Next Trips: Arizona Lou's Veterans Appreciation National Tour, 2024 is now history
- Now back in Phoenix he'll be appearing at various open mics in the valley
- He will also be busy as his own booking agent for his 2025 tours.
The Kurst family's introduction to a BIG kite at Kitty Hawk Kites: Bowser Stock Photo
2024 Veterans Appreciation National Road Tour - 12 States
====== Please excuse the dust and the disorganizaiton because this section is under construction, Check back often as we are working on it. Thank you, Lou ======
Mother nature provided me with my third total solar eclipse, this time in Ingram, TX. Unfortunately the clouds were in and out. We got to see the crewcent sun, but it became overcast during totality.
There was a lot of activity surrounding the eclipse, including special rides. I took my first helicopter ride in Kerrville, TX. Hunter, who was helping to coordinate the flights became my latest fans.
- Of course I used libraries as my office across the country. The Butt Holdsworth Library in Kerrville, TX was one of the more spectacular libraries.
I did my first firehouse show here in the Ingram, TX Volunteer Firehouse and also spent the night there in my van.
- Another first was having a comedian fly in to open for me. Josh Graves, a comedian friend from Phoenix, was the one. He opened for me for three shows in Penscola, FL and Mobile, AL.
Birmingham, AL
flew
1966 Piper Cherokee 140; Morristown Regional Airport in Morristown, TN
2025 Diamond D40; Johnston Regional Airport in Smithfield, NC
Flagstaff pulliam Airport, Flagstaff, AZ Moony
- Jul 12 - Before leaving Walmart I arranged for today's "office" at the Bloomsburg Municipal Airport. I appreciated the tranquil beauto of PA Highway 487 crossing the Susquehana River just south of the airport.
It was a last minute trip at the invitation by Samantha (Sam) Lackner of Vienna Austria whom I met at an El Charro Hipster open mic in Phoenix on August 31st. I bought airline tickets to Vienna on the 16th of September and was taking an United Airlines overnight flight to Vienna nine days later.
- The trip turned out to be an exciting adventure with comedy (all in English, mostly open mics) in three major cities.
Viena, capital of Austria
Prague, capital of Czechia (used to be called Czech Republic)
Bratislava, capital of Slovakia
- If you like details look at my blog from September 25 to October 8, 2022.
- I took an overnight flight from Phoenix to Vienna on United Airlines. By early morning we were over western Austria.
Below us on the ground someone was seeing a beautiful red sunrise while at 35,000 feet we enjoyed the texture of the sun paying with the fractocumulous clouds.
- Our wide-body Boeing 767 with eight seats across in the main cabin, landed Monday, Sep 26th at 8:30am Vienna time, which was 11:30pm Phoenix time and my body's time. I would be starting the day in the middle of my night.
- During my stay I rode them all. I rose to the challenge of taking busses, trams, trains, subways and escalators. My hotel, which you can see in the background, was near Vienna's Central Terminal.
- I had arranged a number of open mics and met a lot of excellent people from all over.
On October 4th, at the International Bar in Bratislava, Slovakia I got four comedians as new fans:
Oscar Brophy (Ireland)
Branislav Bruder (Bratislava
Thom Lovelock (Wales)
Lou
Dominik Antal (show host, Slovakia)
Wed Oct 5 = This evening was my last (and main) appearance of the tour; at
Isaac's pub here in Vienna, Austria. Eric James, the shows producer, saved my brain and some time. He graciously arranged for a car to pick me up at my hotel. I enjoyed the luxury of feeling like a celebrity in a lemo... but it wasn't a lemo. It was aN Uber with a driver who spoke no English.
- The small audience of 24 at Isaac's laughed quite a bit and I got five good quality recordings that were unusable because I didn't notice one of the comedians standing in front of my primary camera.
- After the main show I was part of a panel of the six comedians, answering questions that were submitted by audience members.
The comedians/pannel (L-R) Jacob Liss; Lou; Regi, host; Aislinn Kane; Eric James, producer; Samatha Lackner, who invited me to be on the show
- Thu Oct 6, the next day, I started a fantastic day with only an orange because Samatha had invited me to brunch in Vienna with three others. Getting there I took my first subway in Europe - most crowded public transportation on my trip.
- Brunch over the famous Danube: Aislinn Kane, Lou, Samatha Lackner, a friend, Eric James (note the zip liner in the red helmet whizzing by). What a delightful to end my tour!
The only thing remaining was to fly back home to Phoenix on Austrian Airlines.
- During the Flight I got acquainted with Ray Banntewicz in the galey area. He is a born comedian who has had a stroke but hasn't done comedy yet. I encouraged him to try, and gave him some resourses that at are the bottom of my Comedy Home Page. Ray even bought a T-Shirt.
- Sat Oct 8 = Today was unpacking, recouping from 15 hours of flying and nine time zones of jet lag... and remembering my seven European appearances:
2022 Veterans Appreciation National Road Tour - 15 States
I started this trip on the wrong foot. April 6th I headed south right on schedule with an out-of-date car registration. I was made aware of that fact by flashing lights in my rear view mirror. Since I was only a couple miles from home, I turned around, went back home and spent over $1K correcting the situation... on my cell phone because the AZMVD website was not working on my computer. I had to skip supper to get there in time but I did make it to The Screening Room in Tucson for my first performance of the tour.
- On the way to El Paso I toured Rick Branson's SpacePort America in New Mexico.
- Christopher, the tour operator is a slight, soft-spoken, seemingly timid at times man, but evidently a good businessman who started Final Frontier Tours to specifically conduct at least three Space Port America tours a week.
- His friend and tour guide was a big, boisterous type with a booming voice. A perfect compliment for Christopher.
- This is the happy tour group in front of the headquarters. It was erected with a bladder under it to give it its shape. You can see the swooped control room roof to the right.
- Inside the first person to greet you is the receptionist.
- Then up to mission control. The control room is small because most of the control is done by computers.
- Back outside, it is difficult to fathom this 110,152 square foot hanger that is large enough to hold the double-fuselage jet launch craft.
- The fire department did not have a whole lot to do, except to impress us visitors.
- I'm glad I rode their Factoid... once. It accommodates two but since I rode by myself I got to experience about three G's.
- Here is the spacecraft itself. Well, not really. This is an earlier test model.
The first comedy stop was El Paso.
- More details are on my Blog from April 7th to August 7th, 2022.
- On Jul 13th I drove to the studios of WBOC TV in Salisbury MD for the 9:30 am "taping" of Delmarva Life a 5pm show about what's happening on the Delmarva Peninsula. The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia. The peninsula is 170 miles long
- It was fun bantering with the hosts, Jimmy Hoppa and Lisa Bryant. They "taped" my portion of the show first, which included me opening the show with their old traditional, "... It's Showtime!," them interviewing me and a three-minute comedy set. Also, I got Paula Sangleer, on air radio personality on 93.5, The Beach, as my 268th fan:
We're stil working on this trip, so check back later for more... Thank you for being patient.
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November 2nd, 2021 started my second Alaska comedy adventure. Here are some of the highlights. More details are on my Blog from Nov 2nd through Nov 8th.
- The weather was unexpectedly warm and there was little show around.
