Colorado & Beyond...

I spent most of the last week in Colorado kayaking and catching up with friends.  I also did a ton of driving which landed me in Reno, NV last night.  I spent Tuesday night at the casino town of Black Hawk, CO.  I had a blast and ended up gambling in something like 6 casinos and walked away up a few hundred.  I stayed and paddled in Salida, CO for a few days and had a lot of fun.  I got to catch up with old Fluid Team members Deb and Tracy.  Tracy is doing well and now has an amazing little girl.  Deb is doing well and is now married, has a dog, and living near Salida.  I did get a chance to get out on a trail run on my first night in town with Deb.  I felt like I was breathing through a coffee stirrer for the whole 5 miles or so!!!  The run was at over 8,000 ft and probably climbed over a 1K ft.  I guess that is one way to try to acclimate to the altitude:)  I also watched Hell Boy II in the "local" theater in Salida.  Fun experience, and a somewhat entertaining movie.  I then got a chance to paddle in Gunnison and checked out Glenwood Springs, which was too low.  I basically then drove for two days straight across beautiful, but never ending, landscapes through Utah and Nevada.  I took Hwy 50 across NV and stopped for some fun at a crazy tinny casino in Ely, NV.  It was a 1929 6 story building in the middle of no where and had a ton of personality!  I'm now in Reno enjoying my free few nights stay at Harrahs.  So far I'm eating for free and also making a bunch of money to boot:)  Wish me luck and check in next week to see where in the world Bryon is!

(A cool little CO mining town HIGH in the mountains.)

(Me looping in the Salida hole.  It was  a bit on the high side of good, but still quality.)

(Me with a big righty backstab in Salida.)

(The mountain pass between Salida and Gunnison.)

(This is the really fun new wave in Gunnison.  It was tons of fun in my Astro and a handful in my Element.)

(This is the crazy 40+ miles of off-pavement that I drove between Gunnison and Glenwood Springs.  It was an absolutely spectacular drive!!!  The road less traveled is always more fun!)

(This is the Glenwood playspot at a lower than optimal water level.  I was also told by some locals that the river right wave changed with a rock that shifted recently.)

(Entering Utah at the Colorado border.)

(Entering Nevada at the Utah line.  The road looked like this for something like 500 miles!)

("The loneliest road in America" about sums it up.  I'll take it over the major interstates any day.)

(This is a crazy sand dune/mountain in the middle of no where Nevada.  It was totally out of place and very cool.)

Finally Traveling West!

It has been yet other long week.  I ended up taking the casino tour across the Midwest as I put in the westerly mileage.  I tried to kiteboard twice on this leg of the trip, both times on Lake Michigan, but got skunked with low wind on both days.  I did manage to get in a few runs, but slacked a few days since I didn't have access to a shower.  I tried to get a hotel in eastern Iowa, but all the rooms where booked due to all the flooding.  Really the only crazy thing I did all week was to sit in a single seat at a poker table for 31 hrs strait!  I didn't plan to sit there that long, but I was doing well and just kept playing.  I made some money, but probably not enough for 31 hrs worth of work:)

(Lake Michigan in the town of Muskegon.  These guys only had a 1/2 hr set on huge kites and boards.  The wind was only blowing about 10 knots.)

(This is the entrance to a river boat casino on Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana.)

(The kiteboard launch on Lake Mcconaughy in western Nebraska.  Very cool spot, but again people were on 18+ meter kites and HUGE boards in order to use the lite wind.)

I'm in Denver, CO now and will be headed out to other part of CO later today.  I got to catch up with my friends Gary and Christie Mullins here and they were nice enough to take me in for a few nights.  Gary and I also got a chance to get out boating last night at the Lawson Hole.  This is a great playspot, but brings back some painful memories for me.  This is the last place I paddled in CO, as it is where I injured my shoulder 2 yrs ago.  This session was full of cold water and frustrating rides, due to my rusty paddling skills, but no carnage.

(The beautiful sunset over the Rockies as I entered into Colorado.)

(Me cartwheeling in the Lawson Hole.)

(Me getting a front loop to work at Lawson.)

Back on American Soil

(Fireworks on July 1st you say.  This year I celebrated Canada day instead of the 4th.)

This past week I've been cruzing around in Canada boating and gambling.  I had a business meeting in Montreal and also picked up a new playboat.  I then headed over to Ottawa city and paddled the Champlain Bridge wave for the first time.  It was at a low level, but was tons of fun in my surf kayak.  I then watched the fireworks at Wilderness Tours, launched from their Bungee Tower, for the Canada Day celebration on July 1st.  The Ottawa river was running quite high and I managed to surf a wave called Mini-bus, or Greyhound Buseater, for 4 days.  The wave was huge and a bit dynamic for my reintroduction into playboating, but I had some fun rides and got some amazing photos.  I also had some HUGE crashes!

