Endless Awesomeness - Rock Climbing

The Northwest of America has been a playground that I have played on as much as I can the last Month or so. Rock climbing has been a large part of that.  Washington Pass, Mazama, Exit 38, Sehome Hill, the UW rock wall, the Mountaineers wall, Vertical world, Smith Rock, more Exit 38, and Frenchman Coulee have all offered me a wonderful experience. The rock climbing pushes me physically and mentally, the scenery is inspiring, and the company and memories are irreplaceable. 

I have had the opportunity to take a few classes with KAF Adventure, a company that I am currently interning for, and after every weekend of adventure, I like climbing and them more and more. Learning, exploring, and meeting amazing people brings me home each Monday exhausted in the best way possible, and also completely alive.

It has also been an amazing venue for me to spend time with my sister, girlfriend, mom, friends and to make new friends. Some who have climbed and some who have not. 

My sister (Renee) has now climbed on rock for her first time, cleaned her first anchor, and also climbed some great 5.9 routes.

Karen has cleaned an anchor multiple times now, and has also led her first 5.7. No matter what I lead, she is able to get up and clean, and we are great partners for each other.

Spencer climbed for the first time, and was thoroughly freaked out as Renee started to belay him, but he was smiling from ear to ear by the time he made it down.

My mom (Liane) climbed for her first time, and kicked some butt in a cool chimney.

All in all, it has been amazing getting to know these areas and this sport better. It has been amazing spending time with people I care about, and forming new relationships with others.  If you want to adventure with me, just let me know, I plan for the amazingness to continue!

A journey through Europe done right, and a thank you to those who made it so.

After 5 months in Europe, I had an amazing and unforgettable time. The people I met along the way made it what it was;

It is a blessing to spend a couple weeks with your family in Ireland (during which time you all finish a half marathon), and then another week in Paris 4 months later.

It is great to see a friend from WA in Dublin and eat some local food.

It is a beautiful moment when you arrive in a city you have never been in, and meet up with a friend you haven’t seen in 10+ years. 

It is beautiful when you arrive in a city you have been to before, and stay with a friend you haven’t seen in 3 years.

It is beautiful when you arrive in a new country and stay with your old high school PE teacher.

It is beautiful when you meet a Brazilian in Kosovo, who becomes your travel partner through 3 more countries.

It is awesome to meet someone in Luxembourg, whose company you enjoy, and who you meet up with again in Brussels, and Lille.

It is amazing to meet a couple vacationing in Scotland, who live in Portugal, and have them extend an offer to visit, and then to go spend 3 days with them 2 months later.  

It is incredible to be introduced electronically to a man that my mother met 30 years ago, be picked up by his son in Austria, and then driven to Lichtenstein where they are incredibly hospitable.  Then to go meet their whole family and a few of their friends at a vineyard in Italy 2 months later.

It is cool to see a family friend in Germany, whose parents live next door to you in WA, and enjoy a long night out in Berlin for your birthday.

It is amazing to stay with a handful of couch surfing hosts, including: an Indian med student in Glasgow, two Hungarian working professionals in Vienna, a botany student in Vienna, a German teacher and Turkish film editor living in Augsburg (and their cute dog), a tech specialist at his brewery in the hills of Grachen as well as with his friend in Zurich, a French women who just returned to Lille from a 10 month adventure in Australia, a Spanish/French man and his two roommates in Toulouse, etc.

It is blast to meet all the hostel owners and fellow travelers along the way, as well as the friendly locals who always gave me more time than I could thank them for, and who shared meals with me after showing a lost stranger their city.

It is priceless to travel with a Eurail pass for 2 months through 10 different countries with your sister.

It is wonderful to travel for 18 days around Italy with a girlfriend whom you love very much.

I am happy. I am blessed. I am thankful.

THANK YOU!

Kayaking is Cool! Especially when you are kayaking with cool kids.

What better way to spend a long weekend, than to Kayak around the San Juan Islands, check out the sea life with a bunch of cool people, do yoga, hike, tell stories, dance by the fire, and eat MREs!

   

Sucia Island, Brittany, Karen, Leslie, and Ryan offered just that!

We drove to Anacortes (not Anna Cortez), hopped on a ferry to Orcas Island, drove to the north of the island, and then took a water taxi to Sucia Island, where we picked up the Kayaks. 

Water taxi to Sucia!

As first timers in the sea, we took it pretty easy, but thoroughly enjoyed figuring out how to cooperate in two person kayaks. We paddled around the island a bit, explored every cove, and enjoyed the occasional intimidating waves that raced towards us.

We saw jellyfish, porpoises, starfish, seals, and more.

Karen and I braved the cold water and dipped in on one of the sunny days, welcoming the sun to warm our bones as we exited the water.  

Leslie and Karen participated in a yoga session that their gracious instructor Brittany led one morning.

We all searched for firewood as Ryan elegantly prepared the fire, Leslie being the champ of breaking the unbreakable branches.

