martes, 2 de agosto de 2016

A Pile of Shit Shows!

So many shit shows to report from the first month in the #OneShitShowPerDay trip. The good thing about shit shows is that you learn a ton from them. You rarely get on the same shit show a second time, well sometimes I do, but I am just a very stubborn Spaniard. Here it goes:

On day two, we got lectured a by a cranky dog owner about how we should train our little beast. Apparently, her personal experience counted more than our profesional and awesome trainer Kathy advice. 

On day three of the trip, we got kick out of our "site" in the middle of the night by two rangers. We learned that national parks are not the best spot to camp overnight without a permit, not even inside your van. We also learned that you can sleep overnight at any rest area without being disturbed. You can actually celebrate 4th of July in one of them with fireworks and all!
Rest stop fireworks in Oregon
On day four, some @astrasg! ATGEA@##! ZSDGAW$! messed up my mirror on a parking lot in Portland. So we had both a duct taped window and a mirror. That same day, we decided that it would be a great a idea to go sight seeing in Portland on a tandem bike. Narrow uphill bridges! What can I say..? 

Sharing a ride
On day six, Irina went back to SFO. That is not quite a shitshow but it is always shitty. 

Next couple of weeks the biggest shit show was the constant rain that welcomed us to Squamish. The most popular question I got before the start of the trip was: Are you living in the van with your dog? No one thought, not even me, what the hell do you do if it rains all day long! 
Raincoat outfit for almost two weeks!
During Irina's first visit, we rented an airbnb basement for a ton of money, almost killed the dog on a bike ride, wrangled through traffic jams in Vancouver... All of it pretty fun! 
Hot dogs in Vancouver. 
We went to the beautiful Alice lake park twice. First time, I ran 4 miles with a one pound dog poop in a bag. Second time, Irina got kicked out by bear cubs. 
Olive contemplating the beautiful Alice Lake while a I pick up her poo. 
I climbed the two remaining peaks at the Chief. Yes, I made it to the top of the second peak with Olive by climbing some metal stairs with her under one arm. I also got lost hiking out of the third peak and ended up trapped in some bushes.
The Chief Second Peak. First dog ascent of the direct route?
In addition, we got called on animal services for leaving Olive in the car (in the shade!). We were woken up by a fellow that wanted to park by us and did not have enough space. Got to love loading and unloading the van every single time you need anything. Got eaten by mosquitoes in a couple of occasions.

So many more things that I have probably forgotten. If it has not been #OneShitShowPerDay, it has been truly close to it, but it is all about the learning process. I am enjoying the ride! 

viernes, 29 de julio de 2016

The Shit Show that started it all!

This actually happened on the first day of our trip. We had a pretty awesome surfing session at Bolinas in pretty poor surfing conditions. Kept driving north on highway 1 after some tasty lunch and went bouldering to Fort Ross, which was 1) pretty awesome and 2) surprisingly high quality sandstone!
Fort Ross beach sandstone bouldering.

Well, getting out of one of the bouldering areas I decided that there was no time to drive a bit down the road to find a good spot to turn around (I really wanted to get to the boulder on the picture). I was taught that there should be no rush in rheology, but I should have by now learned to apply this motto to life! I rammed the back of the van against a tree branch that I could not see. 

Yes, I did it! #oneshitshowperday #1

This brings me to the definition of Shit Show. I think it is something different to a bad occurrence. It is not just that something bad happened to you. For it to be a real shit show you  need to get into it. It is something you could have avoided easily, which usually makes it all the worse. You know, those times when you say "I should have thought twice before...", "If I had only...", etc. Those times your are most likely going through a real shit show! 

Nothing that can't be fixed with some duct tape! 

The three following days I spent a bit depressed for breaking my van on the very first day and going around with a self-made plastic window. Finally we got to Seattle and got to fix it! Funnily enough, I got to wait on horse race track while it was being fixed. Pretty picturesque! 

Almost like new!

More shit shows coming soon! I think I would need to group them together in one post to catch up so I can focus on more recent stuff. 

miércoles, 27 de julio de 2016

#OneShitShowPerDay trip begins!

I meant to start this blog as I started this trip. Much has happened since I left Bay Area (Hell Area) with Irina an Olive, and much more has yet to happen. The story picked its own name as since the very first day we run into #OneShitShowPerDay. It will take me some time for me to catch up and I would probably leave some of the shitshows we went through out since memories, even the intense ones, cool down fast. You can always check out some of the trip pictures, shitshows and other occurrences at my Instagram profile @the_lost_spaniard.

A spaniard (lost) at OWL Walnut Creek in the eve of this trip
Follow my adventures and let me know what you think. Advice for shitshow troubleshooting is welcome!