Paige and Zach

Who knew Idaho was so pretty?

2010-07-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

...well, actually I did. But I figured there was a chance you didn't, so I thought I would share some pictures from my recent trip there.

A few weeks ago I went on what very well may have been my last climbing trip of the summer. I took a long weekend with a couple of friends and made the grueling 10 hour drive to the City of Rocks in southern Idaho. We left after work on a Thursday, drove all night, and arrived at our destination just as the sun was peaking over the rim of the valley. After not-quite-enough sleep we proceeded to spend three full days climbing, hiking, dodging the sun, and generally exhausting ourselves. We capped the trip off with one final climb on our fourth day just before we hit the road and made the long drive back. Superb camping, huge granite rocks and some good photo opportunities made for a fun end-of-sabbatical trip.

In case you were wondering...

2010-07-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

...we're still in Portland.

When we last updated the blog we were settling into Monica's basement for what was supposed to be a week long stay, before we were to head back to Houston and start looking for work. However, thanks to Monica, work found us here in Portland.

At the end of April we were running low on both money and motivation and we were both looking forward to getting back into a more normal routine. You know, one that involved regular work schedules, sleeping in the same bed for more than three nights in a row, or cooking on something other than a camp stove. When we were a few days from Portland, Monica asked us how long we would be staying with her. After we told her we were thinking we'd be there a week, ten days tops, she pouted that she had hoped she would be able to have us there for the whole summer. Paige reminded her that she needed to start looking for a job soon to which Monica jokingly replied that Kaiser had a ton of work and would love to contract Paige for the summer while she did her Houston job search from Portland. We wistfully chuckled about the prospect of spending the summer in Portland, but quickly dismissed the idea as unrealistic.

Flash forward to 8am the next morning when we wake up to no fewer than a half dozen emails we've been CC'ed on from Monica. Each are addressed to various department heads at Kaiser and titled something like "Paige Smyth is back in town and looking for work- she can start Monday." And then people actually responded to the emails. And then they were ecstatic about the idea. And then suddenly spending the summer in Portland wasn't just a pie-in-the-sky idea.

Paige's old department welcomed her back with open arms and quickly put her to work. Feeling guilty about being a house husband, I called my old company to see if they might be able to use my pacemaker expertise for a few days a week*. To my surprise, they also were excited to have me back helping out. So a few days a week, when I can squeeze it into my climbing schedule, I also do a bit of work to contribute to the household income.

Our plan, for those of you that are either excited about our return to Houston or our departure from Portland, is to stay in Portland until August. I have to be in Houston for school by August 18th, so Justin is going to fly up for my birthday on August 9th (shameless birthday plug) and drive back to Houston with Emma and me. Since Paige's work project wraps up at the end of August, she is going to stay in Portland until our friends Ian and Paige (different Paige) get married on August 28th. I'll fly up for the wedding and then we'll fly back to Houston together.

And that, in a very large nutshell, is what we have been up to and what we will be doing for the rest of the summer. Hopefully we won't lapse so long again before we find something interesting enough to write about. Thanks for reading!

*By "feeling guilty" I of course mean, "occasionally bored"

Go West Happy Cow

2010-04-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

Since we left Madison, our trip has been a bit of a whirlwind tour of the northern states. The brief (or not so brief now that I finally finished writing it) overview goes something like this...

We left Madison with plans to camp nearby and spend a few days in Minneapolis/St Paul. After deciding the twin cities would be better visited at a later date and in the company of two veteran tour guides (Bert and Laura), we pushed past the campsite and drove well into the evening to a rest stop just beyond Minneapolis. We rearranged the car, unfurled the bedroll and bunked down for what we thought was going to be a difficult few hours of rest. Eight and a half hours later we woke up completely refreshed and mildly annoyed that it took us almost six months to master the art of sleeping in our car.

Armed with the knowledge that we could sleep better and more easily in the car, than in a tent we continued the west/northwest journey into North Dakota with Teddy Roosevelt National Park in mind. As we drove across the state, we decided that the state motto should have been "North Dakota....Yup, 'bout what you expected." We pit stopped briefly at the park and let Emma run wild for an hour or two. Back in the car we looked at a map and a calendar and realized that given our motivation, the weather forecast and our projected stops along the way, we could be in Portland in time for Lincoln's first birthday the following Sunday. We quickly outlined a route and headed towards Billings, MT for dinner.

