Searching for Kelly Slater Part 2

Backside air.


Kelly Slater probably won't be at the beach, but it's such a nice day, who cares if he's there or not," I say.

"Let's go!" says Gio.

"Do you guys want to come?" I ask Hubby and Vinny.

"No," says Vinny.

"Not really," says Hubby.

"There are rocks to climb there," I say in an enticing voice. "It's really nice outside......"

"Okay," says Hubby, giving in to my begging.

The beach was full of cars when we arrived.

"Is anyone surfing? " I ask.

"Yeah, there are five or six guys out," answers Hubby.

We walked down the stairs, and up the beach to the breaking wave. There were seven local surfers out, but definitely not Kelly Slater. Oh well.

Then I noticed someone scampering down the hillside trail looking fit, bald and sponsored.



"Hey that looks like Slater coming down the hill," I say.

"Where?" asks Hubby.

"Over there," I say, pointing. "It is HIM!"

"Gio, there's Kelly Slater, do you still want to take a picture with him?" I ask.

"Yeah!" says Gio.

"Let's go," I say.

And we did!





After a quick picture with Gio, Slater paddles out for an evening glass off session somewhere in the Monterey Bay. I've seen Slater surf in person plenty of times, but never in my home town.



The flash always goes off at the wrong time.

I didn't have my board so I couldn't really paddle out for a session with Slater. But I left my board at home on purpose. I wanted to watch the master on his craft, in hopes that some of his freakish surfing ability would rub off on me.......And I was pretty surfed out from my earlier surf session, anyways........ :)



Slater slaying the barrel.

Searching For Kelly Slater

Photo by Hans.

It seems everyone, except me, has seen Kelly Slater, who is in town this week for the 2011 AT&T Pro Am Golf Tournament.

"Wendy, guess who my friend saw at whole foods?" asks Gio's teacher.

It's pretty obvious who the answer is going to be.

"Uh, Kelly Slater?" I guess, playing along.

"Yes!" says Gio's Teacher. "She said he eats very well."

Barely 1 Hour Later

"Guess who I just saw?" asks a friend.

Sigh.

"Hmmmmmmmmmm, Kelly Slater?" I say, taking a deep breath.

"Yes!" says my friend. "I carried my daughters' surfboards onto the golf course, and he signed them! Are you jealous?"

"No," I say, but I couldn't help feeling a little bit defeated. "Wait you carried two surfboards onto the golf course?" I ask.

"Yes, I live on the 18th hole," says my friend.

Okay, now I'm jealous.

I did try to see him. Twice. I had tickets to attend the the AT&T Pro Am for two days.

Wednesday, I missed him because I had to surf before going to the tourney, since I didn't surf the day before. I couldn't miss two days in a row of surfing, not even for Kelly Slater.

"Where are you?" asks my friend.

"I just got out of the water, I sill have to take a shower," I say, lamely.

It was nearly 11 a.m. and I take loooooooooooooooong showers.

"Wait, are you already there?" I ask.

"Yes and so is Kelly Slater," says my Photographer Friend.

"Okay, take pictures, please," I plead.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
And she did because she is AWESOME, and so were her pictures of his forearms, I mean Kelly Slater!

Eventually, I met another friend and we got to the course close to 1 p.m. I think.

"Do you see Kelly?" asks my BFF.

"No," I say. "But I think I see Kevin Costner."

"Oh great," she says.

I felt terrible for dragging here to a golf course for nothing, and even worse, Kevin Costner, so I bought her a churro.

"I can't believe we didn't see Slater," says my BFF. "Oh well, at least I got a churro out of it."

I didn't really want to find Slater for me. I wanted to take another picture of him and Gio together. I had even devised a complicated plan for another friend to drop off Gio and her kids to have their pictures taken with the 10x World Surfing Champ.

It. Was. Going. To. Be. So. Cool. :p

When I saw Gio after school he was pumped to go to the golf course to see Kelly Slater.

"Yay!" says Gio. "We're going to the golf course!"

He likes the churros, too.

"No," I say. "We're not going."

"Why?" asks Gio disappointed.

"Kelly Slater isn't there," I say. "We missed him, again."

"Awwwwwwe," whines Gio.

I thought I'd see Slater for sure Thursday, but I got severely mixed up on the Monterey Peninsula Country Club golf course walking around in circles looking for him.

"Have you seen Kelly Slater?" I ask EVERYONE.

"No," they all say.

Before I knew it, it was time to pick up Gio from school. I was in shock I failed two days in a row.

"There is something seriously wrong with me," I think to myself. "Maybe I'm cursed? I must have used up all of my 'Seeing Kelly Slater Credits,' or something?"

I have seen him a lot. The interview alone, must have used up 80 percent of my credits!

Everyone else has seen Slater, except for me. However, I still had some hope left in me. I may have run out of tickets to the golf tournament, but Kelly Slater is a surfer first, golfer second. I hadn't given up on seeing him at the beach..............

........................to be continued Sunday February 13th, 2011.




Photo by Hans.

Kelly Slater AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

All Photos by the Beautiful Nancy G. Lee.

Ten time Surfing World Champ Kelly Slater may be the fittest competitor in 2011's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Slater, who will be turning 39 tomorrow, and whose competitive dominance spans TWO decades, looks pretty good for an old guy.

Folks, who are worried about the forties may want to use Slater posters for directions to the fountain of youth. I suppose it does help that he has a giant yellow, youthful physical energy in the color spectrum that keeps him ageless, aura.










Kelly Slater ties his shoes just like the rest of us, but his surfing is another story