May 2006 Archives

Yes, yes, I know. It's a little crazy and self-important to be announcing your own birthday, but it's possible (in fact, likely) that the vast majority of humanity doesn't have my birthday programmed into their PDA's/phones/calendars/whatever, so it's necessary for me to put up this little 'reminder'. Yes. I'm not even sure how many of my friends actually remember this very important date... hah.

Kentucky, or rather, the Red River Gorge, is out of control. Beautiful, pristine, fulla climbers and more routes than you can possibly shake a stick at. Special thanks to Shaunna for this particularly incredible birthday present, and getting me out here. I admit, I wasn't expecting the Red to be as cool as the New, but the Red is pretty dang spectacular. Miguel's is definitely as good as advertised - I highly recommend it to any and all climbers getting their groove on in this area (and if you're a climber, you'll know all about Miguel's, so this is hardly an effective plug.)

I saw a 4WD vanagon today. Mmmmmmmm. Tasty. Full camper, full kitchen, the whole nine yards. And all-wheel-drive. And we *all* know how The Jose obsesses over all-wheel-drive.

So Happy Birthday to me, today, and happy climbing. More the next time the wireless connection is up n' running. Pictures? Of course. They'll have to be put into the photo gallery once I get back though.

Fed forgot the freakin' tent stakes. Can you believe it?

So we get to the airport, and Marky looks around, puts a confused look on his face, and asks The Fed:

"Yo. Where the fuck are the tent stakes?"

To which The Fed answers: "Oh shit." Looks around, and says "I thought you had 'em!"

Mark starts dropping bombs on The Fed, and it's a slam-fest for the silly noob. The prospect of being homeless (or at least, shelterless) at the Red being a very negative one (and at the point very likely) causes Marky to release a string of curses at The Fed that I simply can't type. Mostly because I can't remember the whole thing, but also because he used words I just couldn't identify.

So we fly.

We get to Atlanta, and we're OAM (On A Mission). We figure that the ATL airport is so darned big, we ought to be able to buy a tent there, right? It's ATL for chrissakes, they camp in Georgia! In fact, they pitch tents in their apartments, it's so popular. There's not one, but *two* REI's in the Atlanta area, so this makes sense to us at the time. However, it takes us nearly two hours to come up with the idea that we might be able to get to an REI and back to the airport in time for the flight, and by that time the REI is simply... closed. Mission... not accomplished.

We fly into Lexington, KY, and the Mission is still open. Marky has spent the last hour smacking The Fed over the head with a floppy wet noodle (don't ask) and he's still no closer to having shelter for the next week.

But wait, a light at the end of the tunnel! Someone (not gonna say who - ahem) has the bright idea that perhaps... perhaps... Wal-Mart will have inexpensive shelters (tents might be too generous a term for it). As luck would have it, there are two Wal-Marts on the way to the Red. We hop in the rented ride, tool off in the direction of the closer Wal-Mart, and cross those fingers.

Not only does Wal-Mart have cheap tents ($30 for a tent? Hell yeah!) but they also have garden gnomes. And little white picket fences. Perfect for a semi-permanent tent placement! Ahhhh, the fun we'll have. Anyway, mission accomplished! Marky is temporarily assuaged as shelter is produced, but that doesn't stop us from heckling the silly noob for the next hour until we get there. And no, The Fed will never live it down.

Going to the Red River Gorge today... I'm excited, heard so many excellent things about this climbing area. In fact, it "supposedly" compares to pretty much any other climbing area in the United States, and many climbing areas outside of the U.S. That's a pretty impressive claim, not gonna lie.

I'm off to the airport in minutes... can't wait to meet back up with Shaunna!

So Rocktown didn't quite work out for last weekend. It was, after all, my sister's graduation from college (the only thing aside from a death in the family that could've kept me from going.)

But this weekend, it's on! Like Donkey Kong!

Bouldering until we can't boulder no more, that's the ticket. We have pads, we have tents, we have things with molecular structures. All is well. Personally, I can't *wait* to get outside and get some real rock in my hands. I'm excited, even if I'm not overly charged up about the whole 'driving for 10+ hours' thing. Bah, it's a small price to pay. I think.