Day 12 - Venturing South

We said our farewells to Skippy late last night, as we needed an early start in the morning to catch our Greyhound bus south down the coast to Ventura. Leaving the house at around 6.45am, Skippy's wife Andrea kindly dropped us off in a deserted downtown SantaCruz, where we had a couple of hours to kill before boarding the bus. After unsuccessfully scouting around for somewhere to get some food for the journey, we decided an early morning hot chocolate was an essential. As we are being 'experimental' with food and drink this trip, we made the brave move to get our caffine fix from the aptly named 'Bad Ass coffee', rather than the more standard Starbucks.


Going out on this limb ended up as a positive thing, as 'Bad Ass' served up a couple of the best hot beverages we've ever had, and the ambience was top draw, complete with sofas, complementary internet access, and live streaming of the 29th Olympiad. Once we'd managed to drag ourselves off the aforementioned sofas, we headed over to the greyhound station to ensure we could collect our tickets in time enough for the journey. However, a dramatic scene was soon to follow, as we realised we still hadn't actually acquired any form of lunch for our 8-hour bus epic. After making a preliminary sweep of the immediate environment, we discovered the local Subway, and deemed this to be the most reliable sandwich option (were not that experimental). The drama itself was brought on by the fact that this particular store didn't open until 9am (our journey, from a few minutes across town, started at 9.15), and this wasn't a prompt 9am either. We had to stare out the staff from outside the window, and at a fustrating 9.06,the door was finally opened. We dashed in, had to be content with non-heated chicken, and dashed out again, making it back across just in time for the bus.

The first priority once on was to make sure we sat in...yeah, you guessed it...the emergency exit seats. We got them and they didn't disappoint. Legroom was copious, and the sense of responsibility (should a crisis arise) gave us a certain pride - upping the moral barometer. The journey itself, despite seeming like a long time and running slightly behind schedule, was actually quite plesant. The legroom certainly helped, the air-conditioning was thankfully in full working order, and the views were always interesting, being breathtaking at best. We were impressed by our drivers as well. The first was surprisingly friendly for a bus driver, and narrated the various stages of our journey with a comfortingly husky tone reminiscent of Morgan Freeman. The second, whilst not as overtly smiley, did think to entertain the passengers with an in-depth description of the numerous medical ailments one could induce by smoking inside the enclosed bus area (climaxing with "if he goes into cardiac arrest, you're in big trouble..."). Legends.




9 and a half hours after setting of from the land of the banana slugs, we reached our luxury pier-side hotel in Ventura, a relatively small beachside town a couple of hours north of Los Angeles. The pro's of the hotel? A very spacious (pool-side) room, equipped with queen beds, a study area, en-suite bathroom, and kitchen facilities. Italso turned out to be near a great place to eat tonight...'The Habit'; a fast-food restaurant aiming to provide quality chargrilled burgers, rather than mass processed junk. As if Joe needed anymore convincing, an Aristotle quote on the wall sealed the deal (pointing out Aristotle's argument about the connection between excellence, virtue and 'habit', for those interested).

The cons of the hotel? Atrocious internet access, for one thing. Not only is there a mere one computer between all guests, but the internet is slow and inconsistent, meaning this blog will have to be posted a day late. Booo.

It's time for bed for us (good luck J getting the other J up tomorrow), before what should be an exciting day of beach freestyle.

Sorry for the delay!
Will update you again soon...

J and the other J

Day 11 - Santa's Slugs

As is now becoming routine, John was required to wake Joe up this morning... this time he managed the impressive feat of completely sleeping through the alarm clock. Joe hopes to match this again many a time during the rest of the trip, meanwhile John is preparing buckets of ice cold water. We had a quiet, relaxing morning at Skippy's house with a breakfast of bagels (we'll be having major bagel withdrawal symptoms upon our return to the UK).

At lunchtime, we set off for Santa Cruz with Skippy and his family. We called at 'Los Pericos' a mexican fast food restaurant and were introduced to the wonderous delicacy that are Taco's (pronounced Toco's by the Americans). We were both highly impressed by our first Taco experience, although the same could sadly not be said for Los Pericos's Ice Tea - perhaps the mexicans are not experts in this area.

