1st Anniversary in San Clemente, CA

I can't believe that it has already been a year since that perfect day in Hawaii when I married Tori. To celebrate our first wedding anniversary, we took Friday off and booked a room just up the coast in San Clemente. I have been looking forward to staying there since I have driven through the city so many times in the past without stopping. Leaving work, our weekend getaway began with an especially beautiful sunset. Amid the fading blue sky, the setting sun illuminated the scattered clouds with multiples deep shades of orange and red as we drove north through Camp Pendleton.

We were staying at the Patriot's Motel, a small roadside inn on El Camino Real in Downtown San Clemente. It wasn't fancy but it was clean and we had a huge bathroom. After checking in and drinking a couple glasses of the complementary white wine, we walked over to Nick's for our anniversary dinner. Seated at a nice table beneath the front arches, we ordered cocktails and the crisp, tasty Asparagus Fries. The Buttermilk Fried Chicken on the menu sounded so good, we both ordered it and we were not disappointed. We heard the Warm Butter Cake was amazing so we saved room for dessert. It was so worth it! With a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, it had the perfect amount of baked crunchiness on the outside while still soft and moist at the center. We are definitely coming here again.

Friday morning, we walked over to Starbucks so Tori could try their new espresso drink, the Flat White. She had acquired a taste for Australia's favorite style of coffee while living there. After a quick trip to the Rainbow Sandals Outlet so Tori could buy a new pair of her favorite sandals, we came across the sign for the Casa Romantica on our meandering drive back. While exploring the sprawling cliff side home of the town founder, Ole Hanson, it reminded me of a poor man's Hearst Castle. While Randolf Hearst had to curtail construction on his elaborate mansion during the Great Depression, his contemporary, Ole Hanson, lost the home he built in 1927 to the bank. Designed by the same architect who built Nixon's Western White House on the other side of town, Casa Romantica has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms surrounding a central courtyard with wonderful views of the ocean from the rear gardens.

After dropping the car back at the Motel, we walked down Avenida Del Mar to the San Clemente Pier. In the cool shade beneath, we watched the turquoise water crash against the pilings before walking out to the end of the 1,296-foot pier. Originally built in 1928, the pier was rebuilt twice in 1939 and 1985 due to heavy storm damage. Below, we observed a cormorant swimming fast under the clear water with it's webbed feet to catch a small fish trying to escape among the pilings. Back at the base of the pier, we stopped for a couple drinks at The Fisherman's Bar.

After our drinks, we walked South along the San Clemente Pedestrian Beach Trail until we reached the San Mateo Rocks directly off shore of Riviera Beach. I have seen those rocks many times from the train that runs right along the beach. They look close to shore but they sit further out than the end of the pier. Strolling back along the beach, we stopped once more at The Fisherman's for fish tacos and to watch the sunset. It was pretty, highlighting Catalina Island in orange light against the skyline, but without the dramatic clouds of Thursday night's sunset. (I also tried a Oyster Shooter for the first time.) On the walk back to the motel, Tori climbed a tree in the park to recreate a fun photo from our Wedding Reception. Next year, it will be my turn. Ha! Since we ate light at the pier, we went out for a later dinner at Duke's. Good Burgers!

Since we were checking out at 11:00 am on Saturday, we first walked next door to the Bagel Shack for breakfast. It was crowded but the bagel sandwiches were very tasty so we bought a couple extra for Sunday morning. Heading south on El Camino Real, we stopped at Rip Curl's Trestles Surf Outlet. Tori bought some clothes while I found a pair of trunks I liked for $30. Cheap! Since I had never been to the famous Trestles surf break before, we parked at the Christianitos lot and hiked down the long path to the beach. Crossing the railroad tracks at Uppers, we found 2-4 foot waves as we walked down the shore to Lowers and Middles. With the San Onofre Nuclear Plant visible around the point, we turned around at the Churches break to head back home to Encinitas. It was only a 30 minute drive from San Clemente, but the empty land of Camp Pendleton creates a nice physiological separation from Orange County. It feels so far away, yet it is so close.

Flying Trapeze - No Safety Lines

Today, I finally performed my first trick to the net without safety Lines.



In order to land safely in the net from a trick, I first had to learn the Face Off where flyers turn their bodies around mid-air to land on their back. After a lots of practice on the airbag, I moved over to the net to attempt my first Splits out of safety lines. I didn't feel too nervous, but it showed when I started turning as soon as I released the bar. On my second and third attempts, I correctly reached out first for the catch before completing my Face Off.

Thanksgiving - Cooking my First Turkey (with Oven Bag)

Maybe because I am now a married man, I volunteered to cook a Thanksgiving Turkey for our family dinner this year. For this first attempt, I decided to use a Reynolds Oven Bag because the best turkey I have ever tasted was cooked with that same technique. At 8:30am, I went downstairs to pull my thawed bird out of the refrigerator and prep it. Since I planned to cook the turkey without stuffing, I filled the cavity instead with chopped onion, garlic cloves, apple and a sprig of Rosemary.

