First stop was at Red Rocks for some much needed outdoor bouldering fun. Stress level remained high, from rushing to finish work projects prior to vacation time, to packing last minute, but finally.. a day spent hanging out at the boulders with simply dirt, rocks, sun... doing some light hiking and climbing was the best getaway.
The campsite is a first-come-first-serve and being a holiday weekend, it was overfilled. No campsite available to us, so we had to camp in the walk-in parking lot. Luckily for us, the back of the truck works out. It is not the most comfortable, and changing in and out of PJs in the cold is definitely no fun for the kiddos, and we are all snuggled up right next to each other like a pile of sardines. But it is a unique experience for the kiddos and we have gotten a lot of curious campers checking out Ryan's camper setup and sharing their own stories of similar experiences growing up or rigging their own car sleeping solution setups.
Best part about car camping.. it puts us ~5 minutes away from the trail head to the Red Rocks, Kraft Boulders, where we climbed.
The trail was easily marked... just follow the line of crash pads along the trail. It seemed like the whole climbing community was out there climbing. Ryan bumped into some guys he knew from his gym. We met a couple from Oregon, another group from Arizona and the mid-West. At the specific boulder we were going to climb, there were ~30+ climbers throughout the day.
This time, packing was rushed, so I didn't have a chance to get toys for the kids. They simply had their daypacks with snacks and water, and the trusty shovels from our last trip. That was going to have to be enough (along with the elements of nature) to keep themselves busy for the day.
No photos of us climbing. Only one of Ryan. I spent a lot of time watching other climbers to get beta, check on the kids, analyze and figure out how I wanted to move on my specific problem, check on the kids, warm up the fingers, check on the kids, back to my problem and slip into line for turn to climb, check on kids..etc.
Ryan had a great route for me to work on, the V2 Monkey Bars. Nerves got to me the first try at it.. cause climbing outside is way different from indoors. It took a little bit of working some of the easier V0/V1 problems to loosen up the nerves, and I was able to complete the V2 on my second try. Still nervous at the top out, but it felt great to complete it.
My V2 project was Ryan's warm-up. He was working this V6 (shown below) for the later half of the day.
The kiddos spent most of their time scrambling on kid size rocks, playing imaginary games with whatever they could find, and chatting up friendly climbers around. I don't think they even used their shovels that much. The best playground.. the outdoors. =)
We only spent couple of nights at Red Rocks, one day of bouldering. We wanted to do some more camping and climbing, but a cold front storm was predicted to arrive, so we made the decision to skip more outdoor climbing and continue driving north.
One of the days heading north, we made plans to meet up with our friend, Roger, at Pipeworks Climbing Gym in Sacramento. This gym is pretty awesome. From the outside, it looks like an old, run-down industrial factory... seems sort of sketchy.
But... on the inside, it is like a climbing/workout paradise - big sections for top rope and lead climbing, lots of area with a modern design of bouldering, include a wave wall, and a bouncy, gymnastics floor for additional workouts with various gym equipment...
in the back there was an enormous room with lots of Crossfit rigs and lifting platforms for their Crossfit classes. This gym also had a yoga studio AND a Brazillian Jiujitsu studio/classes.
Kiddos goofing off. Luckily the place was not crowded when we arrived, so the kid had open range free play for the first half of the time that we were there, tho we had to reign them in a little as people started flowing in.
It's funny, the kids are never interested in climbing for the first 3-4 hours that we are at the gym.. but starting from the 5-6th hour that we are at the gym, that's when they become interested and really give climbing a go.
Liam climbing the down climb.
Ryan making this V5 climb look easy.
Emilia working the V0 climb (white hand holds) with any feet.
We've done a lot of driving.. with some climbing in between, but it's mostly been driving and time in the car...
from Red Rocks...
to Sacramento,and then to Grass Valley, near Tahoe. It snowed!
Ryan had a work meeting, so I put the kids to work too with creating a storybook for me. They ended up doodling.. so close enough. =P
and then back down to the Bay Area.. Bay Bridge, SF.
Lots of stops at restaurants along the way, and that has it's own challenging experiences dealing with Liam's food allergies. Egg is much more common than one would think! No PF Changs! We thought surely we could get rice, something with meat and veggies, but they coat all of their meats in an egg marinade. That is soo not Chinese!
Apparently we hit all the restaurants that had egg in things that Liam eats. =P Mac'n'cheese, grill cheese, burgers, pasta ... all are suspect for egg depending which restaurant we go to. This was one of our better food stops, Cattlemen's in Davis.
We made it in time to visit family, the night before Thanksgiving day. It was great to see the family. The kiddos miss their cousins and its great to see how they play together right away.
Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos from the family get together. It was a good kind of chaotic, gluttonous feast that will take me at least a month of exercise to work off... just in time for Christmas. We spent the remainder of our trip with family. Lots of eating, but did manage to get the kiddos and some cousins to a trampoline park for some trampoline dodge ball. Again, no photos, but it was fun.
We did a one day drive back down to go home, with a pitstop again, at Bravo Farms in Kettleman City, a Tex-Mex joint for food with an Old Western town themed playground and shops. They do have egg in their pasta and burger buns.. but the grill cheese is okay.
Sante Fe Cobb salad with Tri-Tip... yum!
It has been a long week. The driving and traveling is tiring, even though we are just sitting. The trip, even though it was a week long, still feels too short. But on the other hand, I am ready to get back to routine.. eat home cooked meals, exercise, and get a full nights sleep on my own comfy, warm bed. =)
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