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San Diego Visit


syntaks

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Well...Finally made it back to Anch-Morpork from CA. I hate flying, since my body doesn't like having to stay still for 8 hours (It's never a short flight when you live up here.) Coming back was 2.5 hours to Portland, with a 9 hour layover, (and it was raining and friggin COLD there on Sunday...) then the 5 hour flight back to Alaska. Now I feel like someone had me on the rack for a day. We had a spooky landing. It was raining on top of an inch of ice, but the pilots obviously knew what they were doing and got us to the gate, after taxiing past the plane who's engine was on fire...lol

Not many people would make a vacation solely out of visiting a kite manufacturer. After all, I was in the city known for great beaches, the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, the Aerospace Museum, Balboa Park, etc. I drove past all of them. My focus was one of obsession, I guess.

When I got to San Diego last Tuesday, I wasn't expecting to be sleeping on Ben's apartment floor, but he insisted, so I did. (The plan was to hang out in the car...) Ben even waited up for me because I was about 3 hours late getting into town.

On Wednesday, I twisted his arm and forced him to go out to Mission Beach to do some flying. Considering how much he kept saying he was a grump and all, I was very glad to watch him (and myself of course) having so much fun. It was a GORGEOUS day! I even learned something off of him. It might not seem like much to some folks, but there's a trick to flying a rev with one hand, and getting through it without crashing rather impressed me. I haven't done a dive-stop that way yet, but... I even got some video of him actually SMILING.

On Thursday he had to work, so I went out to Rev HQ in Poway to bug him even more. I was glad to see a photo on the wall of a kite sitting in the snow in Alaska. Having never seen a Bazzer eyes kite up close, I sat drooling over them for awhile. (I'll never be able to afford one, but I got to hold it in my hands...almost the same thing.) Everyone at the Rev offices were about as friendly as can be, especially since they were dealing with someone who was begging for a free Bazzer kite the whole time. :P BTW, I think that rev should let people know more often about the things they make there other than kites. See HERE for an impressive product.

I had a long discussion with Joe, who seemed most happy to be the front man for them that day, since Ben was spending most of that time yelling at his computer. (Told ya Ben...get a PC. Those Macs are only for yuppies.) Joe answered quite a few questions that those of us up here in Alaska had been trying to work out. He even told me about the 15x1 foot prototype, which I want, but then, I want pretty much anything made by them.

It was a great couple days. I got to fly a kite I haven't tried yet. I decided my better 3/4 can't complain about the back of my truck, because I've seen the back of Ben's van. :P

I'll post some photos later ... and maybe even the video of Ben having fun when he was supposed to be so grumpy. I guess I understand. It's amazing how your mood changes once you pick up those handles and get the kite into the air.

Thanks to Ben and the folks at Rev for the good time!

--TaK

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(Mom here!)

Ben ~ What are you doing flying when you're supposed to be taking it easy and healing confused_1.gif ...kid_cussing.gif

Bring on the spankings excl.gif

Blame it on me Jynx. I made him do it. But oh my what a great day for flying! Warm, sunny, and great wind. (Though, considering it's getting to be Winter here in Alaska, pretty much ANY day in San Diego is a great day for flying...)

--TaK

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It was good to have you down and I'm really glad you enjoyed your trip, as always I have an open door to any and all kite fliers plus it gives them a chance

to relax among friends....blue_cool.gif I'm not much on the Susie Home Maker stuff but I will go out and fly...... Benmatrix.gifblue_cool.gifmatrix.gif

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It was good to have you down and I'm really glad you enjoyed your trip, as always I have an open door to any and all kite fliers plus it gives them a chance

to relax among friends....blue_cool.gif I'm not much on the Susie Home Maker stuff but I will go out and fly...... Benmatrix.gifblue_cool.gifmatrix.gif

I won't go into what our house looks like. Yours was just fine, and, like I said, the flying was great on Wednesday. I flew for a good two hours after you were called away. Then I went to the Old Town Mexican Cafe to get some tortillas for my better 3/4. I never did get to go to the chicken pie shop, but oh well.

...Now we just gotta teach you the difference between a rev 1 and a rev 1.5 ... :P

--TaK

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Don't let all the stories of Ben and grumpyness issues sway anyone. He is a softie where it counts, in his heart. :kid_loved:

Love Ya Ben!

Oh he's a grump alright. Especially before coffee in the morning, but considering I'm even worse, (my wife hasn't called me by my name in years. She calls me "Cranky") He is just fine. He definitely wasn't as bad as he makes out to be until he tries to get his computer to do what he wants it to. Besides, I giddy version of Ben is scary to think about. :P

Nah. He's a great guy with a good heart. After all, he put up with MY grumpiness for a couple days, which is more than I can say for most people...lol

--TaK

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  • 2 months later...

I'm thinking of heading out to San Diego for a long weekend at the very end of February. Might take a kite surfing lesson. Any suggestions about where to stay (ie close to good fly spot) would be welcome.

Not sure about places to stay. I hadn't been to San Diego in a long time and I was only there for a few days. Mission Bay is where most of the flying goes on, from what I was told. That's where Ben took me, and it was great weather and wind. I think it may have been one of the best days I've had in a long time for flying. So I can only say to get somewhere near there. The Hilton is right next to the flying spot.

--TaK

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I'm thinking of heading out to San Diego for a long weekend at the very end of February. Might take a kite surfing lesson. Any suggestions about where to stay (ie close to good fly spot) would be welcome.

In the Mission Valley area on Hotel Circle are most of the "reasonably" priced motels.

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Thanks. Not clear where the best flying spot is. It looks like the Bahia resort is well situated, and near a very broad beach on Bonita Cove. The reviews say the place is kind of run down. Looking at Manta Sports for kitesurfing lessons.

Anyone know where those Rev videos of Joe Hadzicki were taken?

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Thanks. Not clear where the best flying spot is. It looks like the Bahia resort is well situated, and near a very broad beach on Bonita Cove. The reviews say the place is kind of run down. Looking at Manta Sports for kitesurfing lessons.

Anyone know where those Rev videos of Joe Hadzicki were taken?

I know Joe has used multiple places for videos.

Some flying areas are/where:

- Mission Bay Park(South of the Hilton) is the primary flying field these days

- At Embarcadero near Seaport Village is a small flying area. The store KiteFlite(sp) is there.

- Mariner's Point on New Years Day.

- Ocean Beach, used to be a good flying area.

- The beach near Coronado is good(or was), not sure, for buggy.

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Thanks. Not clear where the best flying spot is. It looks like the Bahia resort is well situated, and near a very broad beach on Bonita Cove. The reviews say the place is kind of run down. Looking at Manta Sports for kitesurfing lessons.

Anyone know where those Rev videos of Joe Hadzicki were taken?

We just watched the Blast 4-8 DVD that comes with the kite. It must be somewhere near National City/Chula Vista? I know I saw the Coronado bridge innit a few times, but I don't know that area well enough to know what is down there.

I'm pretty sure the standard Rev DVD was shot in Mission Bay area.

--TaK

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I'm confirmed to arrive on the 25th of February and leave on March 1, staying at the Hyatt Mission Bay. I'll be taking kitesurfing lessons from Manta on one or two days, and plan to visit an old friend who is on the veterinary staff at the Zoo, but otherwise looking for opportunities to fly.

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