We’ve had our Sportsmobile camper van for nearly eight years now and it’s never once driven in snow. It “saw” snow briefly the one time in snowed in Tucson in 2013, at our house parked in the driveway, but that doesn’t count. Luckily we didn’t have to actually drive in much…just mostly over little bits of it and next to piles of it plowed off the roadside.
posted by ARR
Way way back, when Paul and I first started this website, we vowed to never put bad, mad or sad news here. We meant this to be a place for sharing only the fun adventures (because dwelling on the not-so-fun is just…well…not so fun). Sadly, however, I’ve decided to break our cardinal rule and share our recent loss of our Morgie. She’s had so many admirers over the years that I figured this would be the easiest place to bring everyone up to date. And well, because it’s all so devastating that I really have a hard time mentioning it verbally.
Earlier this year both Paul and I noticed that Morgan was slowing down a bit. She was falling behind on short runs and hikes, not noticing cars drive up to the house, and not all that interested in hanging out at the ponds at my parent’s house (her all-time favorite haunt back when we lived east). Then late this summer she developed a bit of a limp that gradually got worse and worse and then really worse. Somewhat reluctantly, I finally took her to the vet to get a diagnosis…fearing that it was most likely some sort of news I didn’t want to hear. And I was right. It was bone cancer. So finally, after many weeks of sadness and plenty of pets, hugs, treats and love, we said our goodbyes to our sweet brown dog gal and had her put to rest.
Morgan has been with me since she was 10 weeks old. It’s hard to believe that 12 and 1/2 years have passed since that day I picked her up and knew that her and I were meant to be. I can’t even begin to list all the places she has traveled to and all the adventures she’s been on with us over the years. She’s crossed the country multiple times, has waited patiently at the base of just about every climbing cliff we’ve ever been to, has put up with numerous hours crammed into a moving vehicle on our many, many roadtrips, has trail run obscene distances without complaint, has hiked ridiculously far for good bouldering or a good view, has guarded many a campfire, woody session, and now two small babes. And above all, has given us unconditional love and loyalty that I never thought possible from a pet. To put it simply, she wasn’t a pet. She was part of our family. And she’ll be sadly missed.
posted by arr
Another outing over the weekend – this time a little bouldering on The Matterhorn.
posted by arr
Posted by pjv
I am totally blown away with the recent news of Adam Ondra’s climbing success. He has already and will push the limits of route climbing and bouldering to new levels. Just the other day he flashed Confessions, v14 in Switzerland! This is a first for bouldering. Some may say that this climb is soft or it suited his style but this is just the beginning for him. I mean, bouldering isn’t even what he focuses his time on. He’s been too busy sending almost 30 9a routes or harder. Let me repeat, he’s sent almost 30 routes that are 5.14d or harder! Over the summer he flashed The Vice, v13 (my unfinished business) . For those who have seen The Vice or have tried it they will understand how far Adam’s ability lies, above the elite in our sport. Wow! And to add to all of this crazy stuff he just repeated Dreamtime, now v14? after the recent break.
Hey…I wonder if we could still hang off the climb like this now that the hold broke?
Happy 5th wedding anniversary to us!
No big mileage trail runs or hikes this year to celebrate our anniversary. We’re laying low and staying close to home because it’s almost…BABY TIME!!!
It’s been so long since I’ve been to a concert. I used to go to a lot when I was in high school and then went to a few while in college. Recently a friend of mine, at work, asked if I would go and see him play in his new band. I was like, “Sure, that sounds awesome. I haven’t been to a show in a long time. What’s you band?”
Check them out: My Former Wings
The events of last weekend were quite a surprise…..a surprise to my parents, that is. Myself, Paul, sister Michelle, brother Joel, sister Katie, sister Holly, Holly’s boyfriend Joe, and family friends Sonny & Peggy and Dale & Tans put together a huge surprise party for my parents on their 30th wedding anniversary. And I’m pleased to say, the surprise was a success!!
