Snowboarding has been the love and pursuit of VNTRbirds, but traveling is the heartbeat. VNTRbirds originally started from leaving the East Coast of the United States to go venture and shred through New Zealand for nearly five months. Now, four years later, we’d like to bring it back as a part of our site with ‘Traveling Tuesdays’. Contributions will be coming from ourselves, our team riders and women who succumb to the wanderlust.
Words: Cat Nicol
Photos: Cat Nicol & Alexe Patenaude
Travel start date: Saturday 6th of June, 2015 – 2 Weeks
PART ONE
We had been planning this trip for a while and we were stoked the day finally arrived. The trip started with 3 of us; myself, my best homie Alexe and her cousin Maude who came all the way from Canada. We were all ready to take part in this exciting once in a lifetime adventure.
Ranging from the amazing abstract landscapes of the Yosemite to the deepest hidden parts among the Californian Redwood forests to surfing the waves in Santa Cruz and strolling along the sea shores of Big Sur. It has been a trip to never forget!
This is our journey of what we recorded ourselves and we would like to give you a taste of what we experienced along California’s coastal route.
Our story in Photographs
Picture from Left to right; Cat, Alexe & Maude enjoying Travertine hot-springs
Yosemite, Half Dome in the distance
Taking in the views what Yosemite has to offer
Our rad campsite in Crane Flat, Yosemite
Surfing with friends in Santa Cruz
Catching the waves
Our campsite at Big Basin Redwoods, Maude jamming away with the guitar
The camping consisted of lots of fun and games. Sitting out late at night star watching, playing with a deck of cards. The usual go to card games were shit-head and spit! Jamming away, playing the guitar whilst making smores. Other than that, we were trying not to think about getting eaten alive by mosquitos.
Standing next to the Californian Redwood trees deep in the forests
Finding these creatures, Banana Slugs…trippy or what?!
Big Sur, strolling by Pfeiffer Beach
Windy face looking out along the coastline of Big Sur
The Travel Playlist
Music is always the cure for any part of traveling. It always makes a journey more memorable. We’ve been playing numerous artists from day one with a bit of everyone’s taste of music. Our usual go to hits were the legends of Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here, Neil Young – Old Man, Heart of Gold and many more.
Le Fin – Part One
This part of the trip came to an end so quickly and it was time for Maude to fly back home to Canada. It was a fun and exciting trip for all three of us tasting this part of California. It was time to do some more research for what more there was ahead of us on the next journey to continue on for ‘Part two.’