At every meal, we picked apart the MREs, trading each other for bits and pieces that suited our individual fancy.

The beauty of the island, nature and solitude were welcome guests in my eyes and soul, and the company was perfect. The weather cooperated and we all received our natural dose of vitamin D.

Of course, burgers and beer were in store for us as we waited for the ferry back home – a great end to a great weekend!

Nature is needed!

Visiting cities, capitals, historic areas, etc. was a very large part of my Europe trip, but it didn't matter where I was, I was always drawn back to nature.  If longings to go back to the PNW ever arose, I quickly got my fix with the nearest mountains, rivers, ocean, lakes, etc.  It didn't matter where I was, something was available, and it was always wonderful.

Mountains outside Salzburg. Swiss Alps. Biking through parks and up hills in Germany. Swimming in the Kotor Bay. Hills in Prague.  Hills in Edinburgh. Cliffs of Moher. Etc. nature is needed.

Mountain man patrolling the hills outside of Grachen 

Hiking with the locals just outside of Salzburg.

Prague:  A photo for a photo.

Can't beat Edinburgh on a sunny day.

When the single speed isn't enough for the hills in Berlin.

Napping on the cliffs of Moher.

Exploring the Alps.

Bay of Kotor with Leo.

Overnight bus/train, I love you.

After taking my first overnight train from Berlin to Prague, I thought that I would never do that again… Then came Prague to Budapest, where my top bunk was too short to accommodate my modest height… which or course reinforced my notion of not wanting to ever do that again.  Then came the overnight train from Madrid to Lisbon, where I did not have a bed, and instead sat upright in a non-reclining chair, which again further supported the insanity of the overnight journey. Then came the overnight train without a bed, in a cabin that smelt like urine, with tracks that did not align, hence creating a constant screeching noise, which took me through 2 border stoppings in the middle of the night to check my passport, on my way from Romania to Bulgaria, which was scheduled to leave at 10PM, but actually left at midnight, and instead of taking 10 hours it took 12 hours…

…That is when I started to love the overnight journey, and fell in love with waking up in a new city or country .  With this new found comfort I took an overnight bus from Kosovo to  Montenegro,  racing through the mountains, to a city I didn’t know, with an arrival time of 4AM, and no place to stay arranged (once I arrived, I enjoyed meeting the locals at the bus station who were offering rooms in their houses for a small fee).   Glasgow to London was an upright seat on a bus. London to France was a bus also (with WIFI! Wow!).  A few more overnighters popped up here and there. Bosnia to Croatia was my last overnight bus during my Europe trip, and Rome to Venice was my last overnight train.  Rome to Venice finished in good fashion, with a bed in a nice 4 person compartment which I shared with Karen, and a nice Italian father and son.  

Waking up as the sun rises, after meeting strangers on a cool adventure, and arriving in a foreign city is an experience I highly recommend. 

Tonight I wept

I have wept tears of joy, tears of appreciation, tears of sadness... tonight I wept, but the emotion is hard to describe. 

I am in Mostar, Bosnia. I am staying with a man who lived through, participated in, lost friends and family members to, has rebuilt his house because of, and vividly remembers the 1990's and the devastation ("devastation" by most "modern" standards) that impacted this area. The bullet holes in buildings all over the area paint a picture, but I am, even with my vivid imagination and highly trained empathy, sure my picture can't compare to the reality.

A similar feeling occurred when I stayed with an Austrian family in Vienna. The mother and child (a baby at the time), were buried alive when bombs were dropped on their farm in the 1940's. Neighbors dug them out, and the yet to be conceived daughter of that woman(the baby at the time) became the gracious couchsurfing host that I was able to share meals with (meals from their postwar, replanted garden). 

Tonight I wept.  Tonight I appreciate.

Spontaneity = 12 people, a couple hundred KM, a VW van, and a music festival.

Hours before my planned departure on an overnight bus from Pristina, Kosovo to Ulcinj, Montenegro was to leave, the proposition to get in a van with a group of fellow hostel stayers, the hostel owners and a few locals was raised. How can you go wrong with something like that! 

You can’t! and we didn’t!

The evening started off just right! We all barely fit into the van, but had plenty of snacks and beer.  We sped off, slower than most cars because the Van must have been 30 years old, and hoped we would make it, but knew if we didn’t it would still be fun.  Two pee stops, a few beers, a sun set, and a couples hours later we made it!

The town was alive with music, people, and dancing. The energy in the air was contagious, and the rain that released on us for a little while had a minimal effect, other than cooling us down and helping us style our hair.

Dancing continued into the wee hours of the morning, at which point my memory, and the memory of many others may or may not have become a little hazy. At any rate, we made it back to the hostel shortly before sunrise, with a few good photos, a great experience, a few aching muscles, and heavy eyes.

The extra night in Kosovo was well worth it. Thank you spontaneity.