Nomads Day 1: Flight and Surfing

It is great having roommates who travel and need rides to the airport occasionally.  It is especially great if you have picked them up from their last flight and they owe you a ride at 6am.  

After a long day of flying I made it into San Diego at 3pm.  Perfect timing for my 4:30 surfing lesson.  I boarded the bus for National Rent A Car and as we approached their facility our driver, Steve, informed us that the first stop would be for members of the Emerald Club.  The second stop would be for everyone else.  As I looked at the other 2 passengers on the bus, one had a smirk on his face knowing that he was in the Emerald Club.  The other passenger and I would have to wait for the 2nd stop.  

As we pulled up to the Emerald stop and our royalty passenger exited I started laughing because our stop was a mere 10 yards up ahead.  I wonder how much he paid to get into that club?  I then found out after he had issues with his car and was in line behind me complaining about it.  

I got into my car and 2 wrong turns and 10 minutes later I was at the hotel.  I threw my stuff in my room and left to go meet my surf instructor Souf from the San Diego Surfing School.   I found out that Souf had moved here from Hawaii 10 years ago and shortly after that he founded San Diego Surfing School.  This year they have partnered with the city of San Diego and he was really excited about the upcoming year for them.

The reason why I was able to go out surfing today was that Kenny Culotta had helped to set up surfing lesson for girls tomorrow.  I had mentioned that I would love to go out today and Souf made it happen.  

I wanted to take the girls surfing on our trip because I had done a group surfing lesson a couple of years ago when I was out at this tournament and it is probably the most memorable experience I've had in soccer.  It is something that is very unique for kids from Minnesota to do and I was excited that we were going to be able to surf.  

It turned out to be a very good thing that I went out with Souf today because I was horrible. I resembled nothing close to the picture from above.  Souf did a fantastic job explaining everything to me, showing me, and helping push me into great waves.  But once he let go and I was on my own, gravity usually won out in a matter of .58 seconds.  

Being a coach, it was super frustrating to hear Souf explain it to me so well and completely fail each time.  But I loved it.  I kept getting back up and eventually I started to catch a few waves and ride them in.  I think I caught about 7 waves in my 90 minutes out there.  With all the practice today, I might look somewhat respectable tomorrow if I can move.  Surfing is an incredible work out!

When Souf said that the next wave was going to be my last wave I relaxed and actually caught the wave.  I was pretty proud of myself.  

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  I'll recap the surfing and I'll even preview the tournament and who we are playing.