After buttering the skin and sprinkling it with paprika, I slid it into the bag surrounded by five chopped celery stalks and two more onions. I then poured a chicken broth mixture of basil, thyme and pepper over the turkey before sealing the bag. We lost the included nylon tie so Tori cut a plastic strand from the bag to tie off the end instead. After venting the bag and placing it in the oven, I realized that I forgot to add salt but I decided to leave it alone since Butterball turkeys already contain an 8% water solution of salt and spices.

After 3 hours and 20 minutes, the meat thermometer in the thigh reached the desired 180 degrees and I pulled the bird from the oven. While I let it rest for 20 minutes, I re-watched a New York Times video on how to carve a turkey. Learning how to pull the entire breast away from the bone to cut separately on a second board was much easier that I expected. After I finished carving, I added the drippings from the roasting pan to some McCormicks's Turkey Gravy Mix. The gravy turned out great, but next year I will attempt to make giblet gravy from scratch.

Along with Tori's mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts, we took our prepared food over to my brother's place for the feast. We ate on a nice table set up outside in the yard and my turkey was deemed a success. It was very moist and flavorful. Afterwards we all hung out on the hay bales set up around the fire-pit before going back inside for desert. It was a great day!

Trapeze High Show - Catching and Flying

After skipping the Trapeze High Friends and Family Show in 2013 because of my injured shoulder, this year I was prepared to both catch and fly. The costume colors were black and white (with pink accent) so I was finally able to wear the special tights that I had been saving. The show started on Sunday at 3pm with special performances by Chris and Gina on the Static Trapeze, Susan on the Rope and Kenny and Jill on the Traveling Rings before moving back to the rig for the flying trapeze.

Since I am tall, I was assigned to catch the four girls of the Kids Troupe. Except for Vanessa, the rehearsal on Saturday was my first time catching the other girls who normally fly in the Sunday classes. Before the show, I was more worried about the catching than I was about my flying since I didn't want to spoil any of the girls' catches with bad timing. After I caught Charlotte's Birdie, my nervousness left as I caught Evie's Whip, Vanessa's Planche and Leilani's Splits with no problems. During the rehearsal, Vanessa had released early on both attempts, but she was perfect in the show. Normally I don't hear much outside noise during a catch because I am concentrating, but the overwhelming roar of the crowd during each successful catch was amazing to experience. Even though it was only four locks total, my mouth was dry and my body shaking at the end due to the adrenaline.

Chris had a busy day. After performing the Static Trapeze Routine earlier, he caught the largest troupe of the show with Angela, Natacha, Betty, Celeste, Kira, Dia, Cindy, Gina, Sharyn and Rhiannon. It was fun to watch all these talented ladies perform, most of them out of safety lines.

Wayne's Troupe was the smallest with just me, Chris and Didier who is visiting from France. For my pink accent color, I wore a tutu while flying for the first time. After a Warm Up Swing, I threw a Hocks Off to Wayne before finishing with a Man Splits dismount to the net. Next year, I will definitely perform my tricks out of lines. Chris and Didier are really good, throwing a Straight Jump and Layout out of lines to Wayne and returning to the board. They ended the show by dismounting to the net with a Forward Over and Double respectively.

Here are the short videos of me catching the Charlotte, Evie, Vanessa and Leilani.









Here are the short videos of me flying with Chris and Didier during the last troupe performance of the show.

Flying Trapeze - Drone Footage (Trapeze High)

Yesterday, Chris came out to Trapeze High in Escondido to film us with his new drone. Tori and I loosened up with some Warm Up Swings as he learned to navigate the drone around a yard filled with guy-wires.

After my last Warm Up Swing, the drone shot straight up into the sky for a towering aerial view of the Trapeze Rig. The new Airbag Rig under construction is visible behind covered with a blue tarp.

As Chris flew his drone back toward the ground, Tori performed a Knee Hang Back Flip with an added Net Trick.

Here I am working on my Hocks Off from a few different angles. It was fun when Chris flew the drone in between the Apron Net and the Catch Trap while I was flying.

After Kenny finished playing on the Traveling Rings, he came over and threw a few tricks, including a Double. This video file became corrupted so I could only recover footage of his first two tricks.

For the drones last flight, I climbed up to the Catch Trap to catch my wife. Our Knee Hang Catch yesterday was the first time I caught Tori out of Safety Lines.

The drone flew back in closer as I caught Tori's Splits. She is so graceful!

With just a little bit of juice left in the drone's battery, Chris flew over to film Jill on the Traveling Rings. It was a beautiful sunset.