Three Trips

Posted on on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 by Ryan

In the past few weeks I took three quick trips. First, I went to California for a bit of a vacation to see family and do a little business. Then it was a 10-hour drive from Tampa to North Carolina for a wedding...

By Ryan Clements

In the past few weeks I took three quick trips. First, I went to California for a bit of a vacation to see family and do a little business. Then it was a 10-hour drive from Tampa to North Carolina for a wedding. Finally, I headed back to California for the IASC Summit and two days of headache-inducing business. Check out some of the characters I ran into along the way...

First stop was the main strip at Huntington Beach that leads right to the Pier. It’s a mix between authentic cool places to eat and cheesy generic establishments, sort of like Ybor.

Early that afternoon I visited some friends at Quiksilver HQ and when I got there I realized that DC is located in the building as well, so I hit up old pal Jeff Taylor for a tour.
Skater Profile: Jeff Taylor

This spine is in the new Quik TF. We’re going to be doing an event at this joint in November.

Brent Kronmeuller builds some crazy stuff.
Skater Profile: Brent Kronmeuller

From there it was down to the Encinitas area to visit Mike Derewenko. This place was pretty disappointing, except the brick hip is pretty amazing.

So we went to this other park that had a great planter, as Mike D. demonstrates with a rock n’ roll.

And I ironically run into Floridian transplant Neal Mims. What are the chances? I love that dude.
Skater Profile: Neal Mims

I will heed caution. We don’t have scenery like this on the Gulf of Mexico.

As we were eating breakfast the final morning in Encinitas, Chris Troy randomly drives by. Once again, what are the chances?
Skater Profile: Chris Troy

I actually like Skittles. We have a good thing going, but he was pissed when we left.
Skater Profile: Skittles ...

The next week we drove to North Carolina for a wedding. Damn that’s a long drive from Tampa!

This was my office for a few days. No complaints about that.

An empty pool in Bryson City, NC.

This was the scene at the local bar, Mickey’s.

Down the road from our cabin ran this little creek.

Back up the hill at the cabin we had this dude guarding the place. I can’t believe that people still actually possess these sorts of items.

Durke loved the sign and I was like, “Let’s get a good picture.”
Skater Profile: Durke Schmidt

The reason for the trip to NC, our friend formerly known as Red Bull Sarah tied the knot.

Driving home, Rebel flags were a common sight.

The next day I flew to CA for the IASC Summit, where good pal Jamie Thomas was drinking before noon. Just kidding.
Skater Profile: Jamie Thomas

I cut out from the Summit to do a voice over for a FUEL show on the Maloof Money Cup in a legit recording studio. That was a cool experience.

But I made it back that night to listen to Chris Carter, founder of Alien Workshop, tell his story. What they’ve created is fascinating.

James Craig is making the transition from pro skateboarder to industry guy.
Skater Profile: James Craig

I got to listen to Remy Stratton, Erik Ellington, Jamie Thomas, Steve Caballero, and Michael Furukawa tell us what it takes to maintain a lifelong career in skateboarding.
Skater Profile: Remy Stratton

SPoT and Pharmacy – mutual respect.

Then next day I spoke on the Creating New Customers Panel with Steve Berra.
Skater Profile: Steve Berra

Don Brown on the left from Sole Tech, despite his mild-manners in this photo, is a complete maniac when you add alcohol. Chris Carter may have been teaching him a little professionalism.
Skater Profile: Don Brown

I was going to skip the dinner and skate session at Vans and head straight to the airport, but I was SO STOKED that I didn’t because I got to say hi to one of my all-time favorites, Jeff Grosso.
Skater Profile: Jeff Grosso

Three Trips

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