- Images are:
My Anchorage itinerary for the tour
My Airbnb as expected
The actual view from the right back - no snow
The easterly view out the picture window on the second level of the YMCA gym
Sunsets in Anchorage are long and travel from south to north. Here's the view from my balcany
My show in Chugiak, northeast Anchorage
New fans from that show, my first full length show for Elks
New fan at the Anchorage International Airport, before departure, heading back to Phoenix. Camely thinks I'm famous. Hey, I'll take it :)
2021 Veterans Appreciation National Road Tour - 8 States
April 7th I headed east right on schedule. Here are some of the highlights. More details are on my Blog from April 7th to August 7th.
Before leaving I used a new scheme to organize expensive food that is hard to get on the road. I used heavy duty zip-lock bags, such as powdered milk and CPAP parts come in, that prevent cross-contamination of flavors. I put these bags into two paper grocery bags in the passenger foot area: one bag for nuts and the other for non-nuts. My kitchen drawers for the van are to the left of this picture.
Non Nuts were:
Scottish oatmeal
cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg mix
powdered milk
raw psyllium husks
flax seed meal
onion powder
minced garlic
Nuts were:
almonds
cashews
sunflower seeds
peanut butter (free from Fry's)
- The first comedy stop was El Paso, TX. John Cowen opened for me and VFW Post 812 was awesome - probably the best post so far in my 7.5 year comedy career. They had put forth considerable effort into making the show successful. They had this 5' poster where people would see it coming into the bar so they had full hall (considering COVID-19) of 40 responsive audience members. It was the first time that John and I were presented certificates of appreciation.
I did a few open mics during the four-month tour. These, in Arkansas: The video to the left is my first requested guest set :) It was at The Rail Yard in Little Rock. The picture to the right is some new fans I picked up at the Four Quarter Bar in North Little Rock.
Miles Dougherty, Lou, Lauren Macklemore, Mica Brooks & Hunter Harris; Four Square, N Little Rock AR 4/28/21
Even more comedy was my first, and probably last, pedicure which occurred at The Nail Palace in North Gulfport MS. I said to myself, I hope no one I know sees me going into this place. My pedicurist, Hong from Vietnam, used a lot of gestures because she spoke no English.
In Tennessee, I learned that there was no Chattanooga Choo Choo. The idea was fabricated for the song. I did, however, ride a train from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum on a three-mile historic excursion that included several bridges, a long tunnel and they say the only operational turntable. Here it is turning our locomotive around for the return trip.
Also in Tennessee was the most spectacular VFW Post on the trip. They were just finishing repainting their jet for Memorial Day and the Boy Scouts were selling barbecued pork and drinks out by the VFW Post#5146 plane. In the background is my van, the post with the blue roof, one of their tanks and the cherry picker they were using to repaint the plane.
- One of the highlights of the trip was meedting my son, his wife and my granddaughter at the Kings Island Amusement Park about 25 miles northeast of Cincinnati. The first picture is our view from King's Eifel Tower. In the distance you can see Orion their highest and fastest (91mph) roller coaster, which, of course my son and I rode (second picture). I must be getting old because my stomach did not want to go on any spinning rides after the first one.
I did get in a kiteboarding session in while on
and also my first, and likely last, efoiling.
- Here is a rough video of the experience with lots of zoomed-in video, which I just learned how to do with PowerDirector 18. Second is a picture of how it would have looked without being zoomed in. Third is Jimmy Buffett getting ready to pull the trigger on his efoil board.
- A first for my comedy career was having a music act open for me. It all occurred at Cincinnati's VFW Post#3360 with TJ Reno.
- In Cleveland, believe it or not, I snapped this picture one morning from my van in the parking lot of VFW Post 2133.
- August seventh I was glad to be back home until I opened my freezer. The power had been out for a week or so and everything had melted rotted and refrozen, except what liquid had run out and then dried up on the floor. Here it is before and after the cleaning. Smelly! Smelly!
Summary of my Veterans Appreciation National Road Tour, 2021:
What better time for our first trip to Alaska than right after returning home from the road portion of our Arizona Lou's Veterans Appreciation National Tour, 2020, not even having time to unpack.
- The fun started even before leaving. Alaska required a negative viral COVID-19 test, taken within 72 hours of departure and for a special form to be filled out online. No one here in Phoenix seemed to be sure they could do the test and get the results in time, so we scheduled three of 'em. The first one did the trick, so we canceled the other two.
- On Monday, August 17th we flew up to Anchorage on Delta Airlines, changing planes in Seattle and back home a week later.
At 35k' on the flight from Phoenix to Seattle we flew by this absolute text-book thunderstorm in its late mature stage (cumulus buildup or CB).
On the flight from Seattle to Anchorage, our row-mate, Jackson Whalen from St George UT was unbelievable with the Rubik Cube. He and his girlfriend came to our first comedy show in Alaska:
- Don Maupin of American Legion Post 15 in Palmer picked us up at the airport. While in Anchorage we put up a 2x3' poster at the American Legion Post 1, and then went to the Palmer American Legion Post 15 where he had set up his camp trailer (pictured below), home for our week in Alaska. For the times his work (he was supposedly on vacation vacation) demanded his attention he let us use the silver van to get around. Such a guy!
- During the week Don was able to take us around most of the places we needed to go, including veterans' posts to put up more 2x3' posters, we had had remotely printed at the Anchorage Office Max, which he had picked up on his way to pick us up at the airport. Don took a week's vacation for all this. He made us feel like royalty, although we tried not to act like it.
- We did four one hour comedy shows for veterans at American Legion, VFW and AmVets posts.
(Left) One of the 2x3' posters.
(Center) We had fun bantering with the veterans about their branches of service (family friendly video)
(Right) One-hour show at VFW Post 9365 in Wasilla. We opened the show for ourselves (PG-16 video).
(Left) American Legion Post 35 was our Woodstock only 50 years later... but it was not 400,000 on Max Yasgur's dairy farm.
(Right) What an audience! Here is three minutes of our fun, with proper COVID-19 social distancing.
Friday's show in Anchorage was canceled due to a COVID-19 exposure, so we went out to the Palmer Municipal Airport and Don Hammond's Fly Around Alaka and rented a Cessna 172.
From the plane we got this picture of the Knik Glacier, extending clear to the horizon, which melt flows into the Knik River, foreground. Keep in mind, this is the middle of summer!
Sunday was a day off from comedy so Don Maupin picked us up at our trailer and took us on a tour of the area with a lunch at a little brewery in Talkeena, about 50 miles southeast of Mount McKinley (not!) The Native Americans got it renamed to Denali. It's still the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet above sea level. Then we drove on up to the Hatcher Pass summit, not far from one of the base stations for climbing Denali. Don let us use his phone for pictures since we had left ours charging in the trailer.
- Here we are overlooking the Susitna Valley, which was carved by glaciers with a little help from the Little Susitna River. (photos by Don & Louis)
(Left) Here's where we crossed the Little Susitna River.
(Right) We stood on the famous Castle Mountain Fault... no earthquake
Our view from the 3886' Hatcher Pass Summit showing some of the switchbacks (panoramic photo by Louis Self with Don's iPhone)
The Castle Mountain fault zone is visible from the road at the base of Hatcher Pass. (KTUU TV2 photo)
- Sunday was not entirely off comedy. In the evening we joined Don, Donna and a bunch of their kids, grandkids, friends and their kids for a BBQ
- After the eats, We gave the kids a short introduction to stand up comedy and then did a 10-minute show for all 30 people, kids and adults alike.
