Birdsboro Quarry Climbing

Once again the crew decided to get some rock climbing in at Birdsboro Quarry. And of course the forecast changed at the last minute to include rain. And super cold temps. So we all decided to go up early Saturday instead of Friday night. John and I didn't get much climbing in on Saturday as we set up camp and tried to get some dry firewood for later. That evening we got scolded by a nasty park ranger for drinking beer....won't be going back to French Creek! But Sunday was a wonderful day of climbing. Had to wear a winter coat when not climbing, as it was pretty chilly, but the day was rain free until we get ready to leave. I did the "baby" climbs, and one that was challenging. I finished them all without falling! Though Kevin really wanted to to fall on the hard one. I simply took a super long time figuring out a move before going for it. I almost did an even harder one, but was tired so I knew I would fall and opted for a good medium climb instead. It's hard going out with people who are all way more skilled, but they dealt with my newbie status well.

Week of Fail

You know how they say bad things come in threes? Yeah well, last week myself and those around me got up to 6. So watch out. There's some weird force-field of negativity going on. It can only get better now, right?

John's sister's dog died.
John's brother had his appendix taken out.
John's friend ended a 12 year relationship.
Another person ended up in the hospital.
My roommate was in the hospital for 4 days with a really bad staph infection.
I had a tooth pulled because it fractured in two places. Then I passed out and ended up in the E.R. (woo ambulance rides!) from too many pain killers and not enough food (it's hard to eat when your mouth is throbbing...liquid diets and I don't get along).

Great Falls Climbing

Saturday was the perfect day to be outside, relaxing along the water front. Of course we threw in some rock climbing as well. I did the same climb two ways, made it half way up another which was supposed to be easy, and just could not get past the first two moves on another. It's kind of frustrating climbing outdoors with people who are at such a higher skill level as it's not always time efficient to set up multiple easy climbs when only I want to do them. So most of our ropes go to the more difficult routes. Still, I had fun on the one climb (learned to crack climb) and now have a good challenge for the future in the one with the difficult start.

We mostly climbed Romeo's Ladder, which was a fun nod to Shakespeare.

Delivery Room 5.5
Romeo's Nose 5.9
Romeo' Ladder 5.6
Flaky 5.8
And I know I'm forgetting some

Kayaker on the Potomac

Just hanging out

Ass shot

My Romeo!

Rock hugs

Falling!

I swear he's not actually punching my boobs.

Lookin good...momentarily

I love his moves

The aerial view is pretty sweet.

Everyone fell on this climb at least once. A nice crack disappears half way up.

Loving the view

Waterside belay

Thankfully not face planting into the rock as feared.

Swinging for fun.

Drunk Off Cupcakes

Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes/frosting. Happy (almost) St. Patrick's Day!

Note: Don't frost cupcakes when your house is 100 degrees (warm weather + poor ventilation + oven = HOT). The rest will get frosting as I eat them, I think.  

Sunshine and Waterfalls

I have not felt much like writing, or really much like doing anything. My job has been killer lately. Working late nearly every night and spending 4-8 hours ever weekend on work has left me somewhere along the lines of a blob. Friday was the worst, as I was at the office until 12:30. I could have left earlier and finished Saturday morning, but I wanted to preserve my weekend.

Anyway, I'm hoping the warming weather and calming workload brings me back to life. To start, John and I had a picnic at Great Falls yesterday. A really nice place to just lounge around and soak up some sun.

Ok, also, we had sushi to celebrate the (hopeful) end of over time. I love the dragon roll!

Archery

Last weekend John and I took an archery lesson. This will hopefully be something we do again. We both missed a lot, but we also had some nice shots. My favorite was shooting a fox through the eye. I broke a few arrows, which probably isn't good, but I was just glad they hit something (even if that something was a wooden poll). John's now convinced I need to shoot squirrels at his parents' house, but I don't think I'm ready for moving targets.

Only negative, the owner's "Hey, she's pretty good...what were we thinking, teaching a woman to use a weapon." Oh redneck, you shouldn't say such things as I have said weapon in my hand.