New trucks

OK we are back.
A lot has happened in the 6 months or so that we were last here.
Sold the FJ80 and bought a 2007 FJ Cruiser.

We have taken the FJ to Baja once and to Anza Borrego 2X.
Because you can never have too many Toyotas we bought Mary a 2007 4x4 2.7 liter 4 Cylinder Tacoma.

I know what you are thinking...4 cylinder in a 4x4?...... Well yes, and if you think about it that is what the original Toyota Hi-Lux came with in 1979 when Toyota introduced the 4x4 Pickup to the U.S. market. (I think my facts are right)

We have a lot of plans for it and will be slowly turning it into our 4x4 surf expedition vehicle.

Soon to have 4 Toyotas !?

Well we have put a deposit down on one of the new FJ Cruisers. You either love it or hate it. Well that is not totally true. What I love is that it is a Toyota 4WD, has a rear diff lock and it is under 30K. What I don't love is the IFS, V6 (wish it was a diesel) and the fact that the rear windows don't roll down.

Will be selling the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 and possibly the Honda Prelude. Looking forward to getting it. We opted for the Titanium color. If you want more info check http://www.fjcruiserforums.com

Lost our best friend this week

We lost our best friend this past Monday.

Tia our Rhodesian Ridgeback was taken from us much too early.
She would have been 3 this March.

Mary, Kaiel and I are absolutely devastated. :-(

We are really hoping that as time goes on it will get easier to deal with.

Busy Weeknd

Love working at UCSD.
We had off for Veterans Day so that made this a 3 day weekend.

Kaiel had a surf contest up at Churches that didn't go too well. If he had only taken that set wave he probably would have advanced. He is surfing pretty well but he just needs to catch more waves.

We then headed over to Liesure World to help the Gillens move apartments. Seems they found one that is $300 a month cheaper. Good deal.

Since we were up in Lake Forest/Leisure World area, a stop at the Etnies skate park was a must. I can't say more good things about this park.

First of all it is free and on Sundays is never that crowded.

Second the "Skull Bowl" absolutely rocks.
This is probably the funnest bowl that we have skated.
You can generate so much speed that every carve is a full double-truck grind.
If you are a skater you know what I am talking about. If not it means that you are dragging both your front and back truck along the coping of the bowl as you turn.

More Skateboarding

Kaiel and I just finished 3 days in a row of skating the Encinitas Y bowls. Great time. Kaiel is looking as stylish as ever. I am starting to get my backside air back. (Used to be able to do it in the 80s, or "Back in the Day". I keep trying to convince Kaiel to start doing airs but he is still a bit timid.My next goal is to start doing handplants off the coping. Sorry for the pic quality but they are from a video we took. Later, Bob

Fall in San Diego

Fall is here. Tourists are gone. Waves are here. Tourists are gone.

Not that I am against tourists in any sense (we are all tourists somewhere) but... it sure is nice not to have

• Gutless summer surf.
• Crowded Beaches
• Trash on the beach
• Hideous Del Mar Fair traffic

Whoo.. well then with that said, next summer we are going to sell out and rent our place out for a month to finance a trip to Central America. I am leaning towards Panama or Nicaragua but we may just go back to Malpais (CR)

In order to make this dream of cashing in on the lucrative summer rental market a reality, there are a few things we will need to do.

• Finish tiling the downstairs and bathrooms
• Complete the finishing work of the laminate flooring
• Clear out the garage.

Summer Happenings

Summer seems to be flying by
even though we really haven't taken many vacation days.

Hilights of the summer so far are :

• We just got back from a great 3 day surf trip to Punta Cabras where
  the waves were head high for 2 days.
  You can find some pictures from the trip here.

• Kaiel received an award for most improved at Junior Lifeguards. He is
  really turning into quite the water man.
  
• Dave and I are doing an X-terra Offroad tri up at Big Bear next week.
  Should be interesting since we train at sea level.
  
• Planning a trip to the Central Coast or possibly back to Baja in two weeks