Summary of the Alaska portion of our Veterans Appreciation National Tour, 2020:
Number
Comment
8
days of tour (same as originally planned before with COVID-19
1
state visited (Alaska, changing planes in Seattle, WA)
4
shows for veterans posts of one hour each (19 total veterns' shows so far)
5
originally scheduled veteran's shows
1
Kids Intro to Comedy
1
private guest appearance for 30 (appearance number 1097)
10
stickers sold
2
2.8 hour Arizona Lou Comedy flash drives sold
2
8x10" signed pictures sold
1
signature on a lottery ticket
11
T-Shirts sold
3
sponsorships for 2x3' posters at three veterans' posts
2020 Veterans Appreciation National Road Tour (During COVID-19)
We left on our tour two months late because of canceled shows, thanks to COVID-19. We did comedy in three states rather than the scheduled ten states. That is called rolling with the punches.
(Left) The first national road tour for our new van
(Center) We had 20 of these 11X17" commemorative posters printed up with our original show schedule. Didn't sell a single ONE.
(Right) PR in the Crescent News in Defiance, OH.
(Left) Our first Merchandise Signing for Charity (at
Kitty Hawk Kites, in Rodanthe, NC). Didn't sell anything, but got exposure and experience.
(Right) The last two Tuesdays in June we did two of our originally scheduled five Comedy-n-Sunset shows.
(Left) We went with our son and granddaughter on a neat hike on the Indian Fort Mountain Trail at The Pinnacles in KY and were rewarded by this view from the East Pinnacle (photo by Louis Self using a Nexus 6P cell phone).
(Right) My grandaughter made this list of things for us to do. She is pretty sharp for a 5.5 year-old. She enjoys numbers and challenges.
(Left) A new thing this trip was three 2x3' posters with a glossy area at the bottom for show details written in dry erase marker. We shuffled these posters between various veterans' posts. Donna Asbrock snapped this picture before our show in Cincinnati.
(Center) This was our beautiful and quiet spot for the nights in western Wichita in the shade of these two oak trees by a little lake.
(Right) What a yam looks like after accidentally being left home alone for two months
We did manage to get two kiteboarding sessions in:
(Left) Kittyhawk Kites in Rodanthe, North Carolina,
We started our 2018 Comedy Tour early, in the middle of March, due to
Stan
Stanley, our older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
illness and untimely passing at 8:24pm on March 12, 2018. We spent several weeks in Hutchinson, Kansas taking care of his tangled affairs.
In nearby Wichita KS we did a little comedy and visited our daughter and her family Anne, Robby, Katie and Brooke. It was COLD! Down to about 19 degrees!
Snow in the morning in early April in Wichita, KS
Brooke did this for us.
>
After Wichita/Hutchinson, we headed on east, taking the southern route, doing comedy all the way to
We spent June producing Comedy-n-Sunset and doing some kiteboarding, which included a Planet of the Apes downwinder. We took a couple comedic weekend excursions: one to Savannah GA for the Savannah Comedy Revue Broad St Theater and another to Newport News VA for Cozzy's Comedy Club. Always a fun place.
On the way home we spent the month of July doing comedy in New York City and all of the New England states, taking the northern route back home to Phoenix, stopping by Hutchinson KS to sell Stan's two houses. Highlights of the trip were getting our name on a marquee for the first time and appearing at The Winner's Circle in Salisbury Mas.
Our first marquee, The Mill House Pub in Mechanic Falls, Maine
Fun crowd in Salisbury, MA at The Winner's Circle
Other highlights were all the fine poeple we met along the way. A disappointment was showing up for an open mic at Stanford's & Sons Comedy Club in Kansas City MO and finding that they had shut down a few days before... without notifying anyone. What else? We put on a 41-minute show for a small group on the sidewalk outside the club.
Altogether on this trip we put about 11,000 miles on our van and did comedy in 16 states, bringing our total to 45 states so far. More details are on our March 22 to July 25 BLOGs for 2018.
,
14 appearances while there and 35 on the way back home taking the northern route. He added about 14 states to his comedy list, including New York and all of the New England states.
- Here are some pictures of him kiteboarding on Pamlico Sound snapped by Frena. She found them on her phone two years later and thoughtfully emailed them to Lou.
Big events (below):
Lou on Atlantic City's famous boardwalk before doing some comedy there
The amount of grease you can accumulate in Denver after a half hour trying to put on your serpentine belt.
====== Check back often because the section below is under construction ======
MORE COMING SOON - Arizona Lou about lost some fingers doing SUP in the Dominican Republic.
July 5th found us flying for our first visit to the Dominican Republic (see blog for details). It was our first time there.
- We spent the first two weeks in Cabarete at Kite Beach Inn, right in the middle of it all. We made a couple trips to the Boca River for flat water riding and then did ocean downwinders to Kite Beach in Cabarete. In spite of a few kite bladder problems with our 14m Epic Screamer, we had a good time. The beach, there does get a little narrow this time of the year.
- Then on to Las Terrenas on July 21st for more beautiful people, kiteboarding, a trip to the emergency room and a night in the hospital.
Pineapple Salad at the Mojito Bar, Cabarete
- Our goal was to become an international comedian. Instead, we became an international flop - at least at the Voy Voy restaurant. We made two appearances there, thanks to Danny, a local entertainer that took us under his wing and got us on. Thanks, Danny, you're a good guy. However, we were evidently not up to the challenge of doing English comedy in front of a mostly Spanish audience. Our second appearance at Voy Voy, there was a large round table right in front of us with about six people talking LOUDLY in Spanish during our whole set. We felt like telling them to be polite, shut up, listen and laugh, but did not know how in... Spanish. In hindsight, We would find one of them who spoke some English and enlist their help. Crowd work might have paid off here. Live and learn!
I should have stuck with kiteboarding. Instead I decided to do something stupid and dangerous...Stand Up Paddlboarding (SUP) in the morning before the winds picked up. I got our fingers cought in a roap and about lost three of 'em. After two days in the hospital reading books about comedy on our cell phone, I cam away smarter, with our fingers sewed on... and a new comedy routine.
Click to read the details and see some more PHOTOS.
- The flight back to the US was overbooked and I volunteered to be bumped...
====== Check back often because the section above is under construction ======
On April 23rd we headed out from our home in Phoenix in our shiny newrepainted van with its two new back-up cameras. We took the southern route, along I-10 in order to add three states, four cities and five venues to our comedy log. We cut the trip down to two months, having bought airline tickets to the Dominican Republic for July.
Date
City
Day
Appearance Venues
4/23/15
Tucson, AZ
Th
Laffs Comedy Cafe
4/26/15
Lewisville, TX (Dallas)
Su
T's Bar & Grill
4/28/15
Atlanta, GA
Tu
Laughing Skull Comedy
4/28/15
Atlanta, GA
Tu
Limerick Junction
4/29/15
Charleston, SC
We
Wolf Tracks Bar & Grill
Lou's 149th appearance: The Laughing Skull Lounge in Atlanta, GA 5:34
Lou's 163rd appearance: Comedy-n-Sunset produced by Lou 23:54 min
As usual, kiteboarding was a big part of our stay on
,
but when it came down to brass tacks, comedy won. Starting the Comedy-n-Sunset show at 7:30 each night seemed to give it more consistency than around sunset, as I did last year. That meant as the days got longer, I had to come up with more material: a good thing.
With our WIND CAGE invention (right) we have made quality audio recordings in over 20 mph winds. We cover our Sony stereo microphone with a
dead cat
a furry microphone cover designed to reduce unwanted wind noise
and put the whole thing inside the cage, which has zip-tie hinges and a magnetic latch.
