surf's up

So a couple Sundays ago, I finally got to do what I moved down here in the first place to do.

GO SURFING.

Barry and I took lessons from a couple of dudes named Mike and Dave down at San Onofre state beach. The boards were the foam-top beginner kind and about 9 feet long. We each got up a bunch of times and the 2 hours flew by. We went out the following weekend in La Jolla, but the waves were not as good. Ditto for our trip yesterday to Huntington. But, we won't be deterred. Barry already bought a sport rack for the Hyundai and I scored a couple of wetsuits from a co-worker. Surf's Up.

So, I'm sure you're thinking to yourself. "What do Barry and Megan do when the surf is not, in fact, "up"? Well, funny you should ask. Because instead of surfing this weekend we went to the DEMOLITION DERBY at the Orange County Fair.

Yes, snobby, image-obsessed OC has an annual event wherein Mom puts on her grungiest miniskirt and Dad exchanges his chinos for blue jeans and the family heads down to spend some quality time mispronouncing the word "Gyros" and daring each other to eat a deep-fried Snickers bar.

The demolition derby is, in fact, the most popular event at the County Fair. Only, when I first heard about the fair and the derby, I confused it with the Country Fair and had this bizarre image of stoned hippies smashing their dirty vans into each other while "Truckin'" blared over the loudspeakers.

In actuality, it's a bunch of 70's Cadillacs and Lincoln Continentals bashing the crap out of each other in a dirt arena for about 5 minutes while the audience in the surrounding bleachers goes totally insane. The scene evokes a shoddier version of modern-day gladiator fight. Only, none of the guys are named "Cassius," "Maximus" or "Joaquin," and they've long since exchanged their barrel-chests for beer-bellies.

We went to the 2pm show which was so amazing we decided to hang around the fair for five more hours and see the 8pm show. I cannot possibly convey its awesomeness in writing alone, so I'll have to tell you about it next time I see you. It's the kind of thing that requires an in-person delivery of words like "skreee" and "gktsshh" and "kkkfkkfk!" and other words that look like they could also be IKEA products.

The rest of the fair was pretty whatever. There were baby animals, mis-shapen vegetables, and this exhibition hall called "The Parade of Products" which was mostly kitchen gadgets and belt buckles. Apparently there's a woman who sells sweaters made out of her dogs' hair, but, she was indisposed at the time of our visit.

(awkward segue)

Don't you be indisposed when I stop by to visit you! Yes, I'm visiting Portland 30 Jul - 8 Aug. Who's interested in pontoon boating? Who's interested in a BBQ? Who wants to see the A-Team van fly accross the Willamette?
http://www.redbullflugtagportland.com/teambio.php?pilot_id=278

Let me know!

ciao for now.

-MD