Tue Jul 1 = Drove on to Anne & Robby's in Falls Church, VA, took an almost 2-hour nap, put 13oz freon in my van and did comedy at the Bier Baron Tavern in Washington DC. Too bad the crowd was not too good, because Anne and Robby were there to see me. Max Rosenblum was the host.
Wed Jul 2 - I finally got my trip to Maui ready to upload to my Trips web page.
- Robby, Anne, Katie and I did some EarthCaching on the Potomac River. What a river!
The Potomac & happy group in a selfie
One of 74 locks on the old C&O Canal
Time lapse of going through Erie Canal today
- Tonight I was at the Epicure Cafe - pretty good audience.
Thu Jul 3 - Tonight I did the Science Club Tavern in DC. Although it was a small room, it was packed with about 30 comedy enthusiasts. The room was so small that the comedians had to wait up stairs until it was their turn to perform. Max Rosenblum ran a good show. Also I am getting better at driving and parking in Washington DC... especially at night... in the rain.
Fri Jul 4 - This evening in Washington DC I learned that audience interaction can be a two-edged sword. First of all at Heaven & Hell Amini and I were the only comics there. About 10:40pm I talked him, the two bar tenders and a old tenor jazz player to be the audience for 12:18 minutes of my Maui routine.
- A little later I went next door to the Columbia Station, and Peter Edleman, the jazz band leader said I could do a comedy set during his band's break, which occurred about 11pm. Since it was an all new audience, I did 11:47 minutes of my Old Guy routine. It was a fun audience until I lost control of the situation for the last minute or so when I interrupted my Gym Rule Three joke to interact with a tall Black dude passing by me to go out the front door. When I said, "Hey, don't leave now!" he wanted to argue. That's the two-edged sword. Interacting with audience members can be a lot of fun and bring lots of laughs, but in the future I'll be a little more selective. This is called experience.
- Hurricane Arthur hit Hatteras Island today.
Sat Jul 5 = Today I tried to phone some of my friends on Hatteras Island to see how they faired with Hurricane Arthur. I got hold of Nate at Dollar Tree in Avon. They had evacuated the tourists so there was not much going on.
- Comedy tonight was not a real positive experience and I am not sure what I learned as a result. I signed up for the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse. It was a good room - small, compact with lots of people standing. I saw about six comics there that I had met previously. The organizers only gave me one minute until I got the one-minute light so, almost before I introduced myself, my time was up. This was after waiting around about an hour and a half until the show started at 10:30. I was next to last, at 12:03am. I guess it's not too bad since I did make an appearance and it's my first less-than-good experience with stand-up comedy - probably not the last one, either
- My last night at Anne's in Brooke's bed. Good sleepin'.
Sun Jul 6 = I got off today at 2:10pm after taking care of Harley (Anne's old tom cat) and getting everything packed... except my frozen vegetables and bananas, which I forgot. I decided to add about 1.5 hours to my trip and drive down the Massachusetts peninsula. On the way I passed by Annapolis, MD, and went via Delmar Delaware - my first time, I believe in Delaware. I got gas at Cambridge, MD. Historic places I have just heard of 'til now.
- Spent the night in Chesapeake, VA
Mon Jul 7 = On my way down Hatteras Island I stopped at the shops of my friends to see how they were. What destruction - especially in Rodanthe, thanks to Arthur. I didn't see any felled buildings, but there were stacks of junk stacked along highway 12 - used to be good stuff like chairs, couches, parts of fences, railings, walls and lots of washed-up sea weed. For some camping parks, it's just about starting all over.
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding center in Rodanthe, NC.
was hit hard. They had moved all their valuable stuff from the ground floor, but a lot of the ground floor walls and siding were gone. their launch area was mostly washed out and their floating dock was up in the launch area instead of 100' out in the water. Someone said there were 108 mph winds and a, maybe 12' tidal wave.