This is a good opportunity to point out that the culinary offerings of Billings leave something to be desired. If you are looking for a good steak joint you're in luck. If you're looking for somewhere you and your wife can eat for under $20 that isn't fast food, you might have a harder time. After running out the clock (everything in Billings shuts down early) looking for something local, we gave up and opted for at least something I'd never had before: Red Lobster. Imagine the joy on our faces when we discovered that it was indeed the last day of "Lobster-fest" and we hadn't missed out on all the festivities! Oh joy of joys! We split the salad, soggy lobster nachos, and cheddar bay biscuits (nothing goes better with nachos than biscuits, right?), came in a dollar under budget, AND got our weekly sodium intake in one sitting! What more could a road warrior ask for?

The next day we got a full tour of Wyoming when we failed to confirm ahead of time that the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park was still closed for the season. You might think we would be past the bush league errors like that, but you'd be wrong. You are never too experienced to continue being a moron. Our detour took us from Cody, down through the glittering, metropolitan centers of such towns as Thermopolis, Rivertown, and Dubois on our journey to Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. All joking aside, of the many detours we've made on this trip, our jaunt across Wyoming was one of the most beautiful.

Most of the trails in Teton National Park were still under snow, but we were able to walk the four miles out from the ranger station to Jenny Lake and enjoy being in the shadows of the Tetons for several hours. We had dinner in Jackson and set up camp near a state park between Teton and Yellowstone. The morning greeted us with panoramic views of mountains and a huge field for Emma to explore. From there we headed into Yellowstone National Park for an animal and geyser filled day. As the afternoon rolled around, we headed towards Helena for dinner and drinks with an old coworker of mine. After dinner with his wife, Tim Guisti treated us to a night on the town we are likely not to forget for a long time.

We had previously decided that given the state of Teton and Yellowstone, Glacier National Park was probably also going to have a significant portion of the park closed. Rather than driving so far out of the way, we took a layover day in Helena. We had brunch, worked out, visited the library and indulged in all the creature comforts we had forgone in the past few days. Sated, exercised and showered, we cruised through the mountains and into Missoula for a tasty dinner of salads and beers at the Iron Horse Brewery. Brunch in Missoula the next morning and we were off again.

We spent the better part of the morning driving down the mountain, alongside the Lochsa river. The hundred miles of white-water rapids made for a very scenic drive and before we knew it, we found ourselves in a wine tasting room in Walla Walla, WA. A few sips of wine and a long walk around town with Emma and we finally admitted to ourselves that there was no way we were going to sleep in the car again (no matter how good we were getting at it) when the only thing standing between us and the basement apartment Monica offered to let us use in Portland was a four hour drive.

And so here we are, in Portland, staying with the perfect hostesses Monica and Anya, and enjoying ourselves quite a bit. Something about Portland just feels right. Maybe it's the home brewed beer that rivals the best from the rest of the country. Or maybe it's the green in the politics as well as the trees. Or perhaps it's the backyard BBQs where the babies seem to always end up running around naked. Whatever it is, something about Portland feels like home. And it is nice to be home...if only for a little while.

North Dakota-Yup

There was a bear down there...we were too far away to see with our camera, but some people let us look through their binoculars. The bear is one of those specks in the middle of the picture. She had just woken up for the spring and had her cubs with her. This picture is really just a spot to tell you this story since you can't see anything. Hope you enjoyed it.

The Tetons

And again

Old Faithful

Bison

Lots of Bison

Beer and Cheese

2010-04-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

The only sound I could make after our long weekend in Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee was the muted cry from my inner organs (my liver and stomach to be exact) for a much needed cease-fire.

Holly, who lives in Madison, WI, started her all out assault on our once-healthy livers by treating us to an afternoon at Wrigley Field. She opened her sunrise attack by hurling a few rounds of Miller Light towards us from Murphy's bar near the stadium. She continued the barrage throughout the Cubs-Brewers game with bottomless beers and endless food on the rooftop deck. Just when we thought we might be able to retreat with a few liver cells intact, the General MacArthur of Wisconsin assured her victory with round after round poured forth from bar after bar in Chicago.

By the morning light, we were able to gather the wounded soldiers and mount a retreat north towards Madison, where Holly had a milder, more healthful (healthful....what an annoying word) day planned for us. Our powers as rain gods seemed to be diminishing and we were fortunate enough to enjoy a beautiful afternoon walk around Madison and the University of Wisconsin. For our fancy dinner at the local sushi spot we were joined by one Bert Pinsonneault-choral director and runner extrodinaire. We spent the better part of the next day similarly, adding the luxury of fancy cheeses, Wisconsin beers, and card games.

