There isn't really much to say this week in terms of stories. Rachel and the kids were gone at Lake Powell for her family's reunion. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it. But I've been talking to Rach and it sounds like she will have a lot to write about when she gets home.

As for me, I worked, and I climbed. That's really about it. In between work days I have traveled about 20 hours, and have climbed in Index, Leavenworth, and Vantage, as well as at many more local crags. I have done close to 50 pitches this week, almost all of which were moderately difficult cracks or friction slabs. These are relatively weak areas for me, and it's been fun learning some new techniques to add to my bag of tricks. Even compared with just a few months ago, I have come a long way. Having come to a sort of plateau in other disciplines of climbing, I have to say that it is a bit intoxicating to be improving at something. The movement is unique and new, and it seems to "flow" better than the burly face climbing I am used to. I find that I spend a lot more time thinking about moves- like a puzzle- and a lot less time shaking out my pumped forearms or catching my breath. It is something I could really get into. My fingers feel neglected though for lack of pulling on tiny holds.

Anyway, that's my week. Rachel gets home tomorrow and we will have a semi-normal week leading into some home projects we have in mind. It will be nice to have them back.

Have a good week!

These are the only two pictures I took...

Breakfast spot

Lunch Spot

I know I promised two posts last week and that didn't happen. Let me sum things up. 

Rachel and the kids went to Utah and to Rexburg and had fun while I stayed home and worked.

Here are some picture. I can't really tell you what they are of, but it looks like they had a good time.

When Rach was done with her trip, we had a few days at home and then Wendy flew in to spend the week with us. Again, I was at work most of the time, but we did get out on the weekend on a quick camping trip. We went to Vantage. I know, it seems like we go there pretty much every week. The thing is, it has been super wet and rainy around here, and Vantage is the only place that consistently has good weather. It also has lots of stuff to do. So yeah, we go there a lot. And I like it.

Here are photos of our camping trip.

I love that our kids can climb together and that I can just watch. It's also kind of fun to keep track of the comments we get from other climbers when we jump on their "projects" with the whole family and fire up the send train.

I'm in a picture!

Camping in the desert. It makes me feel like a character in a Louis L'amour book, but with an RV instead of a horse. It's almost the same thing. Burning sagebrush smells just as good either way. 

Girl hike with Grandma

Wendy did an awesome job on the ropes. Now let's see if we can get the other grandma to climb :)

As for this next week, Rachel and the kids are headed down to Lake Powell. Me...I am staying home and working. But also playing. To be sure, I will miss them and if it worked for me to go then I would, but I'm not feeling too sorry for myself either. I kind of like the peace and quiet. And free time. It should be a good week.

I can already tell this is going to be another two-blog-post kind of weeks. If you remember from last time, we had driven down to Rexburg to surprise my parents with a retirement party organized covertly by my siblings. We had a blast, and it was great to see everyone, but before we knew it we were waving goodbye and going our separate ways. In our case, I headed back home while Rach and the kids extended their vacation by driving to Utah. They were gone for most of the week, and from all accounts it was a great time. Later this week I'll have Rachel get on here and share about it. Meanwhile, I'll go over the weekend that we just got off of.

Friday evening, Rach rolled in with the kids. It had been a long trip, and everyone was tired. Our original plan was to take it easy and let the kids recover over the next few days. But we are us, and sitting around was never really our style. We lasted until about Saturday late-morningish, and then decided that the weekend would be a great time for us to test our our new trailer. A quick trip to the store for food, and an hour later we were on the road.

I love us.

We started our drive heading North in order to check out a little-known climbing area that is being developed. It was too wet to actually get on the ropes, but we all had tons of fun exploring and the kids are all excited to go back. I am too, as the granite up there, although sparse, is of better quality than what we are used to closer to home. Time to hone that crack tecnique!

Addy exploring a hole in the rock

From there, we drove to our campsite in Montana near Kootenai Falls. About the camping itself...it was camping. But it also wasn't. It was comfortable. It was easy. It was warm. We ate real food- like, the kind that has to be refrigerated or cooked. We had chairs and tables and lights and toilets. In other words, it was the opposite of everything that "camping" has meant to me for the past 37 years of my life. I don't even know if I can justify what we did as actual camping. But it was fun, and because it was easy and warm and all those other things, perhaps something I could get used to.

Perhaps.

We stayed up way past all of our bed times playing games

Not even tired, even though it's like 11:00 (to our credit, we did get a time change going into Montana)

We did make a fire and roast hot dogs to make it feel a little bit more like real camping

Jackson was our tireless fire-wood-chopper-guy.

