California Republic SUP

06/05/2026

HAPPY ALOHA FRIDAY!! 🤙 🌼 🌺

During and following the War years, some vehicles were made partially of wood due to the need for steel in war manufacturing. The result was the “woodie”. These vehicles were usually station wagons, precursor to the modern SUV. By 1950, steel was again in wide supply and the era of the woody was over.

The problem is that they would not weather well and soon the wood would rot. By the late 1950s these were sold at greatly reduced prices due to the decomposition of the wood. So, surfers began to buy them. Their surfboard would fit in the back. And the surfers could sleep in them during surf trips. Soon, the woody began to be associated with surfers. They are highly sought after still.

Now, let me reveal why I chose this particular post on the glorious Friday morning. I like to peruse Marketplace on a regular basis. I like to look at old cars for sale and admire and dream about them. I saw this car on Marketplace for sale a few weeks ago. I really spent a great deal of thought about it. I would love to own it and tinker with rebuilding all the wood parts. I seriously considered contacting the owner and having a look at it. 🤔

Within a week of me seeing it, Cate and I drove out to an obscure location in Myrtle Beach. She was showing a home for sale on a residential street neither of us had ever been to. Really remote location, no HOA sort of place. THERE IT WAS!!! The car that had been on my mind all week sat out on the front yard next to the house Cate was showing!

So, I called the number shown and talked with the owner about it. He looked out his front window. “Are you the guy sitting on the tailgate of that red truck?” “I am,” said I. He said that his wife had been involved in a now defunct plan to build a surfing wave park in Myrtle Beach. His plan was to put the car on display as a promotion at the park. He bought the car and had it shipped from San Francisco four years ago. The car had been owned by a pair of brothers who owned an historic old hotel. The car had been used there.

Random coincidence? 🤔

06/04/2026

Well what do you know about that?!! For the last two summers, a father of one of the groms came along on our Paddlecamp. Tye is a media guy and an avid outdoorsman and paddler.

HE'S RUNNING SOME SUP CAMPS THIS SUMMER!!

Really happy that someone has picked up the idea and ran with it. Reach out to him!!

https://lakemurraysupcamp.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSO7dZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeC6N8RVRuN-TNw4rG1bMYOsbs0QqNeininpcGX9nWJq0u1XbUWnA6azy3l04_aem_XtjTcIBdaMIZBtJxXd9mTQ

Three summer paddleboard camps on Lake Murray. June 15–18, July 6–8, July 20–23 · 9am–12pm · Ages 8+ · 12 spots each.

06/04/2026

It has been so fun to see Heidi and her SUP business grow. She is still in operation and will be all summer long. Go see her!

06/04/2026

TBT - 2002

My son in a diaper standing tall on the nose of my surfboard. I still have that surfboard, but he has long been out of diapers! ❤️

06/03/2026

ROAD TRIP!!

I've just come back from an amazing road trip. I drove Cate up to her parents in Pennsylvania, above Pittsburgh last week. She needs to be with them, so I left her there and drove back. Figured it would take a couple of days. It ended up taking four days! Had I have taken the interstate, it would have been an 11 hour drive.

But, I didn't do it that way. I splurged and did it the best way:
1. No interstate travel whatsoever, only 2 lane state highways.
2. No real agenda or direction other than heading south. More or less.
3. Camping. (Had a tent, though not a sleeping bag, soap, or shampoo.)
4. Good books. Stopped every so often to read when the spirit moved me which it did a lot. It was as much a READ trip as it was a ROAD trip.

Pennsylvania was excellent, just as I remembered it to be. The thing that stands out the most about Pennsylvania is the green, green grass which blankets the state. That and the wonderfully maintained homes. As I approached and passed through Pittsburgh, the homes began to change. They were right up next to the roadway and very close to each other. The streets reminded me of so many movies I'd seen that were filmed there over the years. It is quite bustling there. So much movement.

But then, the landscape began to change as I entered the mountain state of West Virginia. Time stood still. No so much bustling here. Quaint cottages and ramshackle homes that I wasn't sure if anyone lived in. And rolling hills and trees and more trees. Plenty of water and dreamy summer places in which to sit and read.

The people I met and encountered were all so very nice and pleasant. All in all a fantastic trip which moved me very much.

06/01/2026

Mr. Cash n Carry

The fine folks who run this little roadside diner are people of my own heart. I’m a man who still believes that Cash is King. If you remember during the COVID summers, I offered a “Covid Buster Special”, a $25 rental for just $20, if paid in good old fashioned American CASH. Electronic payments have costs. Somebody’s got to pay it. It cost me 3.5% to accept a card (87.5 cents per rental). A payment by Venmo didn’t cost anything, but I couldn’t access that money for 3 days. Plus, I started to wonder why credit corporations deserved that money more than I did. So, I offered that deal.

My own personal finances are handled that way as well if I can - cash always. Which is particularly ironic that I came upon this diner with no cash! 🫨 After my fantastic meal, I went to pay with a card and discovered that they only accepted cash!!

“No problem “, they said. “Happens all the time. Don’t worry about it.” I apologized, thanked them profusely, but assured them I was worrying about it and that I would send them cash through the mail as soon as I got home!

The people in there were all so nice. Everyone knew everyone. My waitress was called outside by her young son to see a snake that he had found, roused out of its hiding spot by his father using the weedwhacker in the parking lot. An older gentleman with a cane explained to another waitress the problems he was having with his pump motor. She listened very kindly and told him that she was very sorry about the recent loss of his dog. He was 89 years old and now had no one at home, his wife had also recently passed. The entire experience was a slice of Appalachian life up in the hills. Everyone made sure to say hello to me with kind eyes and a ready smile, even the owners of the establishment that I had just stiffed on my bill. They all could not have been nicer.

05/30/2026

Well, well, well! 🫨🫨🫨