Our new T-shirt. We designed it with the help of Tim of Deep Blue in Avon, NC.
June 6th I drove up and joined Butch on the Manteo Harbor for our first JetPac experience. Most of these videos were taken from a quadcopter drone and produced by Scott Cahoon of "Hatteras Island Phantom Photography." The JetPak is like having 250 horsepower strapped to your back!
Learning the JetPak controls from Butch on the pontoon boat
Are you ready?
Start your engine for your first try - Butch controlling the throttle 1:07 min
I Can Fly! The power module (white on the right) is a 250hp Jet Ski engine hooked to a fire hose.
OBX JetPacking with Arizona Lou 5:08; produced by Scott Cahoon
Butch shows off a little while Arizona Lou has a rest 24 second video
Lou at his highest 12 second video
Lou Biffing it (crashing) and making like a submarine - five times! 54 sec
On the way home I did comedy at:
Greensboro, NC - Idiot Box
Charlotte, NC - Mama's Caribbean
Knoxville, TN - Preservation Pub
Nashville, TN - Bobby's Idle Hour Tavern
Oklahoma City - Loony Bin Comedy Club
Of course I stopped by the Wake Zone cable park in Oklahoma City for a couple of hours and a few rounds.
Everyone else started with a butt-scoot.
Jump start; a little hop; coasting in to shore. 32 second video edited on Windows Movie Maker by Lou Self
Leaving Oklahome City, I spent the night in Yukon, west of there to be on my way home in the morning. It turns out that it was windy the next morning so I drove back into Oklahoma City and kiteboarded on Lake Hefner for about an hour. This was my first time on the lake, and I was the only one. The wind was unusually consistent for an inland lake. I also met an older kiteboarder, Dan, and a storm chaser/kiteboarder, Asa Voyles. He has a really interesting van!
I found "The best place in town to take a leak..." and got my oil changed there: Quality Lube & Tire in Tucumcari, NM. At least that is what it says on the T shirt they gave me.
I stopped by Payson, AZ and visited with my X. Rose Anne and I had a good visit for about two hours, catching up on all sorts of things, including quilting, comedy, socializing, JetPaking, our kids, finance, politics and her pets. We still have a lot in common.
I arrived in Phoenix about 2pm, Saturday, June 20th, stopped by by 24-Hour Fitness for a full-body workout and by Fry's Food for a couple grocery items... then home, sweet home, to act like a normal person for a while.
Since we added comedy to this year's road trip, we extended it to FOUR MONTHS! Driving from Phoenix out to the east coast for kiteboarding, we did a lot of comedy - mostly near I-40. Memphis, TN to Durham, NC is about a 750 mile drive. We did it in about 2400 miles, going back and forth to get in as many nights of open mic comedy as possible.
,
we added kiteboarding to our activities. We had a lot of good sessions with a lot of our friends, but more on Pamlico Sound and not as much on the Atlantic Ocean as usual.
- We found no stand-up comedy on OBX, so naturally had to do something about it. We spread the word, put out fliers and started Comedy-n-Sunset - mostly at Canadian Hole (signed as Haulover Day Use Area) south of Avon. Our biggest audience was 30. Thirty-one if you count the park ranger who interrupted the show because he did not realize we had our ducks in a row, knew the rules and was following them. Look at our brushes with the law: this one and one following (involving a sheriff's deputy).
- We met a lot of nice people and performed our comedy in an unbelievable variety of locations, including a campground various parks, a realty get-together, a kiteboarding facility, a restaurant and a senior center.
The last of June we drove up for a family cousins reunion in Spring Arbor, Michigan, doing comedy all the way up and all the way back down to the OBX. In the process we added four states and Washington, DC to our list of comedy appearances. The aspiring comedy community is certainly supportive, sometimes intimidating and a pleasure to work with.
- On the way north to Michigan we visited with our daughter and her family in Falls Church, VA near DC. Their house was our home base for a few days doing comedy in the Washington DC area. Thanks, Anne and Robby! The Patomac River was spectacular! The old C&O Canal that parallels the river showed how people lived in earlier days.
The Potomac & happy group in a selfie: Lou; Katie; Anne Robby
One of 74 locks on the old C&O Canal
- While we were heading back to OBX and doing comedy in Washington DC on Independence Day, Hurricane Arthur was attacking Hatteras Island. The greatest damage was in Rodanthe and was from the Pamlico Sound surge. At the Kitty Hawk Kites facility in Rodanthe, it took out many of the ground floor walls and all the instructors' lockers, giving a whole new meaning to breezeway. What destruction!
- Back on Hatteras Island we made a few more comedy appearances including producing seven additional Comedy-n-Sunset shows at the Haulover Day Use Area south of Avon.
20:44 minutes (3:33-19:56 for Lou's 16:03-minute set)
#66 Arizona Lou's final Tuesday 2014 OBX show!!
- August 1st, Heading back toward home in Phoenix via the northern route, we visited our son, his wife and brand new daughter and did comedy along the way, which included producing a benefit for VFW Post 8677 in the St Louis area where I was the whole show of 28 minutes of comedy. There I met Rich Hehmann face-to-face for the first time. We have known each other for years through my website and emails. He is an MD, flies gliders and gave me a cooks tour of their glider port northeast of St Louis.
- We spent the night of August 14th in University City MO. only six miles from Ferguson, when the riots were exploding. However we saw nothing out of the ordinary but DID hear about it on the news. The next night we did comedy at Fitz's Root Beer in University City, MO and had the biggest root beer float ever. Also the most expensive, tipping the till at $6.57.
The biggest root beer float!
Fitz's bottling their orange soda. Photos by Louis Self
5:37 minutes Uptown Arts & Arts Bar
#80 Lou's Kansas City debut w new material on inventing
- Arrived back at Home Sweet Home in Phoenix late aternoon, August 22nd, 2014.
Around the last of February and the first of March, we went to Maui for 18 days for wind and waves to learn how to put them together for kiteboarding. Fishermen say, "The wind is getting worse!" Kiteboarders say, "You mean better?" Unfortunately Hawaii didn't have the usual wind this winter, so we drove to Jaws and did SUP, in addition to the few days of kiteboarding.
Surfer catching a wave at JAWS, Maui, Hawaii: Photo: Louis Self
Out of five surfers, one caught this wave at JAWS; 35-sec video by Louis Self
- We DID buy a Hawaiian shirt there. - our most expensive Hawaiian shirt ever - the only one. To find one we liked we had to go to some of the up-scale stores - for thrift store - Goodwill. We understand the really cool dudes unbutton their shirts at the top to show off their harry chest. Well, when it comes to a harry CHEST, we flunk the TEST. Since the shirt cost 9 bucks, we were a happy camper and had more money left to spend on other things - that don't take wind - like SUP. You ask, What is that?
SUP stands for Stand-up Paddleboarding. We can think of other things it could stand for, but they'd probably be obscene. With SUP you stand up on a big surf board and paddle around looking for waves. The cool dudes SUP wearing a rash guard or no shirt at all - but, of course, never a Hawaiian shirt... unbuttoned at the top.
