The boys wanted to change it up a little, so we drove to Ripon to try out their skate park. Before going there, we stopped by Kingpin Skate Shop in Stockton to get Seth some new bearings. Ripon's skate park is way different than Stockton's with a totally different layout and much more vert. It looked intimidating at first, and there were lots of locals showing off and acting annoyed by younger kids getting in their way. We did meet a few 7 to 11 year old kids who were cool and helpful enough to show Seth and Saul the ropes, and offer advise on how to attempt certain tricks like dropping in. One seven year old daredevil flew over the coping and down into the park and back up one of the steepest vertical walls claiming, "It's easy!." Yeah, right. There were a couple of "old guys" about my age on long boards doing some impressive jumps and turns. I hung out with one of them for a couple of minutes and found out he's been skateboarding his whole life. I borrowed Seth's board and rolled down one of the least steep ramps without dislocating anything, so I was happy! The boys said Ripon is way better than Stockton, so we'll probably go again someday.
