Hey everyone! If you’ve been following this blog for long, you know its our annual tradition to head out to Bishop, CA for the Thanksgiving holiday. Tommy and I celebrated 10 years in September and we thought it would be nice to take a trip out to the boulders without the boys this year. I was super keen on it at first but after a couple days, I really started to miss them. Mom was nice enough to take them for a week and they had a wonderful time with her and Uncle Joe. The weather out in CA was great (a little cold for my blood) but we had a wonderful time. We were super excited to come home, however, because we are going to break ground on a wood wall in our back yard this weekend. That’s right, we’re finally building our woody! Tommy has been designing it for the last year and he’s come up with a concept that is going to be pretty amazing. I’ll keep you all updated with photos for sure! In the meantime, here are pictures from our trip. We definitely have some scores to settle next year that will be made easier by our new wall. =) Can’t wait! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well – stay tuned. =)
First day out…Tommy working a hard 5This was our first year out to a place called the Druid Stones. W. T. H. The hike is 45 minutes long and with a ginormous pad on your back, it’s absolutely miserable.Tommy on a boulder called Arch Druid. This rock was really cool…Making it all the way to the top…Yay Tommy!My turn to flail around on it…I don’t know if it was because of the hike or because I was totally weak but this thing kicked my butt…Another cool rock up in the Druids – the Sky Stone. The problem we’re working is called Sky Dance V6 and it’s really fun! This would be the only reason we’d make that God awful hike again…Making my way out of it…Here’s Tommy giving it a go…Picture of the town from the stones…In the Buttermilks!Me and LizTravers working High Plains Drifter V7Now Tommy giving it a go…Me working the climb next door, Change of Heart V6A different angle with Liz…Another shot of the Milks…you can’t take a bad photo hereMe and Travers having pad difficultyMe and the infamous Andy Lui! Tommy and I watch his climbing videos all the time – he is such a nice guy and it was a hilarious celebrity moment! =)Working a ridiculously hard problem – the Buttermilk Stem which is only a V1 but it’s so frickin’ hard to get off the damn groundTravers doing his betaLiz giving it a goHere’s a better angle of it…It’s a good problem but it does tear the hell out of your palmsHere’s the gang watching some beta videos in the trailerTommy’s Nemesis…Morning Dove White v7I hate looking at these pictures. On the 5th day of our trip Tommy messed up his feet and came off from the top of this thing. He didn’t have the gas to get back on and do it again. We came back on our last day to try again and he couldn’t do it. I was more crushed than he was but it’s definitely going down next year!!!!This is a cool picAfter 4 years of trying this stupid thing, I finally got it! Solarium V4 – It’s all about the beta babyGrabbing the lipOne of our buddies came in late Tuesday and we met him and started working on this problem…Rave V hardTravers making his way on Every Color You Are V6Great job!A painful, pockety problem…Mr. Happy V5This thing ripped the crap outta my handsGetting on the amazing Atari V6 on Thanksgiving night. So fun…Jason almost making it to the top!A send in the dark…Wilson making it look easy…
Well, believe it or not, we got to spend another day at the walls before I leave tomorrow and hang out in NM for a week with mom and the boys. I was supposed to go today but Tommy had the day off and I thought we should have one more day of couple time before I bring the boys back in a week. =) It was awesome – went up to a place we’ve never been to before. It’s called Raycreation and the guy who founded it is a really good friend of my boss. So we went out and got on some climbs and they were amazing! Juggy and overhung so our forearms are a little dead, but still so good. No one else was there either and the weather was beautiful! I took kind of a bad fall at the end of the day and boogered up my hip, so I thought we were going to have to leave some gear on the wall, but Tommy saved the day as usual and got it down for us. It was hysterical and I was crying from laughing so hard. We ARE NOT sport climbers anymore! Hahaha. Thank God no one was around to see our antics.
We have a lot of fun stuff coming up soon so stay tuned for more pictures! Hope everyone is well! xoxo
About a 10 minute approach – lots of cool cabins aroundVery green up here and lots of vegetationThis was the first wall we came to…Nice area and always in the shadeBut this is where we were going – upper wall where we could actually climb some stuff =)How cool is this tree?Figuring out which line I’m getting on. It turned out to be the hardest one on the wall and I only made it half way up and took an ugly fall. After that I couldn’t get my head back on. Now I have a nemesis…With one of our draws still on the wall, Tommy came to save the day!Finding a stick for his squid tool. Hahaha!Ok, this could not have gotten any funnier. I didn’t get any pictures because I was dying! Needless to say Tommy was glad I wasn’t able to. =)
So since Henry is out of school for the next month or so, we decided to send the boys up to visit their Oma in NM for a couple weeks. I met my mom and bro in Lordsburg last Friday and then drove back to spend a week all alone with my wonderful husband. Let me tell you, people… what a WONDERFUL idea that was. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my children to DEATH, but they are both at the age where we are constantly nagging them…ALL. THE. TIME. Pick up your toys! Eat over your plate! Get your hands out of your pants! Put your shoes on! William, what’s in your mouth!? Henry, what the hell are you doing in the bathroom!!? Seriously. It never ends. The house always looks like a bomb went off, there are crumbs from something everywhere they go, everything they touch is destroyed and nothing stays clean. Ok, that’s a little dramatic, but STILL. It’s a never ending cycle. So after they left on Friday, I couldn’t believe how quiet it was here. I could hear the clock ticking…the birds chirping…the wind blowing. Wow. It. was. awesome. =) Soooo, Tommy and I decided we had to take advantage of being childless and do something we can never do with the boys (well at this age at least)…head up the mountain and get on a wall!! We haven’t been sport climbing since I can remember! However, we are a little out of practice climbing wise, because we’ve taken a roughly 3 month hiatus from bouldering. BUT…I just had an itch I needed to scratch.
