CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
On Monday August 25, 2008 fourteen of us from FacePlant SkateChurch hit the road for three days, taking a road trip to California and back. We had a blast. Myself, Aiden, Jonas, Kyle, Josh, Victor, Kaleb, Austin, Mick, Travis, Brian, Ricky, Brandon and Zach all went. We hit four Oregon skate parks the first day on the way down, four more parks in California on the second day and one park in Cali and one prak in Oregon on the way back up. To say the least, we were WAY TIRED. But it's all good. It was our first big trip like this. We know for next time to add some more rest time in their and make it more of a one week trip. Anyway, check out the pics and the write-ups on each park.
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DAY #1
August 25, 2008
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ALBANY (OREGON) SKATE PARK ***
This was the first park that we hit on the way down so there was a lot of excitement in the air. The great thing was, Oregon School Districts start school before we do in Washington, so the park was empty. It was a great park to warm-up with. It is basically the classic-type of park with a small street section to in the middle surrounded by quarter pipes of various shapes and sizes on the perimeter, all out of concrete. Our guys espscially liked the squared-off section of vert that jets out into the middle of the park. They also had a couple of bowls within eachother, one has graffiti. I give this skate park a 3 star rating.
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ROSEBURG (OREGON) SKATE PARK ***
This is a nice big, wide open park with a nice bowl section with a sweet transfer. There is a three-step hubba section which makes for all kinds of grind variations. Our guys liked to get enough speed from one side of the park and fly up a ski-jump/slight vert section onto a mellow grade on the other side. The locals are really friendly. I give this skate park a 3 star rating.
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GRANTS PASS (OREGON) SKATE PARK ***
This park has a nice deep pool section with a spine. The street course is pretty fun and offers a nice handrail, a pyramid and little stuff to skate. There is a couple of pretty cool walls. This was our third park of the day and our guys had fun. We sessioned a little mini-quarter pipe/bank for a while. The park was pretty crowded. I give this skate park a 3 star rating.
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MEDFORD (OREGON) SKATE PARK **
We didn't have a great experience at this skate park. Right off the bat there is a giant pentagram painted on an obstacle in the middle of the skate park, so for me, I'm already a bit bummed. There is a sweet bowl with a shallow and deep end. Mostly vert stuff. Not much street to skate but an open area with some banks. Our guys were most bummed by the local scene. Some of the locals gave us a hard time, even wanting to start fights, but the guys did really good considering. I really felt bad for the locals. I'm sure there is a lot of hurt going on in their lives. We sat down for dinner and prayed for them. Because of the environment and lack of versatility, I give this skate park a 2 star rating.
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DAY #2
August 26, 2008
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WALNUT CREEK (CALIFORNIA) SKATE PARK ***
So I call my dad (who lives in Walnut Creek) on the way down from Oregon at the last minute asking if we could all crash on their floor. Of couse he and my mom said it was no problem, and literally minutes from their house was the first skate park of the day. We had doughnuts from Safeway and then headed over there. It is a nice little park with a lot of little street obstacles to skate. The guys really tore up this killer step-up to flat, nailing tricks as well as hitting lines out of the step-up into other things. There is a nice quarter pipe to wall-ride area that is hard to pull out of. It was also pretty empty. We had a great time, although were a bit tired. I give this skate park a 3 star rating.
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PACIFICA (CALIFORNIA) SKATE PARK ****
So I get a call from one of our church staff members on the way down to California. She tells me that the pastor of a skate church in Redwood City, California named Chris saw our itinerary on the weblog and wanted me to call him. I gave Chris a call and he pointed us to a few better parks than I had picked which was rad. Instead of going to Berkely, Alameda and Hayward we cruised to Pacifica, right on the California coast. This park offers a lot for everyone. It has a deep pool, bigger and smaller bowls, plenty of street and some smaller transfers and such. A lot of our guys liked the little manual pad and tore that up, while others worked on airing over a transfer. Locals are nice, except the five-o who seemed a little distrought. I give this skate park a 4 star rating.
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SUNNYVALE (CALIFORNIA) SKATE PARK ****
Pastor Chris reminded me that the San Jose skate park we had planned on visiting required signed and notarized release waivers, which I totally spaced (it was the only pay to skate park I had planned). He suggested Sunnyvale skate park which is near San Jose and said that a lot of pros actually hang out there. There were a lot of really good locals and they seemed to all be really cool people. It is a really nice park, again, with a lot to skate. They have a four stair with hubba that the guys liked. There's a nice pyramid in the middle of the park surrounded by quarter pipes. Also, there's a really nice vert section to the park. Again, a ton tto skate for all kinds of folks. I give this park a 4 star rating.
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REDWOOD CITY (CALIFORNIA) SKATE CHURCH *****
Pastor Chris also informed me that they have one of their skate church meetings on Tuesday evenings. So after skating at Sunnyvale, we cruised to his skate church. Nicely constructed ramps and boxes made of wood and skate-lite...I guess Paul Anderson, founder of skate church in Portland, Oregon came down to help build. They are very high quality. They have a slight downhill grade in their parking lot with straight and angeled boxes (and nice coping) with a quarter pipe at the bottom. Some of the guys also liked the rail that was cut off at an angle on one side so you don't have to olly into tricks. It turned dusk, so what better way to end an evening than to skate their lighted mini-ramps with two separate sections. Good skating, good company. Chris also gave us some encouragement from God's Word at the end. I know that I am a bit partial to skate ministries, nonetheless, I give this skate church a 5 star rating.
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Day #3
August 27, 2008
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SACRAMENTO (CALIFORNIA) GRANITE SKATE PARK ****
We made it to a hotel close to midnight in Sacramento and got up on the early side to have breakfast at Denny's. Everyone, at this point, was shot. On top of that, it was like 100 degrees outside. So when we got to this skate park, few of the guys were even up to skating. It is a huge park spread out very nicely with many cool elements. There are a couple of sets of stairs back to back with lots of grindeable ledges and wierd little trannies. There is a really nice selection of vert with pools, bowls and a half pipe with a section of over-vert. If it was placed in a little more temperate climate and our guys weren't so tired and worn-out, it would have been a perfect park. I give this skate park a 4 star rating.
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ASHLAND (OREGON) SKATE PARK **
We were going to hit the skate park in Redding, but it was a bit off the beaten path and still 100 degrees, so we decided to stop at Ashland skate park, which we wanted to hit the first day, but it got too late. This was a great ending to our trip. The park is split in half with a vert section on one side that was being used by a large group of bikers. So our guys just cruised around the street section of the park. There is a concrete dot in the lower section that the guys sessioned before until we took off. They also have other banks and rails to skate. The park is a little on the small side. Very mellow and again, perfect as we finished our California Road Trip. I give this park a 2 star rating.
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Christian Young
FP SkateChurch Pastor