Huricane Arthur took out many of the ground floor walls and all the instructors' lockers at the Kitty Hawk Kites facility in Rodanthe
- This evening I took my 8m kite to Charlie for repair, stopped by Canadian Hole on the way back north where I printed out three new posters and some Hatteras Comedy-n-Sunset reminder tabs. At 9:00 I, along with about a thousand others, watched fireworks that were launched from the Avon Pier. Of course they could not have them on the 4th because they were dealing with Hurricane Arthur.
- Spent the night in Avon
Tue Jul 8 = I KITEBOARDED around noon for about 1 1/2 hours from the first turnout north of Avon (my GPS waypoint HANOR1): About 40 minutes on my 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board (got one good jump), about 20 minutes on my Naish Custom Fish 5'2" x 17.5" surfboard with no footstraps (made every jibe) and then 20 more minutes on my 130. My kite came back with the leading edge soft. After an hours or so for launch/nap the main bladder had no shape.
- This afternoon I telephoned four Indian casinos about doing stand-up comedy on my way back home to Phoenix in August.
- This evening I had a nice long visit with Jetti and her son, Blake. Jetti is the manager of the Avon Dollar Tree. She used the coolest money counter. You stick the bills, by denomination, on the special scale and it counts (by weight) and totals the money.
Wed Jul 9 = I only had one KITEBOARDING session - around noon, in spite of good wind all day. The downwinder from, Planet to
SDA
Salvo Day Use Area
was on my 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board
with my 12m Epic Screamer. The kite held air THIS time, but tended to steer to the left. Since I had time, I checked the lines and the blue steering line is about 1.5 inches longer. Back at Planet, I added a pig tail to correct the problem and did a self launch my 8m Best Nemesis. Some seaweed tangled in the lines, so I self landed the kite and spent the rest of the afternoon cutting to shape and installing closed-cell pads to replace the open cell pads in the baseball helmet I use for kiteboarding now. Now the helmet will float and not soak up a bunch of water.
- I stopped by Koru for a quick shower and a really quick medium full-body workout.
- Later, for stand-up comedy, I stopped by the, new as of three weeks, High Moon Bar to check with Dotty Reed on doing some comedy there. She's going to try to stop by and see my a routine this evening at the Haulover Day Use Area. This evening I sent emails that I had composed yesterday to two casinos in Arizona and updated my website, so got to bed after 11:00, using my ceiling fan.
Thu Jul 10 = Are you into yoga? This morning I got myself in gear and took my first YOGA class - at Koru. Heather was the instructor for Yoga Flow.
I went for the view... of the ocean... but the class was inside. Also it was nearly dark.
Some Challenges were holding things like the Cobra position, Down Dog and the - fart!
Now I know what it feels like to be a human pretzel.
- Around 3pm Tim talked me into a KITEBOARDING downwinder from
SDA
Salvo Day Use Area
to Kittyhawk Kites. I actually got in a couple of good jumps, spent more time than usual in the Real Slick and jumped two little grass islands three times. My 12 and 132 were a good choice. My Garmin Foretrex 201 GPS came off my wrist somewhere between SDA and KHK.
- Haulover Comedy-n-Clouds this evening was fun, with an audience of 10. We finished up the comedy about 8 minutes before it started to rain - hard! God might have been saying that it was time for me to quit comedy - or maybe he liked it and kept the rain away until after the show. Later, a friend told me that I helped her 19-year old son a lot and really made him feel good the other night. It was been fun for us all.
- Spent the night in Avon.
Fri Jul 11 = This morning I took my second YOGA class, again with Heather at Koru. This class was Hatha Yoga, whatever that is. At the end of the class Heather came around and gave me a head massage. I was afraid she was going to mess up my hair.
- After the class I hung out at Ride Hatteras and updated my Technology web page. Early afternoon I did a beach sun/run just south of the Avon Pier, then out to the Haulover Day Use Area for about three hours of comedy writing. I have decided to quit analyzing my tried and true routines (laughs, laughs per minute, seconds laughing and percentage of time laughing), like Old Man, and spend my time developing and writing new routines - right now connected with technology and yoga.
- For the night, I arranged a new place to park that will be in the shade in the mornings - behind Dollar Tree. Thanks, Jettie.
