Part IV : Connie's Batroof

We headed back to the Draw for mo' climbing. First stop was Cosmic Tricycle V10. This is a hugely popular and very tough climb. Since it was early on a weekday, it was empty. The afternoon before, there were at least 10 other climbers there.

Ryan and kiddos in front of Cosmic Tricycle.

The kiddos were also super excited to go out climbing. They know what that means now.. an entire day of them playing and doing almost whatever they want. They couldn't wait to go out there and play.

The best toys were in abundance.. sticks, stones, dirt, and sand.

Give them the tools, and let their creativity go! Kids created a "castle rock" and used the mini construction vehicles to build roads for the sports cars to drive up to the castle rock. And of course, the lions, tigers, and mini plastic trees add to the decor.

Cosmic Tricycle is an amazing route. With strength, balance, and technique being very critical. The start of the climb is essentially holding your body weight with finger-tips on and edge, and you have to bring up your right foot to heel hook where your right hand is.

Despite camping itself being not so easy on the kids with the usual home comforts missing (warm bed, nice bathrooms, running water), they had plenty of fun and good spirits in the day. Happy day time campers.

After Ryan called quits on Cosmic Tricycle, we hiked over to the Batroof.



I changed my goal to more realistic and spent the time figuring out the 2nd half of the climb which I was stuck on the previous day. The group of guys we met yesterday were back today as well. I was able to complete the whole climb in sections, but when it came down to putting the whole thing together, I lacked the endurance to push through the power moves.

Batroof V3/V4


Felt like I needed a few more days to work on this! Next time!

The kiddos had a chance to climb and scramble over the rocks too.



The kiddos played all day, non-stop from morning til dusk. The hardest part was leaving, but the easiest part was less than 5 minutes in their carseats and driving off. =)

End of a good trip, and the next day was the drive back home. The drive seemed faster going back back home, then again, we had pretty mellowed out.. aka tired kiddos.

A road trip isn't complete without the last car sing-a-long.. Kid Rock, of course.

Part III : Ryan's Anorexic

Priest Draw, here we come!

With only two days of climbing, we tried to maximize our time at the Draw. Morning routine was wake up, get kids ready, pick up some sandwiches, pack our bags, and head into the Draw. The kids had their own little backpacks so they could help take part in carrying "gear" in --> their own food and water, and of course, toys to play with.

The hike in was relatively flat and easy, about 1 mile in. Weather was chilly winds with occasional rain sprinkles, so extra warm gear was packed in too.

Kiddos didn't know what toys were in their packs, except that there were surprise toys which they could open once we arrived at our destination. The new shovels didn't fit, so they at least knew they had a shovel (which Liam was excited to use!) =)

Ryan and the kiddos found the Batroof V3/V4.

Checking out the Batroof and an adjacent route, Fin V2.



Ryan and I climb at different levels, so we had different projected routes which were at different areas. For both days of climbing, we alternated climbing and between the two spots. While one person worked on their project, the other one had a chance to rest and take a break, and then we would switch.

I spent much of that day figuring out the sequence and movement that would work for me on the Batroof. There was another group of guys there working the same route as well which makes things fun. Extra crash pads, extra beta. After I burned out and called quits, we moved on to Anorexic. Ryan was able to work out the mid to finish portion of Anorexic.

Check out that core strength!

Ryan's Anorexic V6/V7 and the Kiddos' Climb



The GoPro was head mounted to me and set in ultra-wide angle, so note the distortion of the rock.

Liam leading the way out.. which way was it again?

The surprise toys I packed for them were a shovel, a paper cup, plastic miniature zoo animals and trees, mini construction trucks, and a small notepad and crayons. The kiddos ended up mainly playing with things they found in the natural environment - dirt, sticks, rocks, caterpillars, and ants, etc.

I heard Liam say several times "This is the best day ever", which was so great to hear. Reinforces that simple fun can be the best kind of fun. (Nevermind that he also said "This is not the best day ever" when he got upset. =P) At the end of the day, the kiddos were mainly still in smiles, and without naps!

A great day at the Draw, and another night of cozy truck camping...

(To be Continued... )

Part II : Overland Expo

The Overland Expo is a gathering of different ways to rig up your vehicle for sleeping/living in. Different companies are there to display their products and enthusiasts are out there to display their customized set ups. There are setups for small cars, trucks, vans, trailers, utility vehicles, monster vehicles, converted U-hauls or ambulances, to behemoth I-don't-know-what-vehicle-that-is kind of things. Clear skies and warmer temps (low 50s) made for a perfect day to hit the Expo.

Here's Liam making a morning appearance. Still chilly in the morning, but he insists on wearing his new blue fleece vest (also an impromptu REI purchase).

Our little professor.

