March 21-April 4: Louisville, RRG and Columbus

One of these days, I am going to make time to stop and visit the Vacuum Cleaner Museum when driving back from Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, but this trip was not it, as I drove straight to Louisville for more climbing with friends. The original plan was to camp Thursday night then climb Friday and Saturday at the Red, but given that the temps were going to dip into the low 20's Thursday night, we opted to drive down Friday morning instead. It was much more pleasant sleeping in M&L's guest room in Louisville than being serenaded by bullfrogs in sub-freezing temps.

On Friday, we climbed at Muir Valley. It wasn't exactly my best climbing day, but it was a lot of fun. A little bummed I didn't get Bethel clean, but I'm stoked to try it again. J was on fire, though, putting up five of the six routes we climbed. All that climbing worked up a big appetite and after setting up camp we went to the Rock House for dinner. We hit the the PMRP on Saturday, where I came tantalizing close to flashing my first 5.10b outdoors (Murano) but blew it two moves before a nice rest spot. I was so mad, but then I got back on the route and finished it. Next time! After an ugly lead up Darwin Loves You, I climbed it again on top rope cleanly, after remembering that the key to making the first few moves easier is to use the wet hold. After one more climb and a few more dodging of falling icicles, we called it a day. Actually, we called it a weekend, since the forecast called for a 60% chance of rain on Sunday. We stopped off at some pizza place in downtown Lexington, then realized that an NCAA tournament game was going on at nearby Rupp arena that appeared would be ending as we were finishing dinner. Oops. We were rooting for overtime, which didn't happen, but we managed to beat the traffic.

Beware of falling ice!

Sunday, despite not climbing, ended up being great. M and I had a delicious breakfast at Toast (a tiramisu pancake and the eggs dish with the harissa hot sauce), then went to see the play Appropriate, which was part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays; I think the play was even better than breakfast! I spent the rest of the week catching up on TV, hanging with my friends, climbing at the gym and doing my taxes.

We headed back to the Red on Friday morning for two more days of climbing. Muir was even more packed than the week before, but we managed to get in several climbs and teach a couple of people how to clean. I had a lot of fun working Beta Spewer and am looking forward to climbing it cleanly the next time I do it. Was quite happy to eat my first slices of Miguel's pizza this year at dinner. Mmmm. Was not happy that my tent was covered in frost Saturday morning; I just love packing a wet tent. We did some climbing at Pistol Ridge after a nice workout hiking in.

M on It's a Wonderful Life

more photos

I drove to Columbus to visit the family for Easter and to hang out with my sister over her spring break. The drive took a little longer than I expected, since I entered the wrong street name for her address. Smooth. We went out to eat for Easter, then got together with some relatives for dessert. This was a nice change from the usual, although I did miss having my mom's fabulous scalloped potatoes. My sister kindly made the green bean casserole we typically have on holidays, so that was tasty. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any shredded chicken at the grocery store, although if I had thought to consult the Root's Poultry website before today, we would have discovered a couple of places that sell it. It was a good week of hanging out with the family. Looking forward to seeing everyone when we go on vacation this summer.

The Boys and Blue Magic