Sat Jul 12 = This morning at 10:00 I attended my third yoga class: Gentle YOGA with Paulette at Koru. I also did a beach sun/run south of the Avon pier with a pulse of 172, washed my van and, at Haulover, got my checking account resolved - almost (within $35). Night in Avon
Sun Jul 13 = Today I did a beach sun/run with a pulse of 160, refilled my van's water supply and spent about three hours at Haulover figuring a possible schedule for comedy on my way home to Phoenix. I was attacked by vicious mosquitoes in the one minute it took me to get out of the van and take down my weather station. Night in Avon
Mon Jul 14 = I got up early for Zumba At The Beach this morning. It was cancelled because the instructor did not show up. The Beach Club did not seem to have its act together this morning. At the Haulover I wrote the intro and preface routine for the real estate people at High Moon Bar on Wednesday at 6:00pm. I also did a sun/swim there at the Haulover.
- This afternoon my van's
Low-Voltage Disconnect. To avoid battery damage, it shuts off the load at 11.5 Volts.
of the trip - an indication that the weather is getting really hot.
- KITEBOARDING today was a Planet-to-
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding center in Rodanthe, NC.
run on my Naish Custom Fish 5'2" x 17.5" surfboard with no footstraps with my 8m Best Nemesis kite - a good call. Didn't do anything spectacular - didn't even take a canal or an inlet - just worked on my carving jibes with kite sweeps. I crashed (not the kite) and both my sunglasses and hat came off my head, but were still around my neck. By the time I got them back on properly, my board had floated pretty far downwind. I decided I would do some body jumps to my board and, in the process, discovered why you want your booties tighter than you might think. I got back upwind to retrieve my wayward booty, put the kite down on the water at the edge of the wind window to secure both booties and then proceeded to do the body jumps. Fun!
Tue Jul 15 = Yoga, kiteboarding and comedy: what a day! Did Yoga By the Beach at 8:00 this morning - a large group with instructor, Tammy. I discovered that, being so skinny, I need to double the yoga mats.
- KITEBOARDING was a 4-mile ocean downwinder from the museum to the bath house. The waves were disorganized and turbulent so I took my 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board. That and my 12m Epic Screamer (which is now holding air) was a good call.
Wed Jul 16 = COMEDY was the big deal today. I spent practically all day preparing for my big event at 6:00 this evening at the new High Noon Bar. It was an enthusiastic group of about 30 from Outer Beaches Realty. It was fun, but the group ran out of steam after seven minutes, not expecting stand-up comedy, so I shortened the set. Thank you Dottie!
- Here's some thoughts on the show. I had prepared about five times as much material as I actually used. It might have been more effective if I had spent some of that preparation time working on my delivery and punching my jokes better.
Thu Jul 17 = I started the day off with YOGA Flow at Koru with Heather again.
- I was the only one out KITEBOARDING today because the wind was only averaging 13 with gusts of 15. I did a self launch and self landing for my ocean downwinder from the farthest north street in Avon to about 100 yards south of the Avon Pier. I used my Naish Custom Fish 5'2" x 17.5" surfboard with no footstraps and my 12m Epic Screamer. I made EVERY jibe, the kite never touched the water and my feet never left the board (a first for me on the ocean).
- I was at parked in the Avon Post Office parking lot when I saw an older gentleman with two Food Lion grocery bags, sit on a bench outside the post office. I took him, about a mile, to his home. On the way, George Griffith and I had a good visit while he took me on a tour of the Village.
- Several COMEDY-n-Sunset records today and a couple BRUSHES WITH THE LAW: Tonight was the first night I started my Comedy-n-Sunset show, at 8:00 rather than around sunset. Jeff was the host. There were 30 people there (a record); 31 if you count Mike Krebbs, the park ranger who interrupted the show, asking to talk to me for about five minutes. It only took about two minutes for me to explain that I had approved the show with the head park ranger (or so I thought) and knew the rules and was following all their guidelines. Then, with him on the periphery, I finished the eleven minute show (13 if you count the ranger's two minute interruption). I did my Maui sequence, which I am still perfecting, so was disappointed when I accidentally erased my recording of the show. I wanted to analyze all the jokes. I had used my gigantic custom-made beach towel on the sand, which I have never done before (for the SUP segment). I forgot the irreplaceable towel and did not realize it until just before midnight. When I drove back down to the Haulover area the towel was no where to be found.