Kahului Harbor with 27 surfers, after Arizona Lou first road a wave all the way in - 561 feet of SUP! Photo taken from the SSE by Louis Self
Kahului Harbor surf action. Watch the guy in white. 35-sec video by Louis Self
A - Our last Saturday there, in the Kahului Harbor, we finally rode our first wave. You ask, How long did it take? For us to catch that wave, it took 4 years, but we rode the wave 561 feet. In our quest, we got really skilled at falling off - never the same way twice... never gracefully. Going from our knees to standing on the board was our biggest challenge. Maybe not. The biggest challenge was when a wave would come... STAYING up.
- We DID have a perfect disaster. Our last Sunday in Maui, it was windy for once so we were kiteboarding over the bone yard. You ask, What's the boneyard? The boneyard is a spotty area where the coral reef is just below the surface. It is like big, rough rocks. We were on our 5'2 surf board, without footstraps. -And that, friends, is STUPID. We blew a jibe and provided small donations of our skin to the marine life - from our arms, knees and another body part we don't talk much about - left thigh. The fish said, "Thank you for the food." And that was PERFECT SCHEDULING - to get hurt the LAST ride of our LAST day there. Before our next kiteboarding, We'll be healing - and trying to be funny with our stand-up comedy or not!. Hopefully before we do something else equally stupid.
- While on Maui, two weeks, we participated in the open mic at Stella Blues in Kahie: our fifth and sixth Onstage Appearances
- We got out taxes done and all our ducks in a row including some house cleaning and vacuuming, to head our van toward Corpus Christi, Texas on Sunday, April 14th. After a half mile we realized that we had missed packing two bananas which were still on our kitchen counter. It is lucky we noticed so soon and retrieved the bananas, otherwise thousands of gnats would have had a Big Banana Party while we were gone.
- Somewhere at each of our kiteboarding destinations along the way, we managed to occasionally go to gyms and fly our
Corpus Christi, TX Apr 14-25: Here's how the drive looked:
Drive to Corpus Christi, TX from home in Phoenix:
2013
Overall Avg mph
Moving Avg mph
Total Time
Miles Today
Total Miles
Forecast Low Temp
Night Location
Su Apr 14
47.7
61.6
8:35
409.7
409.7
64° F
El Paso, TX
Mo Apr 15
54.8
67.6
9:32
521.5
931.2
64° F
South San Antonio, TX
Tu Apr 16
??
61.0
4:17
147.5
1078.7
73 deg.
Wildcat Park, destination
Upon arrival, our kiteboarding got off to a reasonably good start at Wildcat with booties and footstraps on our Naish Custom Fish 52 x 17.5 surfboard under our 12m Epic Screamer - the booties after listening to all the local's stories of their encounters with oysters.
- During the Corpus stay we mostly spent the nights in our van in Walmart parking lots at Flower Bluff or Staples Street. Courtesy of the Silver Sneakers Program we frequently worked out, Jacuzied and showered at the Corpus Christi YMCA.
- Kiteboarding included J P Luby Beach on the gulf, Oleander Point on the bay (windsurfer, Chip, was very helpful) Packery Channel Park, western Mustang Island launch site (where we met Rob from New Orleans), and Packery Beach where we saw friends, Marvin and John.
- Locations that we scoped out, did not ride, but would like to next trip to Corpus are North Beach and Port Aransas Beach.
Part of the annual Port Aransas sand sculpture event. Sculptures are held together by spraying dilute white glue on the surface.
when the wind was not blowing much. Corpus also furnishes Wi-Fi there, which is usually up and running.
- Injuries? The most significant thing in that department was tweaking our back when we overcorrected and stupidly did a kite loop straight downwind at Oleander Point, April 18th. You'd think we would know better.
- On the way out of town we drove up to Port Aranasas, took a picture of a huge sand-sculpture, part of an event, and scoped out possible riding locations for sometime when there is wind.
South Padre Island, TX (SPI), Apr 25-May 9: For details check here in our Blog.
IKitesurf proved helpful but the wind wasn't great. Our van had a transmission sensor problem which Dan diagnosed and fixed. we flew our
in some grassy areas that we found in Port Isabelle when there we were waiting for our van to be fixed or when we was there for groceries when there was little wind.
- We got in some good and bad sessions on the Gulf of Mexico. We had a Fantastic KITEboarding day - not so much the conditions but that we conquered the monster inside us, which was the result of our previous day's bad gulf experience.
Sony ICD-PX312 digital recorder
- Our trigger for heading for OBX was three consecutive days with a forecast high there of 70° F, so May 9th we started planning our escape to the north, having to lengthen our stay due to a combination of Hobby King and USPS fowl-ups.
- On our way north, May 10th, we stopped by our cousin's Frank and Donna in west Corpus for a short and pleasant catch-up visit. Donna thought our van was cool and Frank thought the food at the China Bear restaurant where he and I ate supper was good. I thought it was AWESOME, with seven double-sided buffet tables. Riding in Frank's car was a fun experience.
Atlanta, GA May 13-14: What a neat stop! On Tuesday, after we updated our website at the Atlanta Peach Branch Library we drove a few blocks to WSB, where we joined our favorite talk show host, Clark Howard and crew for their hour-long pre-show meeting. we showed Clark 11 seconds of kiteboarding, chimed in on a couple of topics they were discussing for the the day's program and got an updated picture with him for our SMART STUFF web page.
May 15-Aug 3: We had an excellent time kiteboarding, which included lots of Planet Of The Apes downwinders and the normal wind chasing.
Tips from Harry; Sandy
Our Idol, Harry Andrews - and he's so young - only 58 Video by Sandy Andrews
Listening to Harry's jump tips. Photo by Sandy Andrews
Our jumps did improve, but not this one. Viedo by Sandy Andrews
- We hooked up with Tim Mcgrath, a race car mechanic from Texas. Our kiteboarding levels are similar so we hung out for weeks, sharing rides, downwinders, some
SUP
Stand-Up Paddleboarding
when the wind was not blowing and philosophies. He was infatuated by our Speedos. We did not get in as much ocean time as we wanted, so guess what we'll be dong next year?
- June 29th was a special day. I never thought I'd feel like sitting on the sidelines instead of KITEBOARDING when the wind was blowing, but I did today - for only a couple of hours. After a mostly gusty, overpowered, session at
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding center in Rodanthe, NC.
with our 8m Best Nemesis on our 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board for a half hour and then on our Naish Custom Fish 52 x 17.5 surfboard with only the front footstrap for about 15 minutes, not doing real great on either board, I had that sitting-around feeling. While the feeling lasted and the wind was still blowing I looked for the error in our checkbook, flew our
Nano
fourth RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
around inside the KHK stores and was preparing to fix supper. Then a group said they were doing a downwinder to New Inlet and that I could join them if I liked. The feeling was banished and I scurried around to join them.
- They were almost a mile ahead of me when I got out on the water with our 6m Best Nemesis and 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board. It was catch-up time. I over-sheeted the kite, trucked straight downwind at about 15 mph and eventually even took the lead for a little while. This is probably the most fun I have ever had with our 6m kite and sharing the experience with our friends.
D.C
Falls Church, VA near Washington, D.C.
: August 3rd we headed north to visit our daaughter and her family, Anne, Robby, Katie and Brooke. They are doing well and we had a good visit. Robby is in the Air Force and going to school at or near the Pentagon.
