If you keep your head in the sand...

...you'll never know where the kick's coming from.

I've always liked the beach.  I've always liked the sand.  And I've always liked adventure.  So it was only fitting that for my next New Thing to do would to go ATVing on the sand dunes at Pismo Beach.  It's always been something that I've wanted to do and this was the perfect excuse to do it.  And thus a spur of the moment weekend trip down to SLO was born.

Now there are a lot of places to rent ATVs from down at Pismo.  Yelp was pretty helpful and I ended up choosing Arnies ATV rentals which was located right at the entrance of the sand dunes.  With the swipe of a credit card and a signature on a couple of pieces of paper, I was ready to conquer the dunes.  The weather was Goldilocks - not too hot and not too cold.  After a crash course (pun definitely intended) on how to drive the ATV, I was ready to go.

Ready for adventure

Some dunes had pretty steep drop-offs 

Orange flags to keep you safe!

View from the driver's seat

After about two hours of driving around on the sand dunes, I was ready to call it a day.  It was hot and I was thirsty.  The wind was picking up and my contacts were sandier the Sahara Desert.  But it was so worth it.  I'll definitely be back to have another go at the sandy dunes.

New Thing #5 - Ride an ATV on sand dunes - DONE

Completed September 21, 2014

High School Drama Files: Episode #3 - Friends First

Teenage self:
"I'm almost at the top of the well, almost freed from the pits of hell that has kept me sad and depressed for far too long. I'm almost free...I can feel it, the power of success, the warmth of salvation, the heavenly breath shining down on me...But as I sit here, just a couple arm stretches from the top, I can still hear them, the cries of my friends, my comrades, still struggling to make their ascension. I can hear their pain, their anguish, their cries for mercy...And I cannot help but feel their pain, I cannot help feeling guilty that I have made it so far, and they have not. I now sit at the threshold, the crevice of choices...divided. Save yourself, or save your friends...Hold on guys, I'm coming..."

29 year old self:
It's getting harder and harder to write about what appears to be the same shit on a different day.  FEEL ALL THE ANGST!  But seriously, it's kind of boring to rehash the same melodrama over and over again.  However, this one was less "I both love and hate love and relationships" and delved into one of my other high school priorities: friends.  I have and continue to always put the needs of others before my own.  It has always been a trait of mine to want to make others happy and do anything in my powers to help a friend out.  Need more proof that I've been this way since high school?  How about another "excerpt from the Code of Jerm"

Teenage self:
An excerpt from The Code of Jerm:
Friends come first. Their feelings, their happiness, their safety. Friends first, Jerm second. Do whatever you must do to protect these things. Protect their feelings at all costs. Save them from pain, suffering, and commit self-sacrifice of your own feelings if needed. Take their pain, make them comfortable. Protect their happiness. Make them happy when others continue to make them sad. Give them hope, faith, and return their smiles. Eliminate all threats to their happiness. If you witness a hostile act, you will respond immediately. You are their shield from harm, from pain, from suffering. Take the hits. Do as you must. Save them. Be there for them. Most importantly - be their friend.

29 year old self:
That's some pretty heavy stuff.  Looking back now, I don't really know where I come up with things like this.  Though I can honestly say that even to this day, I will still abide by that code for my closest of friends.  I guess some things never change.