Pepsi Can Stove

I have to take a second here to praise my favorite camping device, the Pepsi can stove. I am always amazed at how well this thing works. No moving parts, weighs a few ounces.

I use "Heet" gas line antifreeze and water remover as fuel. It comes in the convenient yellow container shown in below, and is available at most gas station mini-marts. There are no moving parts, and it heats almost as well as the burner on our stove at home.

Here's a picture of it cooking my chili.


This is a closer view of the stove.


And this shows the flames.

Day 3 -- Santa Cruz to Pismo Beach

Sorry that this blog is all about me, but I'm alone on this trip. Besides, how else will everyone know how cool I am?

Predawn check of the weather and it's time to get up.


BTW Ihave to admit that some of these pictures are staged, since I'm by myself, and have only the timed release mode to work with.

These guys were checking out the campsite. The racoons here were not agressive like those I've seen at other campgrounds.


This campground (New Brighton State Beach) doesn't have wi-fi, but I realized that I don't have to edit the pictures and compose the posts at a coffee shop, I can do it ahead of time.

So here I am uploading photos and writing this very post.


I finished up writing, and finished breakfast, then packed up the campsite and headed back to the 38th street break in Santa Cruz. The waves were even smaller than yesterday and besides it was low tide, which meant that there was a lot of kelp around. But I was here to surf, so I put on the (wet) wetsuit and headed out.

I actually had plenty of fun rides and surfed until about 11 AM. I got a medium ding following a collision with a beginning surfer's board, so I had to quit so that no water would get in.

I headed back to the campground, made a sandwich for lunch, had a shower, and rinsed the wetsuit. Hopefully this will be the last time I'll need the wetsuit.

I'm posting this from Aptos Coffee, and will be out of power soon. I'll repair the ding with my "sun cure" repair kit, then drive to Pismo Beach, charging the computer along the way. Stay tuned.

Day 2 -- Santa Cruz

A quick bowl of cereal and I was off to Santa Cruz. Traffic wasn't bad, and I soon found myself at 38th street, site of a few breaks recommended by members of the surfing forum.

The waves were quite small, but every 20 minutes or so a reasonable set would come in. Actually, most of the time I had the whole break to myself -- I guess most locals felt the waves weren't worth it. But I got some great rides. I used the wetsuit but no booties or gloves, and immediately discovered that I needed more wax (booties are less slippery than bare feet). A quick trip back to the car and I was all set.

I surfed three or four hours until my arms fell off. More of a crowd appeared as soon as I left, and here are some pictures of this break (called "Pleasure Point").

[Remember, you can click on any picture for a larger version.]




Next, I checked into the campground in Capitola, and took a well-deserved nap. Note the new anti-sun hat recommended by Caroline in the ER forum (thanks, Caroline).


After that it was time to find a cafe with wi-fi. I'm posting this from Toot's coffee shop in Capitola -- it took 20 minutes to find parking here -- oof!

Day 1 -- Drive down to Bay Area

What a great sense of freedom to take off on this trip! Left the driveway with Beach Boys music blaring, and all the checklist items checked off.


First stop was the Chalet House of Omelettes for a fuel up


I realized that the trip is the kind of thing one would like to do as a teenager, but without the main objective being finding girls. I thought of this when I saw this T-shirt on one of the other breakfasters:


A quick stop at one of Duane Flatmo's famous Eureka murals, and I hit the highway.


It took about 6 hours to get down the Bay Area, including a stop for lunch. I had to stop by the my old windsurfing haunt, the Berkeley Marina (click on any picture to enlarge).

Then it was on to visit our great friends, Berit, Tom, and Sam. Please ignore my expression in this picture.

After a great dinner, beer, wine and talking into the night, I dropped into bed and slept until 5 AM the next morning.

Packing, Part 2

Well, I'd hoped to have some pictures of the car jammed with stuff, but I've got almost everything packed and there's still room for more. I sure hope the rest of this blog won't be as boring as this post.

Packing, Part 1

What would a travel blog be without pictures of the packing process? So here's a shot of one of the "staging areas."

Making a Surfboard Bag

Up here in the northern lattitudes, the sun isn't as punishing as it is will be in Southern California.




So another thing I'll need for the trip is a board bag. That is, I'll want to protect the board from the damaging UV rays of the sun. I'll also want to protect it from rocks, car parts, and small-caliber arms fire that might hit it when on the SoCal freeways.



Instead of actually paying money for a bag, I took the fleece blankets off my daughter's bed (she's away at college), and sewed the bag myself. OK, actually, I had my wife do the sewing. And she did the cutting out, and the design and all the other stuff too, but I sure saved a lot of money!

Here's the final result:





And here's my wife's description, in my own words, of how she did the sewing:

1. Lay out the fabric (2 blankets) on floor


2. Put the board on top (remove sand, seaweed, etc. first)


3. Mark with chalk around the board, adding about two inches on each side for extra room


4. Cut blankets (I cut both sides of the top and bottom pieces. Alternatively, you could fold it over the board, and cut only one side).


5. Pin the pieces together


6. Sew across the seam if you needed two blankets


7. Fold over and sew a little "tunnel" in the tail end for the drawstring


8. Sew side seams


9. Sew the tip (rounded for better fit)


10. Turn it inside out (so the sewed part of the seams are on the inside)


11. Add the drawstring


12. Tell His Highness that his board bag is ready.

That's all there is to it! The bag is a little longer than necessary, in case I ever get a longer board. The bag is easy to put on and off the board -- easier than some knitted socks that I've tried in the past.
If you don't have a family member who is away at college, you might have to buy some fabric. In that case, I'd recommend something in a light color that will reflect the sun's heat better.
Stay tuned for what the board bag looks like after a few thousand miles!