I flew into Sacramento and rented a car, driving up to Chico to pick up Robyn. Together we headed down to La Selva Beach to hang out with Austin for the weekend. We enjoyed hanging out for a couple brief days, hiking through Redwoods and learning to surf on the beaches south of Santa Cruz. Austin grew up in these parts, and it turns out he's a very patient, excellent teacher. The water was freezing, but our wetsuits made it tolerable. Our second night in the area Austin had to work, so Robyn and I set up a couple of tents on the beach in front of his place, enjoying a spectacular sunset and a fantastic fire-cooked meal of Tuna steak and vegetables. It all made for a very enjoyable weekend.

La Selva Beach

It had been about a decade since the three of us had all hung out together. Robyn, Austin and I are standing on the cliff's at La Selva Beach just a few dozen meters away from Austin's front porch. We were fortunate enough to get beautiful weather, giving us ample opportunity to get outside and play.

Redwoods

The three of us went for a hike through some Redwoods outside of La Selva Beach, followed by a scrumptious sushi dinner.

Surfing Lessons

Austin rounded up wet suits for us all then took us down to his beach for surfing lessons. When he was on the board he made it look easy. In the photo he's showing us how we're supposed to quickly move from a laying position to a standing position. Neither Robyn nor I actually managed to ride a wave standing up, though we all managed to have a lot of fun.

Robyn Surfing

Robyn headed out to sea for her first attempt at surfing.

Done Surfing

Austin and I posing on the beach after a little surfing. Well, I'm not sure if you have to actually stand up to call it surfing, but I got mostly up a couple of times before I went splashing into the waves. It was quite a thrill.

Dinner

We headed out to dinner after a hard day's surfing.

Camping

Our final night in La Selva Beach, Robyn and I set up a couple of tents on the beach and watched the sunset. There's nothing quite like sleeping with the sound of ocean waves crashing onto the beach in the background.