We then quickly popped into Skippy's office at the University Campus; an ideal opportunity to pursue the question raised by a few of our commenters on yesterday blog post...who is the university's mascot? Well, we were told it would be interesting to find out and it certainly was... the mascot is a Banana Slug (yes, you read that correctly and yes, they do actually exist)! They are actually just what one would expect... a big bright yellow slug, looking a bit like a banana. John even went as far as to try on the official mascot costume (well, the head part anyway) and visual evidence of this can be seen below...



We then made our way over to the beach where we met Sacramento jammer Mark Regabutti, and were later also joined by San Jose player Doug Korns. We had a fantastic jam on the beach, right beside the waters with many great co-op and individual moves. Jamming with Skippy was a fabulous experience - he's a true master of the game and this could clearly be seen. He even took some time to teach us some against-the-spin moves - an area of play that he actually discovered.



When we were all frisbee'd out, J&J headed off in search of some much needed liquid enlightenment (aka. water). We strolled across a beach side restaurant so decided to head inside and were greated by a most agreeable young waitress (deja-vu anyone?!). Not only did she insist upon providing us with free ice waters (2 each infact), she then proceeded to shamelessly flirt with us, telling us how we look just like the 'Jonas Brothers' (a popular young US rock band we actually hadn't heard of, but she's not the first american to tell us this) and how we should pretend to be them when encountered by US fangirls. Here's a photo of the real Jonas Brothers so you can decide for yourselves whether or not she's right...



At the end of a long afternoon, we packed up at the beach and headed back to Skippy's house for a barbeque. The burgers were delicious and once our bellies had been adequetly stuffed, we did some recording with Skippy for a DiscCast Special that is in the works... be sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled for that one.

Since then we've had a relaxing evening in here at the house and will be heading to bed shortly; we have an early start tomorrow as we make an 8 hour greyhound journey down to Ventura - our next location. Looks like we had just left Florida in time as Tropical Storm Fay is currently causing mayhem and extremely strong winds in Jacksonville! Paul actually went out for a jam earlier today in the exact place we were playing/staying 3 days ago, with 60 mile per hour winds recorded during the time he was out there. Be sure to check out this video that he's posted... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5F-AnD3GG8

We'll be back with you in Ventura tomorrow,

Double J

Day 10 - A View to a Hill

Today began with a staggered start from the J's, as Joe decided to dismiss his 8.35 alarm clock for another quality hour in bed, before John kindly awoke him. Another great breakfast was waiting, however, including a mouth-watering addition - our first pancakes of the the trip, so thanks to Alicia for that. We did a quick bit of packing, and got set up for our train journey down to Santa Cruz, a couple of hours south down the coast from the SF area. We'll be back up to stay longer in SF later on in the trip, so we're really looking forward to that now.

We soon drove out to the station in Berkeley to catch our 11.40 train, and, after some confusion about where the main 'station' actually was (we had to find a sneakily-placed self-service machine to pick up our tickets), we waited for the train to arrive. Unfortunately, it was delayed by about 25mins, but our enthusiasm was undeterred, and to pass the time we did what all self-respecting freestylers do, and pulled out a disc for an impromptu jam on the platform. Despite some seriously choppy wind, we held up quite well, and managed to give Alicia a fairly decent demonstration. 

When the train eventually arrived, we boarded, and took our seats. It was a reasonably comfortable journey, and the train thankfully made up a bit of speed on the way to our destination station at San Jose. There we were met by our latest host - the freestyle guru known to all as Skippy. He was kind enough to drive us from San Jose 'over the hill' into Santa Cruz, and the views on this particular 'hill' were quite spectacular, with endless thick, high woodland, and the beautiful weather just added to the effect. 

From there, Skippy took us up to his office in the 'University of California at Santa Cruz'. Today really was a day for spectacular sights, and this was continued with the view from the University's sports complex up in the hills. Not only did Skippy's office overlook the swimming pool and sports fields, but some incredible panoramas of Monteray Bay were also visible past the pier and beaches of the town. We could simply see for miles, and as mentioned were lucky enough to have a nice day, so the clear skies enhanced our viewpoint. 




When we finally dragged ourselves away from the marvels of the University views, Skippy drove us downtown to the front, where he gave us a quick tour of the town centre, before a casual meander around the coastal cliff-tops. We a saw a few particularly interesting sights, including the Santa Cruz Surf Museum and then, slightly outside the centre, the local municipal disc golf course! Surprisingly for us UK guys, this seemed really popular, which was encouraging from a disc sports perspective. The surroundings of the course, less surprisingly, were beautiful once again, and the hilly woodland terrain would probably make for a challenging round.






