An inland wave pool was a good thing for me in Arizona as a teenager. It gets really hot here in the summer and what better way to cool off than to surf some waves. It was kind of funny looking back on this. There were many of us who were so serious about surfing here. There were some fights, but what I do remember most is how we would all converge here during the "surf sessions" that Big Surf would have during the day (and night).

There were usually two or three during the day and one at night when they felt like having night surfing. I was known to cut school or work to make my appointment with a few waves. It was interesting to see this contingency of cars out front of Big Surf, racks, stickers and all the identifiers of the surfing breed. Like that movie "Fast Times..." there were even the Volkswagen buses with the smoke pouring out along with it's occupants...

It cost to get in and we got pretty good at forging the hand stamp. We would find out what it looked like then forge it backwards and lick it and stick it on our hand. Sometimes the lifeguards would just let us in. That was cool, most of us didn't have the money to pay the seven dollars every day to surf.

This went on for just about all of high school for me. I loved it and have fond memories to this day of all my friends at Big Surf.

My parents had taken me to O'ahu a couple of times while I was in High School. During this time, I was surfing Big Surf, San Diego and making trips to the Pacific side of Baja, mostly K-38 and toward the border breaks. These summer trips to the islands found me surfing Waikiki and a Ala Moana. Summer is south shore swell season. This is considered "Town" and the North Shore was "Country." The summer was off season for the North Shore so I never got to experience these waves until my arrival with the army.

By luck or some other force, I was sent to the islands to serve as a combat medic in the infantry. O'ahu, Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa was my base, only about fifteen minutes from mecca. I bought an asymmetrical T&C board and a spear for the bigger waves. With this quiver, I was able to hold my own.

On the other side of the island near Sea Life Park, I was flying my hang glider above the cliff at Makapuu point. It was an unreal life of hard work in the infantry and just as hard play, surfing the North and West Shore while hang gliding too. There were days where I would go surfing and hang gliding on the same day. Now that I look back on it, punk rock music and all, I was living as hard as I could, skateboarding surf style in the ditches, popping airs at Ala Skatepark in Honolulu, flying cross country down the spine of the island starting at Makapuu, surfing Yokamama Bay by myself and when I could go home, I went Wintersticking in the mountains.

I don't hardly believe it myself but it's true. Surf, skate, soar, go home and Winterstick.

Even after disciplining myself in the service, there was still a little rebel in me. We had to let a little of it out and some of "it" was in our cars. This particular car was so much fun. We drove it everywhere and it is amazing that we didn't go straight to jail as it had no license plate, no insurance, and nobody driving it was of sane mind... But this is how we did things and it worked for us and it was a part of being free of the green.

I remember Tommy driving the sled to Waikiki to see some band. He ran every red light, drove on the sidewalk and parked there outside of the Pink Cadillac for a little action. If we were busted, leave the car and get a new one. We never made it to the concert, it was too much fun dancing, drinking at this disco with all the tourist girls. At the end of the night, we had meet some pro skaters, chatted with some pro surfers and jammed back in the sled for the 45 minute ride back to base. Hawaii was about what going on, a ground swell of fun.