(Me surfing the Champlain Bridge wave called "The Wall" near downtown Ottawa.)

(View from River Right at the Mini-Bus wave on the Ottawa river.  The tow line is used to get on the wave and by some to get some cool up close video footage.)

(View from river left at Mini-Bus.)

(My buddy Stephen Wright, US National Freestyle Champion, going big on Bussy.)

(Stephen was kind enough to take a few shots of me on the wave to help me prove that I actually surfed it.)

(Mini-Bus really isn't that "mini".  It looked like a lot of fun on a surfboard!)

I left the Ottawa on Saturday morning and headed over to the Rama Casino about an hour north of Toronto.  I then headed for Detroit on Sunday afternoon.  The drive was long, but smooth, until I hit the US border.  I sat in about 8 miles of traffic to get across the bridge and through customs.  I then had a good business audition today in Detroit and spent a few hours at the Motor City Casino.  I'm now in West Lancing, MI and plan to get some kiteboarding in on lake Michigan tomorrow.  After that I'm really not sure, but I'm sure I'll head in a Westerly direction:) 

(Stuck in about an 8 mile backup trying to get back into the US.)

(View from Bridge into US at Port Huron.)

Finally On The Road Again!

Sorry for the long delay between posts, but life has been keeping me busy.  I did leave HI and am now back on the mainland.  Julie stayed in HI and is keeping busy with her many jobs and the canoe club.  Her canoe team is fighting for first place!  Julie and I are not together anymore, but are remaining good friends.

Baltimore treated me well, as I got to kayak, wakeboard, and catch up with lots of friends and family.  I ended up staying in Westminster with the parents for 15 days.  The big projects where finding an outfitting a cross country ready car and buying a new laptop.  The laptop was easy, and just required a large CC payment:(  The car was a complete headache.  I finally settled on a '98 Volvo V70 wagon.  It is nice with power everything, leather seats, dual climate controls, heated seats, CD player and it even has a tape deck:)  I did have some major issues that required the car to be in the shop for a few days and had me writing another $2K check.  In the end, with the roof rack setup, the car came out to about $7K.  The issue now is that the check engine light is back on and the trunk won't open.  Apparently it is going to cost me another $300 or so to get the trunk to work again.  For now, I guess I'm climbing in through the front:(

The next adventure was a week in Boston to visit Heather and Erin.  It ended up being tons of fun, even though Heather was a bit decapacitated due to a bone spur and bursitis in her ankle.  My ankle is still messed up from kiting in HI and I really hope I don't have to deal with the pain and issues that Heather has been dealing with.  I managed to get to the local rock climbing gym 3 times with Erin, kiteboard in downtown Boston, catch the "Grand Canyon" & "Alps" IMAX films, and enjoyed a lot of quality meals and drinks out on the town with the girls.

(Boston as seen from the Boston Science Center Parking Garage)

(Wide view of Pleasure Bay with the city in the background)

(The Locals go HUGE out here!  I'm flying the red kite in the background.)

(A bit of an industrial setting, but quite fun)

(Laid out and lovin' life)

(Heather, Erin, & I havin' some drinks in H's kitchen)

Today I left Boston and headed up to Montreal.  It was a long drive and I had to deal with the many issues of picking up a new Fluid kayak from the distribution center in VT.  The distributing company is a quality outfit, but I'm so glad to not be doing business with Fluid Kayaks anymore!!!  I did manage to get a great session in at the Habitat 67 wave in downtown Montreal in the new boat.  After a quality kayak surfing session I headed over the bridge just downstream of the wave for a bit of gambling at the Montreal Casino.  It is a very cool and interesting casino and I luckily walked out with enough extra money to get a hotel room tonight.  I'm looking forward to some more boating, and possibly gambling, before heading for the Ottawa River tomorrow.

(Arriving in French Canada)

I'm excited about this trip.  It has been way too long since I've been on a solo cross country adventure.  I'm hoping to get in shape and find as much kayaking and kiting as I can as I go.  My plan is to make it out west in the next month or so and set up roots with a new career.  I'm working on a number of options, but I'm keeping my eyes and ears open if you hear of anything.  Please be sure to keep in touch.  More adventures and photos to come shortly.

(Boston Kiting Photos taken by Erin Higgins)

Farewell Hawaii

The past few weeks have been intense to say the least.  We had lots of visitors, we canoed, we partied, we hiked, and I made some big decisions.

