The morning of the 18th was overcast, perfect for a lazy morning at the campsite because it wasn't blasting hot for a change. Then the clouds cleared and it wasn't so nice, so I packed up the car and started driving toward my next destination, Burlington, MA to visit my old coworkers. The seven-and-a-half months was the longest chunk of time that I had been away from the Boston area since I moved there almost 24 years ago. Wow. On the drive up, I had a major IHOP craving and finally found one. Unfortunately, a brat-filled family also found it, so dinner, while tasty, was not exactly enjoyable. Oh well, at least I don't have to live with these people. After a long drive and lots of traffic through the NYC area, I finally stopped for the night in Milford, CT, where the temps had cooled to 81 by 1am - yay for hotel rooms with AC! I made the rest of the drive to Burlington the next morning, excited to see my friends. After catching up, I went to the climbing gym. Dinner at B's house (my home away form home for the weekend) capped a good day. The heat wave that continued to blast the eastern half of the country was mitigated somewhat by a pool party at B's mom's house Saturday afternoon. I caught up with my friends G&J from college in the evening, sharing good times over a great burger grilled up by G topped with avocado, grilled onions and spicy mustard. After dinner, I caught their left-hander in the backyard and gave a small pitching lesson. Fun times.
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| The GC Burger |
I hit two different climbing gyms on Sunday and Monday, including the recently opened
Central Rock in Watertown. Wow! Makes me even more eager for
First Ascent to open in Chicago. Or maybe I should just move back to Boston, what with the climbing gym explosion happening there. (There were already three gyms, Central Rock became the fourth this spring and
Brooklyn Boulders opened in August.) I regret I didn't have time to visit the
Plumbing Museum, which is next door to the gym, but I was meeting friends for dinner at
Punjab. As the hot food lovers at the table, J and I split the Paneer Vindaloo at max heat level and found it pleasantly hot, a strong kick with no regrets.
The good eats with friends continued on Tuesday, when I met St for lunch and caught up with some more coworkers. I helped Sc try to fix his washer in the evening, first for me. Well,
British James was probably the actual helper, I just held the flashlight and passed tools.
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| So, this is what a washing machine looks like without a cover. |
On Wednesday, I met up with a nice young man from Mountain Project for a day of climbing in Rumney. The heat wave had finally passed, so it was a pretty busy day. We had to hike for some time before finding something that was both a warmup and unoccupied and eventually came to Triple Delights, a pleasant 5.4, and Loose and Baggy, a deceptively pumpy 5.8+.
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| My first climb in Rumney |
Next, we moved over to the Jimmy Cliff area and climbed the classic 5.3 multi-pitch Clip a Dee Doo Dah. We finished with four more climbs, ending with Things I Never Learned (5.9), which featured a nice boulder problem at the start. I crashed out that evening at the
Barker River Campground, but not before filling my tummy with a delicious meal of surf and turf (baked stuff haddock and BBQ ribs) at
George's Seafood and BBQ. Mmmm. Another treat was having to put on a sweatshirt because it was actually cool at night!
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| Post-climb dinner |
I wrapped up my trip by meeting my friend L for coffee and catching up before heading to Ohio to hang with my family. It was good to see all my Boston peeps and I look forward to doing it again.
The Climbs, Rumney
West Crags, Triple Corners
Triple Delights 5.4 (lead)
Loose and Baggy 5.8+
Jimmy Cliff, Left
Clip a Dee Doo Dah 5.3, 2 pitches
Teacher’s Pet 5.7+
Piece of Cake 5.5 (lead)
Things You Should Have Learned in Kindergarten 5.6
Things I Never Learned 5.9