Carving our way through more thick forest, we then made our way to Skippy's fantastic house, which itself is surrounded by tall Redwoods. We met his great family, and started to settle in, spending some time with a beer out on the timber deck, and had guided tours around the expansive garden area (courtesy of his two young boys). We were made a delicious meal (yeah, another one...) of filled Burritos, and have now enjoyed a relaxing time catching up on Usain's Olympic antics, and of course, updating this blog.




Signing off for now...

J2 

Day 9 - A Root in the City

Note 1: Some readers have informed us that since Day 4, only the top picture of each blog has been available for enlargement to full size. After some research, we have now rectified this problem and it should not happen again. Please also feel free to head back to previous days and check out the images that were previously unavailable for enlargement.

Note 2: Day 8 has been posted! See below this blog for the full story.


Our first night's sleep on the West coast was an extremely comfortable one. Greeting us, once up, was a delicious breakfast of bagels, cereal and fruit (thankfully grits was not on today's menu); raising our energy levels for the day ahead. On this positive note, we quickly showered, primped, then hopped in the car with Alicia for a day out in San Francisco.

We drove via Berkeley to take a nosey at the University, a very pleasant campus indeed. Our journey then took us to Marin (just north across the bay from San Francisco) to visit Bob and Mary, Joe's great Uncle and Aunt. We will be staying with them later in the trip when we return to SF and it was great to see them, Joe having not done so in 7 years and John meeting them for the first time. After an all-too-brief catch-up, we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge (an exciting moment, despite the fact that the majority of it was obscured by a dense fog) into the city centre.

The afternoon was spent having a tour in the city with Alicia; a superb guide. We saw many wonders... from Alcatraz to the TransAmerica Pyramid and the Museum of Modern Art (known to the locals as Moma). A highlight was viewing the city from two very secretive spots (the 48th floor of a hotel whose name we couldn't possibly mention, and a glass elevator belonging to another). The view was spectacular... one could see right out across the bay, and see all the major city landmarks (bar the Golden Gate which still insisted on hiding behind the fog).

When the clock struck 6, we made our way to the 'Thirsty Bear' - a bar/restaurant specialising in Spanish cuisine. We were meeting up with Shannon and Lance (Alicia's kids, although they're not so young anymore, both in their mid-20's) for a meal and beverage. Our adventurous spirit had not been dampened by yesterday morning's experience, with us both opting for a 'Root Beer' (a non-alcoholic, sweet soda tasting like a cross between coke and ginger beer) which was a delightful change. Once our stomachs had been filled with helpings of Spanish meatballs, we departed, and headed back home.



On the way back, their was time for one last sight-seeing adventure... a drive down Lombard Street (the most crooked road in the world, which, despite covering only 1 block, has 10 Z-bends!).

It's now time for a brief spell of relaxation before we get another good night's sleep,
Tomorrow we'll be moving onto Santa Cruz so we're very excited about that,

We hope everyone is well,

J&J

Day 8 - Brits meet Grits

Our final day in Florida began with a breakfast. And this was no ordinary breakfast. We decided to treat ourselves, and so headed out to the celebrated location that was none other than the 12-year running 'Best Breakfast in Jacksonville' award winner...The Beach Hut Cafe. At first, things were going smoothly. We ordered a couple of hot chocolates to get us started, the waitress was lapping up the accent (no change there then), and we were enjoying the casual local ambience. Then came the grits, and everything took a turn for the worse. Being the adventurous souls that we are, we decided to opt for this intriguing breakfast side-dish instead of fries...error of the century. No words can adequately describe the true taste (if you can call it that..) of 'grits', but we welcome attempts in the comments. To get you started, it is a bizarre substance, looking like a cross between mashed-up rice and custard, with a porridge-like consistency. When John commented that it looked like lunch at your local high-security prison, he was not wrong. Oh, and Joe had the cheese version.


Thankfully, our spirits were raised with the arrival of Josh and Carl to the cafe, who were stopping off for breakfast before a morning out in San Augustine (the oldest city in the US). Needless to say, they found the whole grits situation rather humourous (as has every American we've mentioned it to since), and told us of a few other comical events that had taken place at the cafe in the past. The one about Jeff O'Brien spilling a glass of orange juice all over Dave Murphy's lap was a particular belly-tickler. We intend to ask Dave about his reaction when we see him next.

