Positively Glowing

So.. many days in and not many blog entries. Many apologies but America is amazing and i've barely had time to stop and think, let alone write. I have written some stuff to upload but that will have to come out of sequence for now i'll just get on with writing about today:

Today was another early start to head to the theme parks and drop Neil Helen and James at Disney Hollywood Studios. Neil was feeling pretty bad and seems to be going down with what i;ve been suffering with the past few days but am now recovering from. Neil met his contact Mr X as usual to get his free Disney passes! Jammy wotsit! But envious i was not, as i knew that Melissa and I were heading back to the world famous Ron Jons surf shop and cocoa beach Fl. but this time with Rob (The latest arival to the tour) in tow!

Now Ron Jons is amazing. The biggest surf shop i have ever seen and am probably ever likely to see and open 24hrs a day! But that is not what excited me about todays excursion, for i had already been to Ron Jons on our way from Miami to Orlando. No today what excited me was surfing itself!

I've long been a fan of surfing. The style, the sport, the clothing and everything about it! but had never been myself. In this respect i have always been rather annoyed with myself and felt like just a little bit of a fraud wearing surf gear, but today those days would be over.

Rob had been surfing a few times before and so said he would show mw the ropes. I was so excited. We arrived in cocoa beach after an 1hr30min drive at about 11am and the weather was scorching. The sun blazing down and the sand unbearably hot on the soles of your feet. We set Rob loose in the shop and an hour or so later we excited with a happier Rob and many purchases so onto thr rental shop!

We got a couple of boards and headed out onto cocoa's golden sands, skipping on the hot sand as we went. We laid down on the shorte and ran through some basics, then it was straight out. The surf was 3-4ft which was great for learning. I paddled out with Rob, diving over and through incoming waves with notions of glory and visions of Kelly Slater ripping it up on these very beaches. We watch the surf roll in and picked a wave. Turn, paddle, Paddle, PADDLE as hard as i could, then pop up to squatting and a few seconds later into the water. The standing up wasn't the tricky part for me it was catching the waves. (From skateboarding and mountain boarding my balance is pretty good, even if i do say so myself!)

Turn, paddle out, try again.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting.

Seen the wave i want, over the first, then turn, paddle paddle paddle as hard as i can. The wave begins to lift me up and i pop up and commit, this time the wave doesn't pass me by but begins to break behind me, i ride down the wave, i concentrate hard to keep my balance as i race towards the shore! Exhileration! Just as i feel i'm about to slow down and come off another surge catches the board and i continue on! through a gap and people in the shallows and finally to a slow stop in the shallows! I did it i caught my first wave an what a place to do it! Surfin USA!

After all the excitement i managed to catch a few more and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I also caught the sun a great deal and am working up a nice tan. It's safe to say that after today i was positively glowing, in every semse of the word!