Timber Rd/Clear Creek bridge with Union Pacific RR in the background; Marion, KS - Photo by Louis Self
Hut
Hutchinson, Kansas
: Aug 8: We stopped by Hutchinson for four days and had a good visit with our older brother, Stan, visited the YMCA a few times and then headed home
Our first fall kiteboarding road trip (rescheduled from the spring due to PVP surgery and PE hospitalization in March) involved these six major destinations:
,
got reacquainted and talked about old times. The most fun part of the visit was the zip lines which are on their property in Manitou Springs. We zipped all around! Herald and Naomi were most gracious hosts who also gave us our first water aerobics experience. Considerably more of a cardio workout than we would have guessed. More trip details here on our August blog. Then we headed out Hatteras...
6 seconds
Jumping off an 80-foot cliff for the first time can be unnerving. We call it a zip line.
14 seconds
Fourteen Seconds of zip line Ecstasy is how you would term others' first experience.
9 seconds
Arizona Lou just relaxing and laying out as he arrives on the far side of Gregory Gulch.
19 seconds
What does Arizona Lou do on the longest zip run? Run off the cliff, hang upside down, lay out and arrive. See the whole thing in 19 seconds.
This was the cheerful zip group on our second day.
Some of the spectacular beauty along Interstate 64 on the drive to
was the lack of wind and Hurricane Sandy. We did get in some good riding, but it was almost all local, with few downwinders, no Planet of the Apes run and little ocean riding. We did replace our three-year-old long-surviving 12m Cabrinha Switchblade 4 kite with an Epic Screamer of the same size. Also we reconfigured the safety system of our RRD control bar with an optional single front line flagging system, thus increasing the safety factor and lessening the chance of surf damaging the kite. Then we headed out to Kentucky...
Click picture for more on Hurricane Sandy.
Avon Pier & big wave from Hurricane Sandy! Photo by Louis Self
IMPACT! Photo by Louis Self
NC-12 & Pamlico Sound are one and the same: Photo: Louis Self
Waves Crashing At Avon Pier 13-sec video by Louis Self
NC-12 & OBX after Hurricane Sandy: Photo courtesy of Charlotte Observer.
Alternate ferry from Rodanthe to Stumpy Point: Photo by Louis Self.
back to beginning of Fall Road Trip 2012 Oneida Baptist Institute (OBI) Nov 2012: we arrived in Oneida, KY on a Saturday to visit our son, Scott for two enjoyable days. He took me on sort of a tour of OBI to meet and visit with a lot of friends, including Mrs. Lawson, Eric, Jim and Dr. Paul Davidson, the president of OBI. Also Big Dave and his assistant diagnosed the AC compressor as the cause of all our van's excessive engine noise, so we got it replaced at the HotRod Car Care center in Manchester, KY. There was frost on the ground and some beautiful fall colors when we headed our van toward Alabama...
back to beginning of Fall Road Trip 2012 Unclaimed Baggage Center Nov 2012: We stopped by Scottsboro, AL just to see this amazing store. They collect all the luggage and things that people lose on airplanes and sell it. Their store departments include: laptops, e-readers, cameras, luggage, suits, fine jewelry, shoes, skis, clothing, housewares and stationary.
back to beginning of Fall Road Trip 2012 South Padre Island Aug 2012: We only spent a little over a week kiteboarding here, but got in some good riding, all on Laguna Madre this year, and saw lots of friends. The highest kiteboarding wind for our entire fall trip was a north wind in the upper 30's with a gust of 43.6 mph on Nov 11th. When riding in that kind of wind we didn't do anything gnarly - just some jumps and jibes. We got our van heater worked on and out radio antenna replaced at Dan's Auto in Port Isabelle on our way north.
back to beginning of Fall Road Trip 2012 Texas Ski Ranch Nov 2012: Through our website here, we got acquainted with two kiteboarders. We spent several delightful days with PASA-certified kiteboard instructor, Adam, and his family in Robstown, TX and then with his student, Philip in Fredricksburg, TX. Philip and we attempted wakeboarding behind a jet ski on Canyon Lake. Thanksgiving day was a wonderful with him, his family and parents.
- Between the two visits we spent an afternoon and evening at the Texas Ski Ranch. We took advantage of their 20 mph cable tow for four sessions, which included over 13 miles, a couple of seated starts, a couple of jump-starts, a couple of face plants, some pretty good carves, little pops and a board switch, sort of.
Arizona Lou rounding the drive tower at Texas Ski Ranch: Photo by Glen
Let go of the tow rope and coast in: Photo by Glen
Tow rope is engaged and Lou Starts out: 10 sec. video by Glen
A puny pop; rounding the drive tower; edging to the outside: 20sec by Glen
trips, and our Locations research disclosed that some of Maui's best winds are in July and August. We flew into Kahului Airport (OGG) July 22nd and stayed nearby in Wailuku for 18 days of wind, which never stopped (returning to Phoenix on August 8th). We kiteboarded every day just west of Kanaha Beach Park. We explored other kiteboard areas on the north shore near the waist of Maui but they all had issues, such as a rocky shore, a narrow beach or more gusty winds. Actually gusty winds is par for the course. The winds were typically gusty. The trade winds this time of the year are augmented by a high pressure that seems to hover north of the Hawaiian Islands. For a few days the winds got an additional kick from a trough (low pressure area) that passed to the south.
- We used our 8m Best Nemesis kite mostly, but also used our our 6m Best Nemesis and three-year-old 12m Cabrinha Switchblade-4 which is still hanging in there.
- For variety, and to keep progressing in our skills we typically had two sessions a day: one with our 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board and the other with our Naish Custom Fish 52 x 17.5 surfboard without footstraps. The surfboard was sometimes a challenge when the waves got up to shoulder high, although they were not breaking onto the shore. Our jibes improved and we became a little more comfortable in the waves. On the twintip we did some good jumps and a couple pretty good jump jibes with kite loops.
- They say they have really good waves in the winter. Ah: Next trip!
This is one of the largest lakes in Kansas and one of the best for kiteboarding. It was windy in June during our 50-year junior college class reunion at Central Christian College in McPherson, KS and also during our subsequent visit with
Stan
Stanley, our older brother who is a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS
.
in Hutchinson, KS, so we drove down to Cheney on a Thursday, June 13th and also Tuesday, June 19th. The winds averaged 25 and 30 mph respectively. We used our 12, 8 and 6m kites and met a lot of swell kiteboarders (what else is new?). Mike Blair from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) made the old guy (that would be us) sort the star of an excellently narrated video showing kiteboarding at Cheney. Driving down to Altus, OK to visit
Anne's
our daughter, two granddaughters Katie Rose and Brooke (Robby, her husband, is deployed by the Air Force)
for a week rounded out the trip.
Video produced & written by Mike Blair, KDWPT, 2:56 minutes
Brooke (granddaughter) and her marble machine. Video by Louis Self, 51 sec.
What a better excuse to go kiteboarding in the Philippines than to visit our
niece
the youngest of our younger brother, George
who is in the Peace Corps there. Of course Boracay Island, billed as one of the best kiteboarding places in Southeast Asia helped. The best winds there being in January sealed the trip from January 22nd to February 20th.