Moving on from an eventful morning at Beach Hut, we spent a good deal of the day back at the condo/beach. After finishing up packing, we went out for our last Florida jam of the trip with Paul (and were later joined of course by Carl and Josh). To our satisfaction, we both managed to end the session on the move known as a triple-spinning gitis! For those uneducated in Frisbee lingo, this is, er, quite good. We also caught a few good moves on the video that can be seen at the top of this post.





Post-jam, it was time to head over to the airport. We said our farewells to Carl and Josh, who we look forward to keeping in touch with, and will hopefully see again soon. Paul then drove us over to JAX airport, where we said our goodbyes to him. He's been a fantastic and generous host, we were sorry to say bye to him, and look forward to seeing him again. We can't wait to have him over in the UK - he's promised us now! Once in the terminal, we got through a smooth and quick check-in to board the plane.

We had two flights, the first one being a lot shorter (we changed in Atlanta), and both went well. Due to some earlier negotiation at Manchester airport, we were equipped for both flights with emergency exit seats - which do, of course, come with double legroom, but hold the added responsibility of opening the door should a crisis arise. On the second flight, our pilot for the journey was a fine specimen of a man, who can only be described as an 'absolute legend'. One of his best pre-flight jokes was telling all passengers that the kids on board had voted (11 to 2) to fly upside down for the journey. The crew, however, would be going around shortly with grey bags, and if enough was raised for the pilots retirement fund, then he would consider flying the right way up. He also enjoyed some banter with ourselves, including pretending that we were on a flight to Detroit, and almost catching us out.

Then, we arrived in San Francisco, a special moment for John being his first time in California. We were greeted at the airport by Alicia (one of Joe's relatives), who brought us across the bay to her house - our fantastic lodgings here in Orinda. The J's were extremely tired, and so after a kindly provided quick midnight feast, their heads promptly hit the pillows.

Hello the West Coast.

The J's.

Day 8 - Coming Soon...

Hi guys,

Just a quick note to yet y'all know that we've arrived safe and sound on the West Coast. It's very late (for us!), and so we're going to get a good night's sleep and so we'll do today's blog tomorrow morning.

See you soon,

J&J

Day 7 - Gone With The Waves

Whats that?! Day 7... already! The first week of our tri-state escapades has flown by (that's one long haul and one internal...). However, it does seem a good while since we were back in the UK and we've become very accustomed to American lifestyle. The journey thus far has been a great one and there's so much more yet to come!

We began the day with, as is becoming a norm, a beach jam with Paul, Josh & Carl. Today the conditions were fantastic, the wind was coming from the sea and we we're getting more used to beach styles of play. After a few hours of "death jamming" (for all you fussers out there... don't worry it wasn't quite fatal), the 5 tired freestylers trotted back to the condo for some well earned rest. It also began to precipitate slightly... perhaps we had dragged the conditions across the Atlantic with us.

Following a quick bite to eat, a spot of hiding aligators and turtles (long story) and watching women's Volleyball (although none of us really knew which teams were playing or what the score was), Paul departed to meet his wife Cheryl as today is their 23rd Wedding Anniversary! Carl & Josh also decided to call it a day, so J&J headed out for their first solo jam of the trip. The tide was coming in, so a lot of our biggest combo's actually took place in the water. After getting a taste for the ocean, the jam itself was cut short and, after dumping the disc, we sprinted into the vast waters at terminal velocity. The waves were huge, the surfers were out in force and two crazy Brits lay floating amidst it all; very much enjoying the novelty.

Once dried, then showered, then dried again... we headed to a nearby diner for some much needed food (here we go again... the blog's hunger inducing effect remains). The place itself, however, was the main attraction, being so typical of the American-style diner that is so often seen on film and television. John christened his first ever diner visit with a deluxe strawberry milkshake, complete with a topping of real strawberries and ice cream. For his meal, Joe opted for a 'Greek Cheeseburger' served upon a traditional english muffin and with a side order of fries. John truly went to town, going for a 'Triple Decker Toastie' of beef, turkey, bacon and Swiss cheese, also accompanied by a side order of fries.



After the bellies had been filled and the tastebuds satisfied, we sat down to watch a film and digest. The film in question was 'The Nines', brainchild of screenwiter John August (who also directed the movie). The film was fantastic; we particularly enjoyed the thematic relevance of the nature of reality and its simultaneously existing possible alternatives. An ideal way to unwind.

Over 'n' Out!

J&J