Fri Jul 18 = This morning was the second brush with the law. About 11:00 I was in my van behind Dollar Tree, on the telephone with Jeff Gode the acting district park ranger, clarifying things for my Haulover comedy shows. Up came a sheriff deputy, banged on my van window until I opened the sliding door. I explained that I was on the phone with the district park ranger and requested that the deputy read the note in my windshield (authorizing me to park there). The deputy said, "Well, get OFF the phone!" (It is interesting that law enforcement people around here think they are more important than anyone else and can push people around at will. I repeated, "Please read the note," and continued my phone call, which was an important one. The deputy shuffled over, read the note, turned and left without another word and drove off. It will be interesting to see if he shows up again there or somewhere else. I just wish I had thought to ask for his name or his business card.
- KITEBOARDING was entirely different today. Some of the ocean waves were so high that they obscured the shoreline until the waves broke. I was on my 8m and twintwip - the kite never touched the water and my feet never left the board. I actually caught a couple of waves... and escaped a few big ones. I did a self launch and self landing. Usually I have better luck hitchhiking back to my van. This time it took over a half hour.
Sat Jul 19 = I started off this morning with my sixth yoga class at Koru amidst lots of rain; GentleYOGA at Koru. Yoga firsts for me were being instructed to look at my navel and learning the yoga greeting, Namasté which definition fills a whole white board. Also I learned that I am not the only one having trouble holding farts during the class. One person, being unsuccessful, let out one of those low-volume, long duration, loud ones - probably-not-smelly. I was not close enough to tell, but the whole class was close enough to hear it loud and clear. There was nary a chuckle from the class.
- The rest of the day was spent being rather hot, a medium-heavy torso workout at Koru and starting three new projects. First, my LiFeMnPO ammeter is missing three display segments, which makes it very impossible to differentiate between 12 and 13 volts. The plan is to use a squishy Styrofoam pad and dental floss to put pressure on the circuit board which will activate the missing segments.
- Secondly I gathered the materials for a new grip stick: the 1.25" x 11.5" stick from Ace Hardware and the small rope from Dollar Tree. I am sharing the left-over materials with Dave, world-wide team rider for Best Kites.
- Thirdly, I refilled my After Bite with ammonia I bought at Dollar Tree. I gave the left-over 63.5 ounces of ammonia to a gentleman to use to kill the urine smell in his dog cages.
- I found a new Wi-Fi location late this evening, the Ugly Mug, courtesy of George Griffith, who I met Thursday.
Sun Jul 20 = I spent 2.5 hours this morning at The Ugly Mug, sipping my bottle of water, finalizing my route home and making a list of the dates and possible comedy stops along the way. Then, this afternoon at Ride Hatteras, I located possible venues, made some phone calls and ended up scheduling four stops at Lexington and Louisville.
- John Harris, owner of Kitty Hawk Kites phoned and we arranged a comedy show Friday for the company employees and the public. I am excited! I'll be working hard on a good show. I always get butterflies, not knowing how things will go with this comedy thing.
Mon Jul 21 = My Samsung Galaxy S-2 smart phone quit working today. Fortunately I had put in an old Motorola c139 candy-bar phone just in case. About all it can do is make phone calls - no texting, weather, email, Google Contacts or calendar. NEXT time I'll pack my old HTC Touch Diamond as my spare, so I'll at least have some smart phone features.
- I won't go into detail, but several times a week I am taking Yoga and/or going to the Koru gym. I am also stopping by the Haulover Day Use Area to tell people about my Comedy-n-Sunset.
Tue Jul 22 = Updated Comedy with future appearance on Friday at the Dare County Senior Citizen Center.