Bummed that I didn't take too many photos of the rigs at the Overland Expo. It was super, super muddy from the previous day's rain, so I was more concerned about keeping the kids out of the mud. So here are a few shots.. Liam loved this flame decorated truck.

Emilia was in one of my favorite rig setups. It was a long trailer that had side pop out windows into a u-shaped seating area and middle table.. enough to fit 6 people on it. The seating area converted into a queen size bed, and on top of that area was another shelf setup that fit another queen size sleeping area.

My second favorite setup was the Four Wheel side-door pop up camper.

I like this simple flatbed, beefy monster tire truck too.

We always see LandRover at the car shows/expos displaying an off-road track for people to test drive the LandRovers through a fun obstacle course. This time around, we went to sign up for a test drive, only to find out that the rain and mud stopped the course. Apparently some of these giant behemoth overland vehicles were trying out the course and got stuck. Made for some fun spectating for us.

Of course, it was the little LandRover that saved the day and assisted in pulling out the stuck rigs from the mud pits.



Hanging out at the Mormon Lake Lodge before heading back to camp..

Them sillies!







We got back to the campsite with plenty of daylight left, so Diane took us on two fun geocaching hikes. The kiddies loved the idea of stomping through the forest, looking for hidden treasures.

Found the location, now the kiddies have to find the geocache.

Yes! It's in the trunk of the tree! Kiddies were super happy to find treasure. Liam got a blue car and Emilia picked out a star ring. They put the cache back into the tree for the next explorers to find.

We went a searching for the second geocache location...

We were fortunate to have Bill & Diane with us for camping. They got a campfire going which made for fun times to cook and hang out at the campsite.

We kept it simple, hot dogs and canned beans. Not Paleo, but hey, easy and minimal mess. Kiddies loved it.

(To Be Continued...)

Part I : Adventures in Flagstaff

It's been a while since we have done anything out of the ordinary routine since, you know, life seems to find a way to keep itself on overload busy. =P A much-needed get away for some fun and adventure was required; So off we went on a road trip to Flagstaff, Arizona!

What's in Flagstaff? Well, we were heading out that way to check out the Overland Expo, do some camping, and some bouldering in a unique limestone wonderland called Priest Draw.

But, before I get ahead of the recap, let's begin at the start of the journey... it is approximately an 8 hour drive to Flagstaff. It would have been easy to put on a movie, but my kids turn into zombies with any type of electronic devices, even if it is educational, so I was insistent on minimizing the kids activities on electronic devices and focus on more interactive playing based on their creativity and imagination.



The kids were singing, coloring, playing "find the [pick-a-color] car/truck/tractor" or "spot the train" games with me. We saw a lot of Caterpillar tractors, a few rare sightings of John Deere tractors, a few Lightning McQueen style Cameros, and a LOT of trains! In total, 22 active trains!

Weather forecast warned of a storm moving into the area with rain and snow, and lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s. Just as we were arriving to Flagstaff, the storm kicked in, and sure enough, with snow! Lots of big,thick snow pelted the windows of the truck. The outside ground was forming a layer of white. Emilia was super excited and could not wait to build a snowman. Little did she realize she'd be sleeping in that snow.

We met up with Bill and Diane in downtown Flagstaff for dinner. They are friends that also drove out for a few days of camping and Overland Expo West, before they continued on their own adventures after. We had dinner in a Nepali/Tibetan/Indian restaurant which was a faint reminisce of Nepal. Good way to set the overtone of this trip - focus on the simple, basics, and just being in the great outdoors.

The first night of getting the kids to "bed" in freezing temperatures in back of a pick-up truck was not the easiest adjustment for them. Emilia fared decently, but Liam was not a happy camper. He did not like the sleeping bag, nor did he like the cold. Conundrum. It took us a few, okay.. most, of the nights before he finally adjusted.

Actually.. waking up and getting out of the truck on the first morning wasn't the easiest either. They kiddos decided to stay inside the truck and read books under the blanket with a headlamp.



Finally out of the truck and eating warm oatmeal.

We were suppose to hit Overland Expo the 2nd day of the trip, but the weather was very cold, windy, and on-off showers. The kids had warm sweaters and jackets, but nothing that could keep them warm enough with the combined elements. So instead of Overland Expo, we hit an REI and bought the kiddos real winter gear.. North Face fleece and rain/wind shell. Best buy on this whole trip!

Then we decided to find Priest Draw, and hiked to the closest climb of Ryan's interest, Cosmic Tricycle V10.

Priest Draw is unique in that it's a mecca for roof type climbing which requires strong power moves. Both Ryan and I have been bouldering consistently in prep for this trip. Ryan doing more roof climbs and I was working steep overhangs. Cosmic Tricycle V10 is the route right above Ryan, Bill, Diane's head.

The kids were in awe of the rock formations here too...

Day 2 bed time was a little more routine. Kids tucked in, and story time.

(To Be Continued... )