Trapeze High - Memorial Day BBQ(GoPro Flying & Ziplining)

During the Memorial Day BBQ, I flew with the GoPro Chesty Harness for the first time. (I have worn it before while catching.) I experimented with the camera pointing straight out from my chest, up at my head and down at my feet. I discovered that I like the feet angle the best since the viewer has the ground in sight to orient themselves. Below are videos of the three different camera angles while I performed the Turnaround. My turn is improving but I am still bumping the board on my second trip over. I need to remember to extend and pike.







Below are video and time-lapse photos of my Man Splits. Normally, I am too focused on my swing and the trick to enjoy the view. I need to straighten my legs and point my toes more while in the Splits. Tommy and Mark both wore the GoPro camera too while flying in Speedos. It was quite funny!

After everyone flew for awhile, Chris and Isaac both went up to catch. Here is a photo of Isaac catching Vanessa's Splits with Tommy pulling the safety lines in his Speedos.

After catching, Chris and I ziplined into the new pool a few times. Walking up the rattlesnake-infested hill is the scariest part. The zipline was fun and the new pool has a much bigger drop zone than the old circular pool where you had to release at the exact right moment to avoid hitting the sides. Lindsay experienced that first hand when she left a dent in the side and a colorful bruise on her leg to show for it.

Flying Trapeze - Back into the Catch Trap

Tori and I filled in for Lianna and Isaac today at Trapeze High for the 10 and Noon classes. It was great to get back up on the board and biscuit for the trapeze flyers. Tori pulled safety lines during the first class. Afterwards, her voice was worn out from shouting instructions for over an hour.

I hadn't caught a class in almost two years since I injured the psoas muscle in my left hip but since the first class was only half full with smaller flyers I decided to climb back up into the catch trap. Even with a healed hip, I was concerned about my endurance after the long layoff but I held up for the 11 catch locks required. In the video below, Tori is pulling lines as I catch Evie's Half Time Straight Jump.



I thought about taking the Kiiker for a spin after the noon class but I didn't want to wear myself out too much before our AcroYoga Jam later in the day. The Kiiking Swing is one of the most exhausting activities I have ever done. I did take a picture of Stephanie going over the top.

Glen Ivy Hot Springs (Playing in the Mud)

We went to Glen Ivy Hot Springs today on our day off from work. While Tori has been several times as a child, I have never been. We wanted to get there when it first opened at 9am so we stayed Thursday night at the Holiday Inn Express twenty minutes away in Lake Elsinore. (My grandfather was the mayor of Lake Elsinore back in the eighties.) After entering the resort and stopping for Tori's coffee in the cafe, our friends, Jill and Kenny arrived to spend the day with us. Our first stop was soaking in the warm Saline Pool filled with Epsom Salts. We then moved on the Plunge Pools, alternating between five minutes in the hot pool and one minute in the freezing pool.

The morning clouds burned off by 10am as we prepared to enter The Grotto for our hydration treatment. After taking the elevator down into the underground grotto, the attendants painted our bodies with a green body masque of aloe vera, coconut oil, shea butter, eucalyptus, and lavender. We relaxed in the warm hydration chamber for about twenty minutes as our skin absorbed the nutrients. After showering off the slippery coating, we hung out in the cool chamber next to the waterfall as we drank tea. Kenny crafted a unique concoction from the available tea bags and added some apple slices. It was very tasty.

After leaving the Grotto, we visited Club Mud where we rubbed our bodies with the red clay mud. It made us look like we had great tans. After letting our mud coats dry in the sun, we washed it off in the geothermal waters. We were really hungry so we ate lunch at Cafe Sole where Tori and I shared a chicken caesar salad and panini. Both were very good. The nachos looked amazing but the line for them looked a little long. After lunch, we floated in the shallow waters of the Lounge Pool where we ran into Lauren who was spending the day at the spa with her friends as well. We also spent some time in the Vista Pool which mostly had a view of the parking lot but we could also see down into the yoga class held under the pavilion.

Ordering some drinks, we entered the Mineral Baths. Kenny and Jill called them the Fart Baths after the sulfurous smelling water. Glen Ivy was called Temescal Sulfur Springs when they opened in 1860. When we got overheated, we moved over to the cool, refreshing water of the Lap Pool where we played with some Standing Acro poses in the pool. The water made it easier for some of the poses but actually made it tougher for Counter Balancing since it threw off the delicate weight distribution. After a trip to the new saunas and the steam room, we called it a day and got ready to go home. While Kenny and I had the men's locker rooms practically to ourselves, Tori said the women's area was super crowded and she barely got access to a shower as so many ladies were primping for a night out.

After seeing the nachos at lunch, I was craving them by the time we got home so we stopped at Las Olas in Carlsbad for dinner. They were great with some margaritas!

AcroYoga - Runaround Washing Machine(and Mono Limb Reverse Star)

We had a great jam tonight at Aerial Revolution. Jesse taught Tori and I a new washing machine called the Runaround. A washing machine is a series of AcroYoga poses that are repeated in a continuous flow.

A post shared by noahu (@noahu) on May 20, 2017 at 1:03pm PDT

We also pulled off our first Mono-Limb Reverse Star, holding it for a good 10 seconds without a spot.

San Elijo Lagoon (Annie's Canyon Trail)

Tori and I took Friday off from work. After making homemade crepes with maple butter we brought back from Montreal, we headed over to the San Elijo Lagoon to hike the narrow sandstone canyons. Sections of the lagoon trail were closed due to construction on the I-5 Freeway and Coast Highway, but it was open between them on the Solana Beach side. We parked and entered the ecological reserve at the North Rios entrance.

After a rainy winter, there were lots of flowers along the trail. Tori and I were curious about the bright tangles of orange vines among the foliage. We initially took a wrong turnoff and ended up near the Holmwood trailhead but we didn't mind since there was a large shady tree with nice thick branches to climb. Backtracking down the trail, we continued on our original path until we found Annie's Canyon Trail. A sign at the fork pointed to the more moderate viewpoint trail or the more strenuous ascent through the narrow slot canyons.

Even though Tori and I have lived here our whole lives, we had never visited the Mushroom Caves area. This place used to be off-limits but that didn't stop people from coming into the slot canyons anyway and vandalizing the walls so the lagoon conservatory opened up this official trail with the help of a donor (named Annie) to help limit the damage. At first the canyon trail was fairly wide with the narrower side channels blocked off with hanging chains for their protection. On a few of the walls, Tori spotted a type of ice plant growing out of the sandstone.

Tori and I found a fairly flat area to attempt a Reverse Thigh Stand before the trail detoured to climb rapidly up a narrow corridor. Weaving back and forth in the narrow slot canyon, we found one of the original mushroom cave party spots filled with graffiti. Beyond, the slot canyon grew even tighter. At this point we wished we had brought a backpack to carry our water bottles because we needed both hands to work our way up the constricted path. Near the top, the sandstone turned from tan yellow to a bright white and we found a ladder to help us climb up the last steep section.

Exiting the canyon, we arrived at the viewpoint sitting at the top of the moderate route. At 200 feet elevation, it had great views of San Elijo Lagoon as well as the earth-moving work around the freeway nearby as we practiced our different variations of the Thigh Stand. After descending, we took a different trail that followed the edge of the lagoon back to our car. With all the wild flowers and surrounding green landscape, it almost didn't look like dry Southern California.

After our fun hike, we ate lunch at The Lanai where Tori ordered the Poke Bowl and I enjoyed the Blackened Ahi Tacos. They were so flavorful! We spent the rest of our day off assisting Nathan in teaching his AcroYoga class at Aerial Revolution.