After a fun weekend of climbing in New Jack City, I packed
up camp leisurely on Monday morning and then set it up again once I
returned to Joshua Tree. Took a short hike in the Black Canyon area of the
park, then hit Las Palmas for
Dollar Taco Night. Mmmm.
Black Rock Canyon
Tuesday was a great day to do some more bouldering in Joshua Tree. I hit up the Trash
Can Rock area first, and had fun on the twenty-five foot Gripper Traverse
(V0+). Checked out some of the other easy problems in the area, but none
appealed to me - too high, no idea how to get off the boulder, bad landing
zone, you name it, I found it. Got a few questions about the bouldering pad and
someone suggested it looked like you could take a nap on it, which I ended up
doing later. I checked out a couple more problems then called it a day, since I
was still sleepy after my nap. I spent Wednesday scoping out a more remote area
to see if it would be worth the effort of coming back to boulder. Most of the
problems really weren’t suitable for doing on my own, mainly due to the “how do
I get off this thing” issue. Oh
well, it was a good workout hiking around.
Started Thursday with a run, then packed up the campsite and
headed to a hotel for the evening, since a new episode of Person of Interest
was airing that night. Unfortunately, my usual hotel was booked, so I ended up
at the Motel 6 over in 29 Palms. It was fine, and definitely fresher than the
Hi Desert, but the microwave and fridge in every room at the Hi Desert makes it
a better value. The bedspread at the Motel 6 was definitely more fabulous,
though.
The Bedspread
Went to dinner at The Rib Co and got my “usual,” the Rib Co Burger, (bacon, cheddar, onion rings, BBQ sauce) and added their peach cobbler a la mode for dessert. Mmmmm.
A wind advisory was in effect, so that ruled out doing much
of anything outside on Friday, save for maybe trying to get in touch with my
inner Mary Poppins. I lounged around the hotel, trying to decide if I should
start traveling back east toward Austin today or wait until Saturday. Given the
windy weather, I decided to head to Phoenix that afternoon. Booked a hotel in
Phoenix, then headed east. Ran into slow traffic on I-10 west of Phoenix, as
people gaped at several cop cars around a car that had spun around so it was
facing west and both of the front tires were gone. While watching the news that
evening, I learned that the driver of the car had led the police on a high-speed
chase and had been spun out by the cops. Jerk. I still had plenty of time to
get in a good workout at the ClimbMax climbing gym, working up a big appetite
that I sated with dinner at Waffle House. Checked into my hotel and discovered
an unopened jar of baby food in my bed when I pulled back the covers – that was
a first!
Midnight snack!