60 kites looking south from Bulabog Beach, Boracay Island as the tide has started to come in - Photos by Louis Self - camera: Samsung Galaxy S II phone
- The planning process started to boggle our little brain so we made a Boracay Book, a loose-leaf binder to get our arms around the calendar, trip insurance, passport/visa, various airplanes, boats, tricycles, busses, Jeepneys, vans, luggage rules and limitations, hotels, schedules, kite shops, currency exchange rates, etc. The book must have done the trick, as there were no unexpected events of any consequence. To get there we flew on Hawaiian Airlines from Phoenix (PHX) to Honolulu (HNL), then to Manila (MNL) for the night, then the next day on Philippine Airlines to the Kalibo Airport (KLO) on Pianai Island, then took a van/bus for about three hours to the Jetty Port of Cataclan, then a banca boat to the boat station on Boracay Island, then a tricycle to the end of Bulabog Road, then, finally, walked along Bulabog Beach to Surfers Home, our hotel.
The only way to little Boracay Island is by Banca Boat
This is not the narrowest street we used
Surfers Home welcome by the security guard
- Kiteboarding was on the agenda for the first 22 days in the Philippines. 18 of those days being on Bulabog Beach on Boracay Island with its ten shops, spending the 17 nights at Surfers Home. The conditions were interesting: The wind was mostly steady but on-shore. The reef and tides influenced the riding. At low tide there was a fairly wide beach and water you can stand up in, almost out to the reef. You did need booties if you were planning on walking around out there. At high tide, the water was too deep to stand in, and there was little or no beach for rigging kites. Kites were launched right up almost against the palm trees. Also, unless the beach is constantly cleaned, huge amounts of debris (palm and coconut tree parts mostly) wash up from the windward islands. Once you get out though you can expect excellent semi-flat-water kiteboarding, as attested by the droves of kiteboarders. Trips around Boracay and to De Mall (largely unpaved) were an experience. We made a couple trips to Union Beach on Panay Island.
Tricycles are the main people (up to 12) mover on the island
Tricycle configured as a truck
- The next five days were on Union Beach on Panay Island. The wind here is a better direction (usually side-on shore) but about two MPH less than on Bulabog Beach. Another factor is that there is little water off the beach during low tide. The beach is much wider and longer. Excellent people at the Blue Orange Villa
We'll just string another wire on Boracay!
These tropical schools have no windows.
- Then we took the 8-hour tricycle/van/SuperCat trek to bustling Bacolod City to spend the last six days (five nights) seeing some of the sights and culture on Negros Island with
Stacie
our niece in the Peace Corps here in the Philippines
.
Bacolod Jeepneys provide an inexpensive, non-governmental and very efficient transportation system.
The Ruins: Built in the early 1900s by Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson.
While in Bacolod we had a chance to:
meet Agnes, head of the Welcome Home Foundation that works with the deaf in Bacolod
tour their facilities
have lunch with their staff
see their computer program in action that helps deaf children learn to speak
meet lots of deaf children and adults learning to be useful citizens
learn sign language for Good Morning, Good Noon, Good Afternoon
learn to sign she is our aunt; he is our uncle
ride lots of Jeepneys (longest wait was 2-3 minutes) and learn how to pay
attend a Catholic Confirmation for deaf children
eat a tasty
ube
purple sweet potato-like vegetable
cake and other Philippine specialties
tour a crab cannery (the nice people there were really crabby)
tour a company that manufactures water pumps and energy-conserving technology for third-world countries out of common materials, including the famous rope pump, invented by the company's founder
see Talisay City The Ruins of Raymundo Javellana
swim above and below a tropical waterfall at
ride a tropical zipline
Attend church with Stacie
eat Shawarma
help the Welcome Home Foundation with their website
find out how third-world countries operate their airlines (see blog for 2/20/12)
- We found the Philippine people to be friendly, helpful and always wearing a smile.
Some of the Hiligaynon/Ilonggo (Western Negros Island dialect, including Bacolod City) words we learned are:
thank you
salamat
here's my payment
bayad ko
stop here
lugar lang palihog
good morning
maayong aga
good noon hour
maayong ugto
good afternoon
maayong hapon
good evening 6pm-
maayong gab-i
Look for more information HERE on our Shops & Links web page and for trip details in our Blog from Jan 22 to Feb 20, 2012. Total cost of trip excluding most meals: $2258.82 - not bad for a month!
We got a phone call from our friend, Christian Canese, saying let's go to Mexico in two days. The lack of advanced notice does not show Chris' lack of planning, but the nature of the wind there.
- At 5:00 the morning of October 8th Christian left his Sunny Slope home in his SUV with our friend Steve and with and us following in a rental car (because our van was having transmission problems). We were on the water in the beautiful warm wind by mid afternoon.
7 seconds
Steve's spin-jibe shows how practice can make it so smooth. - Video by Christian Canese
8 seconds
Steve gets jerked around some when he lets the kite get straight downwind. He is so much better than us because he's got bigger balls. - Video by Christian Canese
13 seconds
Carving S-turns are fun and necessary when Steve pops up out of nowhere. - Video by Christian Canese
16 seconds
Alex' friendly dog decided to swim out to greet me on one of our best surf-board carves. The dog is OK. - Video by Christian Canese
11 seconds
Arizona Lou CRASHES Jumping Onto Surfboard To Start Up! - Video by Christian Canese
15 seconds
Arizona Lou Jumps Onto-Surfboard To Start Up Finally Success! - Video by Christian Canese
- What a good trip! We met old friends there and made some new ones. Steve and Chris had to get back home, so they drove back on Tuesday while we stayed for one additional day of good wind, driving back solo on Wednesday.
Steve said the main reason he got into kiteboarding was because of us and our website. And now he is better than us. What a good feeling! You can get more information on the trip HERE in our blog.
Although we arrived (May 24th after a malfunctioning drawbridge) later than usual and later than we intended due to the eight sutures (see SPI trip below), we still had some good days of wind and riding. The non-windy days we did plenty of socializing and work on our website and other projects.
- We got on the Atlantic Ocean only a few times, but then with our Naish Custom Fish 52 x 17.5 surfboard WITH the footstraps. We were a little more comfortable and did reasonably well and even got into the surf a little.
- Pulleys seemed to be the weak link this trip. We replace over six of them on the Cabrinha 12m and Best 6m. After having to swim in three times, we added safety lines to ALL our pulleys, so a pulley could break without the kite falling out of the sky out of control.
- We bought an Epic Infinity as our new low-wind kite. Dimitri refuses to reveal the kite's size (maybe he doesn't really know), but the consensus is that it is a 15m. With only three struts, it seems to do well. we were able keep it in the air and ride on Pamlico Sound when others were giving their kites saltwater baths.
- In June we improved our skills with an advanced lesson from Brian of
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding center in Rodanthe, NC.
.
At the end of the lesson we improved our jumps and kite loops little and were able to combine them for a jump jibe with a kite loop. Unfortunately we were not able to get any of these exciting maneuvers on camera. For the lesson we had engineered our own version of a radio helmet: FRS radios in pouches attached to each side of our hockey helmet. The system worked better than the commercially available radio helmets that we have used in the past. Don't tell anyone, but non-lubricated condoms worked perfectly for waterproofing.
- We took the June
PASA
Professional Air Sports Association
ICP
Instructor Certification Program
Class and became a certified kiteboard instructor. What a good group (pictured above), representing three states and three countries. We watched demonstrations, learned a lot, did a lot of teaching and some demonstrating of our own. A highlight for us was having John Harris as a practice student. We have been trying, for years, to get him into kiteboarding and we finally did it. As owner of Kitty Hawk Kites, we hope he will find time in his busy schedule to have some fun with the sport. More details in our blog for the class - We headed toward home the first of August, stopping several days in Hutchinson Kansas to visit
Stan
our older brother who is a machinist for Eaton, Corp.
and several days in Altus, Oklahoma to visit
Anne's
our daughter, her husband, Robby and their two daughters Katie Rose and Brooke
, arriving back home in Phoenix on August 13th. It is good to be home, but there is sure a lot of catching up to do!
