This was our first time going to the Annual NRA Convention. We were lucky because we got to stay with our cousins Jimmy and Becka in their beautiful home. We had a great time.

Went home to see Mom and Joe for a couple days.

With our discovery that we would soon be joined by a new baby (in eight months) and my completion of my master’s degree, we decided that it was the perfect time for us to take one last big vacation and visit a number of climbing venues, my dad in MT, and a couple other destinations on a last hurrah of freedom!  We started our massive roadtrip in Los Angeles with a visit to Magic Mountain, then continued on to Bishop, CA for some bouldering and camping.  Next, we stopped at Yosemite National Park for some hiking and sight-seeing, followed by overnights in Reno, NV and Boise, ID before spending some time with my family in Missoula, MT.  We took a few days to visit our favorite cabins near Glacier National Park, though were rained-out each day so we never entered the park (hence no pictures).  Finally, we wrapped-up our trip with a tired day-and-a-half of bouldering near Salt Lake City, UT before coming home.

Here’s some pictures from Yosemite and our drive up to MT.  Some of the highlights of this trip was a small hike through the giant redwoods and our witnessing the near demise of two climbers on El Capitan as a huge TV-sized boulder was accidentally kicked free above them and missed them by no more than a few feet! 

Our next highlight was our 14 mile trek up to the top of Half Dome.  It sported some amazing views and very cool rock, but it was a very LONG day and the huge elevation gain took its toll on our knees and legs…I don’t think we’ll be repeating this one any time soon!