- The audience at this evening's Comedy-n-Sunset was 16. They were spread out in spite of my attempt to get them to sit closer together. As a result there weren't too many laughs, but a lot of smiles and snickers. The show was 15:17, mostly the first half what I plan to do Friday for
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites employees.
Wed Jul 23 = I hung out at the first turnout north of Avon most of the day, visiting, listening to and evaluating last night's routine in light of Friday at
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites employees.
,
doing a Sun/Swim (pulse at end of 109bpm) and noting that my CC Witness MP3 player deleted different files than I designated so I lost my recording of last night's performance. I got it back with Recuva.
Thu Jul 24 = Good day and several firsts. I drove up to Rodanthe to Kitty Hawk Kites to check out the situation for tomorrow's comedy show. There I saw the first poster with my picture, not made by me. The poster is on my Comedy web page. I didn't get out on the water during the first half of the day. The winds were marginal for my 12m kite. Instead I organized and then practiced specifically on my new Yoga routine to use both tonight at Haulover and tomorrow night at
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding center in Rodanthe, NC.
.
A couple thunder storms came through. I was working on comedy in my van in the parking lot for both of them. My weather station showed a peak gust of 49.0 mph as the first one approached. The second one was only worth 37.6 mph.
- Tonight was the first time I did a Comedy show in the rain, although it was a light rain during the show. I took my stool out to Haulover as an exercise in futility because it was raining off and on. A few minutes before eight, two carloads of people arrived for a show. I had told them about the show yesterday evening at the Haulover. The eleven brave souls took their chairs out on the beach amidst distant lightening, I took my stool out and successfully used my new Yoga routine and my Maui routine (first time without notes for both sets) up to, "What's the Boneyard?" That's when a big yellow bolt of lightning came too close to suit and everyone instantly folded up their chairs, said, "Thank you Lou. and headed for the parking lot, never to know about the Boneyard. It was a fun group and put my mind at ease for tomorrow evening's big show. It also was the first time a show was terminated by lightning.
Fri Jul 25 = Comedy tonight was a logistic disaster. The main problem was that there was no microphone cord so no PA system. I gave up after 5:30 minutes of straining my voice. Maybe next year.
Sat Jul 26 = This morning I attended Gentle Yoga with Paulette, did a heavy arms workout, did a beach sun/run and evidently offended the new pier owner by eating my lunch in the parking lot - out of the way. This evening I mixed three containers worth of my cinnamon/ginger powder.
Sun Jul 27 = This afternoon I used my new Axis 132cm twin-tip board for the first time and compared it to my old 130cm Lite Wave at
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding center in Rodanthe, NC.
. I cleaned and dried some of my kites for winter storage and found that my 6m Best Nemesis has a MAJOR leak near the center of the main bladder.
Mon Jul 28 = This morning I was the first one on the water for my last Planet of the Apes Run of the trip. I ued my new twin-tip and 12m kite. I completely missed seeing the dogleg canal, but took the cross canal. The 2013 Axis foot straps tend to abrade my feet.
- I got my van oil changed in Rodanthe - EARLY, because I failed to check the last change off the chart by my steering wheel. Live and learn!
Tue Jul 29 = This morning I thoroughly washed my van - tires, undercarriage, windows and INSIDE windows.
Wed Jul 30 = This morning I did a heavy torso workout. Some people are bullies and some bullies have a lot of money. Joe Thompson evidently does not like or approve of my Van Lifestyle while on my road trips. He has permanently banned me from all of his properties. I'll miss the gym some, but especially the Avon Pier because I have met lots of friends up there.
- Around noon I did a beach sun/run at Ramp 38, south of Avon - couldn't go to the pier.
Thu Jul 31 = There was a good and fun audience for my last Comedy-n-Sunset Thursday show. I did my Maui routine. One of the couples, my fan club, had seen my Old Man routine before. I think they're the only ones that have seen all my current material.
- After the show I had my last Dollar Tree ice cream sandwich treat and headed out toward home and Phoenix - just up to
KHK
Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding center in Rodanthe, NC.