The next morning we all slept in, enjoyed a good breakfast, and then the kids explored near the river while Rachel and I leisurely prepared to leave. Our next stop was Kootenai Falls and the swinging bridge of doom. We had actually been there before, but this time the kids were older which made for a better experience all around. Also, this time the river was hauling like a freight train. Oh man. 25,000 cfs funneled over that falls is an impressive sight. The eddy lines are boiling and the waves are churning. It has been over a decade since I ran rivers, and I don't even own a boat any more. That said, the familiar feeling of tingling neck-hairs, dry mouth, and increased alertness still comes back to me with just the sound of big rapids.

From the falls, the original plan was to just head back home, but the campground host had mentioned another destination to us that was not too far off our path. The Ross Creek Cedars. We have been to a number of these old Cedar forests, and every time I am struck with a sense of reverence as I walk among trees that are a thousand years old. Being with these trees, still majestic and strong and huge after all this time, makes me feel very small and fills me with wonder and a quiet sense of resolve. These groves, I am convinced, are nature's churches, and they put our own man-made structures to shame.

I thought this was pretty cool. Our whole family fit "comfortably" inside this tree.

Here's Addy crawling out of it

Looking up from the inside

It really was a place from a fantasy world. Huge trees. Sooo much green. A babbling brook. A soft path that muffled our footsteps. It seemed magical. 

After spending a couple of hours in this hallowed space, we reluctantly got back in the car and drove home. It had been a good trip. 

One funny thing: On the way home I offered to take the kids out to eat that night at any restaurant they wanted, as long as they could come to a unanimous agreement. I specifically mentioned many of the nicer establishments in the area that Rachel and I frequented, as well as some of their favorite places they had already been. The next hour was a perfect social experiment. It was fascinating. There were a lot of ideas thrown around. There was arguing, and tears, and some people willing to compromise, and some people drawing hard lines. Time was running out, and in the end, they finally decided on...

...wait for it...

...An ice cream shop.

Yep. We offered them anything they wanted. I was mentally prepared to spend hundreds of dollars as a kind of "school-is-out-and-vacation-has-started" celebration. But they couldn't agree on anything except for only very basic food. I don't think anyone was actually satisfied. But we went and got our burgers and fries and milk shakes, and then went home and watched a movie. It was still a good night, but in the end very underwhelming. 

Kids are funny.

Have a good week!

In the last post I alluded to some weekend plans, but I couldn't say anything specific. That is because it was a surprise, the planning of which started several months ago. My parents had announced that they would retire this year, and my siblings and I wanted to do something special to celebrate their careers. 

My mom was a kindergarten teacher. She was an aide for a long time, and this is what I mostly remember from my own childhood. After I was out of the house she went back to school though, and then went to work in her own classroom, establishing herself as a core member of the teaching faculty. I also know that she is maybe the most popular person in her small town, and it is rare for us to go anywhere without some small child coming up and giving her hugs. 

My dad started out teaching high school science, and I have lots of memories of visiting his classroom and getting roadside geology lessons on family trips. From there he moved to teaching college classes, but my knowledge of his career is embarrassingly fuzzy at that point. I know he did stuff with international students, which makes sense because he was heavily involved in the ESL program at the high school...I think. He also taught some English classes? I don't really know how a geology degree qualifies you to teach English at the university level though, so I could be wrong there. I do know that eventually he moved more into administration, and that he spearheaded a peer-peer tutoring program at the school that is pretty unique and effective. He also played lots of racquetball, so that was a thing. He is probably reading this right now and just shaking his head. 

The main point is that both of them had long and successful careers where they definitely had a positive influence on the world and on the people around them. The whole coronavirus thing was kind of a bummer also, because it meant that their last year was cut short and a lot of the goodbye's and "last time's" didn't really get to happen. 

Anyway, months in the works, all my siblings and I got together and rented a large home on a beautiful property near their house. We all secretly made the trip down and prepared for the party. There was a ruse, the details of which I am still a little unsure of, wherein we convinced my parents to arrive at the property thinking it was for another, more mundane purpose. The door was opened, and there we were- all 27 (I think?) of us, screaming in their faces, congratulating them, and ushering them into the party atmosphere we had created. It was fun.

The "party," of course, only lasted for a little while. We had good food and gave gifts. We celebrated. But then we just relaxed. It was like a family reunion, and it was cool seeing the cousins playing together and catching up with siblings.

Matt made a great lunch for us

So, we don't have many (any) pictures from the actual party, but I think this image shows the aftermath well. In the background, you can see kids who are still excited and energetic. Balloons are up. Arms in the air. Party! And then their is Jack. Looking a little tired. And yes, that is an Oreo on his face.

S'mores at the campfire

Hanging out in the yard

Inner-tubing in the frigid canal

Jack and Izzy (My brother's dog). I had to post this because it is the closest Jack will ever come to having his own dog. These two have had a fraught relationship through the years, but they get along well now.

It was so good to see everyone.

Good times. Have a good week!