Christmas in board shorts:)

Christmas Day Paddle with Jade and Robert

Andrew and I both come from places where Christmas is rarely a time you wander outside in sandals and board shorts, or even go paddling where you have to slap on sunscreen... I come from Ontario, where winters are cold and white... and typically snows by December, Andrew comes from the UK, where cold rain is a typical Christmas day forecast. Well, and now we both live in Vancouver where  on good years you can find both rain(in the city) and snow(in the mountains).

We both happen to have some free time over the holidays so a plan was hatched.... flights were too pricy for us and snow in our hood was not yet good enough for ski touring.... so we decided a solid road trip south would be fun... Andrew converted the Element into sleep mode, we loaded up some mtn bikes, trail shoes, and SUP equipment and off we went south looking for sun, waves, trails, and adventures...

we found snow in sedona! loaded car photo Andrew Dye

We bolted straight down for Laguna Beach, where Andrew drove through solid rain from Vancouver to about Redding California... just as we were getting a little worried that we would never find sun there it was perfect blue skies...

hello blue skies photo credit Kris Howson

Andrew chillin eatin his Acai Bowl at SanO

Laguna Beach/SoCal was filled with non stop activity such as SUP surfing, paddling, mtn biking, and a fun trip to Catalina Island... We stayed with the amazing Howson family and enjoyed visits with The Paddle Academy, Ian Cairns, The Russells, SIC, and many more folks whom I now call my extended family. I was super stoked that Andrew finally got to meet people I constantly mention and talk about and for them to meet Andrew:) The weather was sunny and we were totally loving wearing sandals again...

made it to the top of the climb Photo credit Robert Howson

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Killer view on the bike trails El Morro

Paddle Academy Training

on our way to Catalina

Our plans got a little wonky as a cold front moved in and snow arrived where snow should not have been typically... haha.. We made it to Sedona amidst a snowstorm... we found the Sedona Family Restaurant that proved to have just the right food we were looking for and entertainment that kept us going until 2015:) We spent the next day getting our feet wet and playing in the snow, taking pictures, and imagining what it would be like to mtn bike here. There was just too much snow for mtn biking, and we didnt think it would melt fast enough so we had a change of plans and decided to go find dry trails. We wanted to head to Zion but Zion also got caught in the storm with a ton of fresh pow but we were looking for dirt... SO.... we found out Boulder City/Lake Mead didn't actually get the snow they were supposed to... we were back on the road headed for VEGAS.... We found a cheap camp spot right on Lake Mead with our name on it. The next day we found a great breakfast place called the Coffe Pot in Boulder City. After a rather large and delicious breakfast we were off to Bootleg Canyon to explore the trails... We were out for about 3 hours and rode tons of fun trails:) SOOOOO Fun!
We decided to camp at Lake Mead one more night, so I managed to get out on the water on my SIC 14 X PRO LITE, Andrew snapped some nice sunset shots.
The next morning we went out for a final lap at Bootleg Canyon before making the long drive back up.

photo Andrew Dye

snow in Sedona!!!!! Photo Andrew Dye

Bootleg Canyon Photo Andrew Dye

Lake Mead Photo Andrew Dye

Lake Mead Photo Andrew Dye 

Lake Mead Photo Andrew DYe

 The driving was crazy.. Andrew is the man, he drove through snowstorms, wind storms, rain storms.... we got it all:)

Can't wait to head back to Sedona and check out Zion,.... they are tops on my bucket list:) haha

live, love, laugh,..DREAM!
lina