One of our higher on-camera jumps; Laguna Madre; George Pope's camera!
Got in some good riding, mostly with our 12m Cabrinha Switchblade-4 or 8m kite on our 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board on Laguna Madre. we did a few runs on the Gulf of Mexico, for the first time with our Naish Custom Fish 52 x 17.5 surfboard after adding the footstraps.
- we bought a new 8m Best Nemesis to replace our 8m Cabrinha Switchblade-2 after its trailing edge fabric started coming apart just sitting in the wind on the beach at the North Flats. Because the Nemesis requires extra high pressure, we bought a two-stage electric kite pump, which starts with a "turbine" and finishes with pistons.
- we got off from Phoenix April 23rd, about a month later than expected due to taxes and other things that came up. May 10th we had planned to leave
SPI
and start driving toward
OBX
for the
PASA
Professional Air Sports Association
ICP
Instructor Certification Program
after a late afternoon session on Laguna Madre. The last tack of that last session, we impacted the edge of our board with our right shin and ended up getting eight sutures in the Brownsville Emergency Room. Considering all these things we decided to add three days to our driving by returning home to Phoenix for a week before heading to
OBX.
George (my younger brother), Cindy (his wife) and I went to the Renaissance Festival this afternoon (about 60 miles east of my house). There were thousands of people there. There were lots of theaters, shows, vendors and people wearing period clothing. Highlights for me were the Nunny-Nunny show (risque humor from the viewpoint of nuns) and my first try at trampoline bungee jumping. It took some guts, but I tried both forward and backward flips and now am ready (I hope) to try some while kiteboarding.
How can you turn down an invitation by Bobby Bluehouse to kiteboard in Hawaii for two weeks in December! Nature did not cooperate as all but the first day wind was almost nonexistent so we were forced into other activities like the Indo Board, stand-up paddling, surfing, getting on each others' nerves and working on our business and website respectively.
Second day of
SUP:
Stand-Up Paddleboarding
Arizona Lou, getting a little closer to the big stuff
THE SURFERS: Uncle Bryan, the honcho; Bobby, the inspiration; Chris, the instructor and Lou, the beginner
First day of
SUP
Stand-Up Paddleboarding
(other than one time on OBX with glassy smooth water)
33 seconds
First Surf Lesson In Hawaii: Arizona Lou catches a wave. Maria did the videography and narration.
25 seconds
Arizona Lou (in the black shirt) is the last one standing after a big wave spits out all the other surfers. Be patient and keep your eye on the third wave. At first you can see Bobby Bluehouse, in the red shirt, paddling out and Chris, our instructor, helping Lou get started. Videography by Maria.
Big Joe and Melissa outside the famous Hukilau neighborhood cafe. They quickly became our good friends. Truly beautiful people!
The first part of November was our third kiteboarding trip to Brazil and the second one under the auspices of Kite Adventures. Five of us from three different countries were on the November 7-16 Brazilian Downwinder with some of the best kiteboarding on our globe. Check out some of our videos from our previous Brazil trip. More details here in our Blog. Total cost of the 10-day trip excluding meals: $3,971.06
7:26 minutes
Promotional video from Kite Adventures
12 seconds
Good jumps are still few and far between. Here is a Brazilian try on the Cauipi Lagoon
6 seconds
Jump Jibe - Once in a while we get a decent one, as here on the famous Cauipi Lagoon, near Cumbuco
8 seconds
Beach jump in Cumbuco - make sure you know what you are doing and have soft sand
Disappointing due to low winds and some injuries, but still a good kiteboarding trip. The winds were lower than usual for the whole trip, so our stays at both destinations were shortened, resulting in 101 days (3.6 months) away from home including driving days and two visits to my daughter and her family in Norfolk.
On SPI we took a spin lesson so felt more comfortable trying spins. The winds never favored the Brownsville Ship Channel, though.
In the injury department, our hand got cut as it found an oister bed at Kite Point, our foot got a deep cut when we stepped on a KHK anchor and a finger was injured by someone's kite line. However it was not all bad news as at OBX our surfboard skills improved with our Naish Custom Fish 52 x 17.5 surfboard without foot straps due to the cut foot which precluded using footstraps, jumps, spins etc. for a month.
We did not get on the ocean much, but when we did it was with our surfboard and no footstraps!
New personal records included top speed records of 34.0 mph on our twintip with footstraps and 27.5 mph without footstraps on our surfboard, both records at the Planet of the Apes slick. We did our first downwinder to New Inlet (our GPS waypoint haNew).
We became famous (not really) by talking, twice, about kiteboarding
on the Beach 104 Radio Station. Of course, during the trip we met a lot of great people from all over the world, including old and new friends.
A last minute tropical kiteboarding trip (Feb 4-18, 2010): The Winds were NOT awesome as we expected in February, but it was beautiful place and the temperatures hovered near the 80's day and night! We only kited 13 sessions: eight (53%) out of the 15 days.
Beautiful St Lucia in the southeastern Caribbean
Without much wind, we spent two days touring, us being the designated driver, on the wrong side of the road.
Old water-driven press at the Balenbouche Sugar Plantation
Gross Piton view from the famous Dasheen Restaurant
Accommodations were graciously and reasonably provided by Sammy and Esther
Brice at their Hewanorra Gardens with kitchens and available bicycles to ride a mile to either of the two main kiteboarding locations.
We rented a car two different days and saw some sights with our hotel neighbors from Ireland and Canada. We missed the zip line experience by about a half hour. More info on our blog for the respective dates.
The first half of August,2009 I spent kiteboarding at Belmont Beach in the LA area (my GPS waypoint LBELMO).
See my blog for August, 2009 for details.
October 4th, 2009 was my first time kiteboarding in Arizona - Lake Pleasant about an hour NW of my house in Phoenix. Did it again the 28th. As you might guess, kiteboarding in the Arizona lakes is not a lot of fun with the gusty winds and poor launches. See my October, 2009 blog if you want to torture yourself with more details.
1:48 (after a 15 second commercial) Weather Channel's Jim Cantore's Kiteboarding Taking Off Across the Country aired on NBC's WPTV, Channel 5 in West Palm Beach, FL and we were selected for the intro!
48 seconds
The Cauipe Lagoon, near Combuco was one of the busiest and best kiteboarding spots in Brazil - like participating in unscripted ballet
2:16 min
In Jericoacoara, locals and visitors, alike gravitate to the beach and sand dunes. Get a glimpse of this evening life!
2:41 min
We start by crossing on the Mandou Ferry. You won't believe how small it is or how it is powered. Also watch the fishermen roll their boats on logs
1:03 min
Jump Start? At least that's what we were trying...
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1:23 min
Our skills have improved, but it is fun to look back on the old challenges in a kiteboarding wonderland that included the Guriu River
45 seconds
Landing On the Beach and Jumping Out of the Foot Straps - Well Sort-of
1:23 min
The Atlantic Ocean is still a challenge for us. Heres how we looked in the Brazilian surf in 2004
Discussing the Feb 2002 weekend wind at the Cauipe Lagoon
4:01 min
Introducing the crew on our trip, including Alberto, our Brazilian guide, setting out the lines, pumping up, launching and landing
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