Tommy wasn’t as jonesed as I was to get out to the crags, but I had a specific route in mind that I wanted to try again. It’s a 5.10 at a place called Troll Wall. Really cool area and a perfect place to climb on a hot afternoon. Not only was it wonderfully cool, but it was shaded as well – sooo nice. We got there about 2pm after a good 30 minute hike in. Not too bad actually. What I was blown away by was the size of the wall – after bouldering for so long, you kind of forget the massiveness of the walls. They’re huge and imposing. And we were going to the top! So we got on all our old gear (I actually had to borrow a harness from my good friend – I think I lost my old one!! Boo) and got back to our roots. If any of you are new to our lives, you may not know that Tommy and I fell in love sport climbing together. =) Awwwww. We talked a lot about our memories of first meeting, some of the climbs we did together and how we eventually decided that we were the only ones for each other. How romantic, right!? Yeah, I know. It’s funny how when you have children, you kind of forget how much you love your spouse. Or maybe you don’t? Hahaha! Maybe it’s just me. But we had so much fun yesterday and really enjoyed each others company. It was also lovely not having to worry if one of our kids was falling down the mountain or drowning in the stream. =) Coming home to a house that was CLEAN and QUIET…and then snuggling up and watching a movie together. Awwwwww! I know, I know…some of you are probably barfing right now. Haha! Ok, ok…enough lovey dovey stuff.
I will say that I have been thinking of my boys today…and of course I miss them like crazy. But, I know they are having a great time with their Oma and Uncle Joe, so that makes me happy. But I’m also happy that I got to spend some quality time with my amazing, charming, funny and wonderful husband. I’m the luckiest girl ever!
All of our old climbing gear…a lot more crap than just a pair of shoes and a padIt took us a good while to find our old parking lot up on the hill – we used to make this hike all the timeRose Canyon LakeAll the jabronies come up to fish and hang out hereTroll WallIf you follow the bottom of the cliff, you can see a guy down there belaying his partner…that will give you a sense of the enormity of this wallAnother angleThis is our rope, Charlie. We got him as a wedding day present 10 years ago. =)Tommy getting ready to climb our warm upSee him up there?Getting ready to head up my route – I’m following the crack through that roof above my head – SO funMe and my sweetieDriving home past the Indian in the MountainSee his profile?
It was an absolutely beautiful day here today and we decided we couldn’t spend it indoors. We packed up our stuff and headed up the mountain for a day of relaxation and a little bouldering. This was a new area for us and not that great as far as bouldering goes, but it was so nice under a clear blue sky and the warm rays of the sun so we weren’t complaining. The boys loved it and threw rocks and sticks the whole time – William even hit Henry in the head with one of his stones. Woops! We are enjoying this gorgeous weather while we can…May will be here before we know it and bring the unbearable heat. Thank goodness we are in a place we love and will be able to better endure it.
Tommy working one of the problems…this one was a little tricky…Making his way up…Look at that sky! So beautiful…oh and there’s a handsome guy up there too… 😉We ran into a pair of gremlins!Don’t see any holds on this rock?Uh, that’s because there aren’t any!!The Gremlins in their natural habitat…Here they are on their rock…Henry decided he wanted to carry the backpack…That lasted a whole 5 minutes…Gorgeous moonrise on our way home…A different…uh…what the hell is that?This is an amazing rusted raptor in our neighbors yard. They got it a couple months ago and dress him up around the holidays. You WILL be seeing more of this guy…haha! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
So a couple months ago we made some friends who we really hit it off with. They are super cool people and are actually moving into a house right down the road from us! We are very similar in the sense that we are all very active, have children and love the same things. We introduced them to climbing and now they are members at the gym and have gotten all their kids into it! Woo hoo! So we decided that we had to take them to Hueco to introduce them to outside climbing. We planned the trip for only the four of us so we could relax and get some time away from the kids. So we went last weekend and had a BLAST. Now obviously the company was great, but what really made the trip was our transportation and sleeping quarters. Mario works at an RV dealership and his boss let’s him take out RV’s all the time… just to use and learn about. So when he said he would get an RV for our trip, I was expecting something small and plain. Nothing fancy. HOLY MOTHER was I WRONG. I had to go to NM early for work on Thursday so I didn’t meet the three of them until Friday afternoon. When I pulled into the parking lot, I almost peed my pants. Mario had literally borrowed a house on wheels. This thing was HUGE!!!! I couldn’t freaking believe it. 2 bathrooms, 3 huge TV’s, a full size stainless steel fridge, granite counter tops, cherry cabinets, a microwave, two queen size beds, dishwasher, leather couches, tile, mood lighting, the works!! I felt like royalty…it was amazing. =) We had so much fun and the weekend was really relaxing. Mario and Maria did sooo good and we can’t wait to get them outside again. We’ve decided to invite them every time we go now bc camping in our pop up is just not going to do it anymore. Hahaha! Just kidding. We’re not that spoiled…YET. =)
The houseSide viewLook at all that space!BathroomView from bathroom in back – master bedroom areaTaking it all inTooling around on a classic problem and doing a one-legged start. So fun!Mario doing the bat hangWater at Hueco!
