Awesome Day Thirty: Hittin' the Water

"Relax," he said as he helped me on board. "If you're tense, you're going to end up having to work harder.  You'll tire out faster.  It won't be as fun."

I suppose that's good advice--in both paddleboarding and in life.

Thankfully, on the Final Day of Awesome, relaxation was easy.

I don't really live near the beach.  I wish I did, but it's about an hour away--and that's when the traffic is good.  It's just far enough away that I don't get there often (or ever).  Sadly, this was my first time there in almost a year.  (Wisconsin Me would be totally mad at California Me for this fact; when you grow up in the midwest, any beach that isn't days of driving away is a blessing.)

As someone who grew up in Wisconsin, my experience with water-based activities is limited.  I remember trying to waterski once with a friend's family at their cabin on a lake--that didn't go well.  My lack of upper body strength, balance, and general athletic ability created a combo that meant I spent most of the time flailing behind the boat, dragging in the water.  Not Awesome.

Still, I've alway wanted to surf.  And since I know that surfing and I would take days of lessons to become friends, I've always wanted to paddleboard as an (easier) alternative.  (Surfing is still on The List, I'm just saving that for a time when I have a multi-day beach vacation and a willing surf instructor.)

Awesome Day 30 was ridiculously hot.  Like Hottest Day of the Year hot.  Like 93 degrees at 10 a.m. and hard to breathe kind of hot.  Basically, it was begging for us to take a trip west, to seek ocean breezes and frigid waters and an environment where wearing as little as possible was acceptable.

To the beach we went.

We headed to Newport Beach, south of Los Angeles, for a paddleboarding excursion. Newport is full of canals and a harbor, making it ideal for paddleboarding since waves and wake tend to make balance pretty challenging.

The sky was a gorgeous blue, scattered with carefree clouds.  It was Awesome.  And it was still hot; people were saying it was maybe the hottest day on record, but I have no proof to back that up.  I know that by 1pm it was 95 degrees at the beach, which kinda never happens.

Paddleboarding was a huge success.  It was absolutely beautiful, and neither of us fell in, except when we wanted to.  I guess it was because we were relaxed--which is kind of the reason beaches exist,  I think.  It's impossible to be stressed out on a beach.  There's something about the vastness of the ocean combined with the reassuring gentle breeze.  The world is large, it seems to whisper, and you are just a drop of Awesome. Slow down and appreciate.

Which is what the whole 30 Days of Awesome has been about.