for flying – NOT SO FAST.  The flight was canceled and I got on an early exit flight on Tuesday morning.

Burt Bacharach at the Belly Up

Never pass on seeing incredible talent.

Burt apologized for not wearing his usual black jacket but he fell down steps at the beach earlier that day and it involved ‘broken bones’.  Ouch.

A few songs without the band.

Burt also said they would play a number of melodies to compact some of the songs.  I did not know only 2 songs over 90 minutes of the performance.  An incredibly deep catalog.