Around 6 months ago, the idea of the surprise party originated between Holly and myself. Plans were made, invitations were sent, and we all kept our mouths zipped shut…tight. So tight in fact, that my parents didn’t think twice about scheduling an operation on my dad’s back for Friday, October 20th, 2006. Noooo!!!! That’s the surprise party date!!! Crap. Oh yeah, and let me point out that we found this out on Wednesday, October 18th. Uh yeah – 2 days before the party.
On to Plan B: So we somewhat break the news….kinda…to my parents. Through a few convincing lies we tell them that we have a little something special planned for them on Friday for their anniversary and that my dad HAS to reschedule:
“No really, this is BIG…VERY BIG…and you MUST reschedule. (The cake has been ordered!)…We’ve bought you tickets…yeah, tickets!…tickets to an event…..(We can’t cancel – I don’t have phone numbers on all these guests!)….very, very, VERY expensive tickets….(hell yeah, expensive tickets – the price to fly from Tucson, AZ to Syracuse, NY for 2 days ain’t cheap!)…..that are non-refundable, non-negotiable, non-transferable….(what if some out-of-town guests are already on their way!)…..You will be soooooo disappointed if you have to miss this. (I am never throwing a surprise party again)….You MUST reschedule!”
So after about 10 pleading phonecalls and 8 nail-biting hours later, my dad says “ok, let me see if I can get the doc to change the date of the operation.” (The planets have aligned, the sky has opened up to the heavens above, and the gods are giving me a chuckling slap on the back – no worries, April!) Whew.
Game on. Places everyone. Places, please.
We decide to all throw a few more fibs out to my parents too while we’re at it, so that they don’t get any wise ideas on what we have planned:
“Paul and I are heading to Bishop, California this weekend with Grit & Manu from Germany to climb.”
“Holly has to stay at school and study.”
“Joel has to work.”
So here we are now, about an hour or so before show time. Katie is at the house with my parents, standing stealthily by the phone – awaiting their departure from the house so that she can telephone myself and the other party planners that the coast is clear and we can come over and start setting up. The agreed upon plan is that Peggy and Sonny will be taking my parents out to dinner for Sonny’s birthday. They are the decoys. It’s around 6:00pm. Guests arrive at 7:00. Parent’s are expected back home at 7:30. Holly gets the phonecall from Katie:
“Uh. We’ve got a problem here. Mom, dad, Peggy and Sonny are climbing into the hot tub.”
WHAT???!!!!!!! Does Peggy have her calendar days mixed up or something?! She is the DECOY. It is her and Sonny’s JOB to get my parents out of the house!! There’s no way they will have time to head out to dinner and be back by 7:30! It’s ruined. It’s all ruined. No. Stay calm. Have faith. Maybe uh…they’ll only sit for like 2 seconds and then jump right in the car to head out to dinner – bathing suits and all. Yeah! Maybe that’s the plan! :-\ Holly decides to take control. She calls back to the house and gets my mom on the phone:
“WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING THERE!!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE OUT TO DINNER RIGHT NOW!!! YOU HAVE PLACES TO BE. THINGS TO DO. YOU’VE GOT A SCHEDULE TO KEEP!”
My parents are soon out the door. We get the official coast-is-clear from Katie and we all race to the house. It’s now 6:50pm. Well, guess we’ll just have to put the party guests to work when they arrive. 🙂 And we do.
Alright. Now, nothing more can possibly go wrong at this point. The guests are here, the decorations are up, the food is out, the alcohol is being drank, the mood is merry. It’s 7:30…hmmm….no parents. 7:40…no parents. 7:50….no parents. Is this a cue to start stressing again now, or what?!
Haha, thank goodness, no. Finally, around 8pm some headlights start coming up the road. Lights out! Quiet! Shhh!!!
“SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 40 guests cheer!
First a look of surprise, then confusion, then smiles and tears. We did it. 🙂
So yes, I am very, very, VERY pleased to say that our classic surprise party was indeed a success. A few hiccups along the way, but nonetheless, a genuine surprise. My parents were beaming all night. This was the best feeling gift any of us had ever given.
Had some friends over tonight and tried making fondue with our Vitamix 5000. It worked out pretty good. We’ll just have to run about 10 miles tomorrow to burn this meal off…
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