Julie and I took out some one man outrigger canoes that her work generously let us borrow, these things are over $3K a piece!  It was tons of fun and Julie got to show off her canoeing skills.  Julie did manage to tip over a few times, but it was a hot day and I'm sure she was just trying to stay cool;)  Julie also caught the wave of the day surfing it all the way to the inside of the breakers.  Luckily for her she was able to put those speedy canoe strokes to work and make it back to the outside before she and the boat made friends with the reef.

(Julie showing off her canoe form on the new Kamanu composits design the Pueo)

(Bryon giving the outrigger canoe thing a try)

We had a ton of house guests over the past few weeks as Aaron had three friends in town (Andy, Tim, and Nate) and Julie and I had Heather and Erin.  It was a full house, but everyone got along and had a good time.

Julie took a day off early in Heather and Erin's visit and took them out to the Mokalua Islands by kayak.  They got to enjoy the beach, check out the tidal sea life, as well as enjoy some cliff jumping.

(Heather enjoying the local sea life while the ocean explodes behind her on the Mokes)

(Julie jumping on the back side of the Mokalua Islands)

Two Saturdays ago we had a huge party at the 651, our place.  Aaron decided that it would be an Indian Jones themed party, as the movie opened that weekend.  The crew went all out with movie posters, full size Indian Jones cutouts, the official movie display, fake whips, Indiana party hats, booby traps, tiki torches, balloon snake pits, balloon boulders,  and the list goes on.  Derek made sure the party would go off properly by providing a keg of Longboard Ale.  We had a few less people than anticipated, but that was a good thing and we still managed to tap the keg!

(Julie & Erin getting into character, too bad it was more Charlie's Angels than Indiana Jones:))

(From Left to Right/Back to Front: Andy, Nate, Derek, Aaron, Tim, Jenny, Erin, Heather, Julie, Bryon)

(Julie attended the canoe blessing ceremony at the Kailua Canoe Club on Sunday)

On Sunday Heather, Erin, and I attended the Land Rover Wheels Event at Kualoa Ranch.  All of us had a hard time getting up after the crazy party the night before, but everyone managed to hold it together and enjoy themselves.  We couldn't have asked for a better day or a more fun group of people at the event.  It is always fun to take Land Rovers out into their natural environment.

(Land Rover Wheels event at Kualoa Ranch)

On Tuesday I took Heather and Erin up the Stairway to Heaven Hike.  It was a beautiful day for the hike and the views where spectacular.  I think the ladies will remember this one for awhile just because of its uniqueness.

(You could see most of the windward coast, Pearl Harbor, and all the way to the North shore from the top of Stairway to Heaven on this day)

(Erin, Bryon, & Heather at the top of Stairway to Heaven)

(Heather & Erin descending the final set of stairs on the Stairway to Heaven Hike)

(Bryon getting in a little light wind kiting)

On Wednesday Julie, Heather, Erin, and I took the scenic drive up to the North Shore.  We toured around all the famous surf breaks and checked out a ton of surf shops along the way.  We had lunch and drinks up at Cholos in Haliewa and then headed down to Sharks Cove for some napping and snorkeling.  We also took the ladies out to Kona Brewing in Hawaii Kai for dinner and drinks.  By the end of the day we had circumnavigated the entire island of Oahu!

(Erin wondering like the rest of us why Haliewa had NO waves!)

(Snorkel Julie ready to see the fishies at Sharks Cove)

(Heather and Bryon enjoying a beautiful sunset at the Paradise Cove Luau)

This past Thursday Julie and I took a sick Heather and friend Erin up the Olamana hike.  Heather was a trooper and ended up enjoying herself, even though she looked like she might keel over ascending the first peak.  Erin did an amazing job fighting off the jitters with the extreme exposure that the third peak offers.  It was a great day with amazing views of the windward coast of Oahu.

(The girls atop the third peak of Olamana with Kailua in the background)

(Erin descending the third peak on Olamana)

My Turkish motorcycle friend Umut found the love of his life and got married this past Sunday on Lanakai Beach.  It was a beautiful ceremony and he is extremely happy.  He also doesn't need to worry about his expired US work permit anymore:)

(Jenny and Umut's wedding on Lanikai Beach)

My big decision has been to leave Julie and the Land Rover job behind in Hawaii and move back to the mainland.  I'll be back in the DC/Baltimore area for a week or two sorting things out and then I'll be hitting the road.  I'm hoping to squeeze in a bit of kiteboarding and kayaking as well as catching up with friends and family.  My plan is to find a new career in the Pacific Northwest.  I have a number of solid prospects, but have yet to nail one down.

We'll see how often I'll update the blog, as I need to buy a laptop when I get home.  Hopefully all will go well and I'll have some great adventures and career news to share shortly.  Please do keep in touch and maybe I'll get a chance to catch up with many of you soon.