That evening found us at the world-wide movie premier of "Go West Happy Cow," a low-budget movie about a guy wearing a cow costume who drives west with a trailer full of "Happy Cow" brand beer. The cow-dressed-star himself was there to ensure the premier went off without a hitch. Watching the movie was like watching baby movies of children you don't know; it can be cute for a while, but after a half hour you start looking for an exit strategy. Unfortunately, I don't think Paramount will be picking up the movie anytime soon. On the upside, we followed up the premier with a stop in at the Essen Haus for a few boots of quality Belgian Beer. If I recall correctly, my liver might have made an alcohol induced call to Bert for reinforcements. Unfortunately, the reinforcements did not arrive. Shame on you Bert.

Undeterred by a night out on the town, the next morning we were in Milwaukee at noon for a tour and VIP tasting at the Sprecher Brewery with a dozen of Holly's friends. After a rather lackluster tour of the facilities, we were escorted through a large barrel, and into the VIP tasting room. The host more than made up for the lackluster tour with a fantastic hour and a half of perfectly paired beer and cheese tastings. From there we carpooled and cabbed over to the Lakefront Brewery downtown where we just missed the last tour of the day. We consoled ourselves with a few samples and an impromptu dance party to Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA." Believe it or not, from there we stumbled to the Milwaukee Ale House for dinner and a final round. While Paige (who had abstained for the last half of the day) drove us back to Madison, I fell asleep at roughly 6pm. A mere 13 hours later, I awoke refreshed and ready to face the day! My only request was please, no beer.

Before we headed out of town we spent the afternoon with Bert and his wife Laura, who had just flown in from her sister's bachelorette party in Las Vegas. Needless to say, she was onboard with the no beer request. We enjoyed lemony drinks at the coffee shop and pizza before he decided it was time to shove off and set sail. And so, shortly before the sun set, we once again, with destination uncertain, hopped on the road and headed west.

Paige on the rooftop

Paige and I with our lovely hostess, Holly

Tulips at the Capitol

Capitol Building in Madison, WI

The Barrel that led to the Magical Tasting and our Tour

Wrapping it Up

2010-04-22T11:51:00.001-07:00

Though our trip is not over yet, we're certainly approaching the end of our big adventure. Our original plan involved traveling for a couple more months, starting in the southwest, and then chasing summer north into the mountains.

While a few of the stops planned for this portion of the trip are still on our itinerary, we've decided to shorten our stay in this part of the country. For many of you, this might come as a shock -- arguably this part of the country is peppered with sights and terrain that beg to be explored in an open-ended fashion. But in the end Zach and I feel now is not the right time.

We're worn out. Living on the road takes its toll after a while. We miss the normal routine of everyday life -- having our own space, seeing friends, cooking meals that don't involve more than one canned good, and being productive through work and/or school. Ultimately, we feel like neither of us would be able to enjoy these places like we want to in our current state of mind. Instead of feeling excited and anxious for our next stop, we both struggle with feeling like we should feel those things. This wasn't an easy decision, but in the end we think it's the right one.

So what's next?

Well, we're visiting Portland for one last PNW fix then we'll head back to Houston via a Idaho, Utah, Colorado route. We'll still stop in a few places along the way, but ultimately plan on being back home within a month.

Keep checking for new posts -- we'll still be blogging up until we end the trip (and who knows, maybe even after), and love to hear from all of you keeping tabs on us. To "The West," worry not. We'll be back, well-rested and in a better state to enjoy you soon enough!

Ann Arbor, the bus, and Indy

2010-04-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

While Zach was denying himself all the pleasures of modern convenience, I was enjoying a little R&R with friends in Ann Arbor. While the highlight of my visit was certainly seeing old friends, I also found time to stop and take in all the wonders that AA had to offer, including:

Powwow: Fry bread, drum circles, chanting, southern cloth -- so good.
Dominick's Sangria: Nothing says springtime in Ann Arbor like Mad Dog 20/20
Cafe Felix Martinis: Dirty, dirty, dirty -- and yes, I'd like extra blue cheese stuffed olives
Good-Night Gracie's: Ann Arbor, are you really not smoke-free yet?? Okay. I'll drink away my shock.
Pizza House Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake: I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to replicate you since graduation. You were worth all the dairy issues I experienced for the following 24 hours.
Advil (see 2-5)
IRB: I am still the only chick in your weight room.
Rehearsal: Sotto Voce. Do you know what it means? I do.
Zingermann's Raspberry Brownie: Magical.

Thanks to Kat and Lloyd for hosting me...I miss you two already!

Monday I started my greatest solo adventure yet -- taking the Greyhound bus for an 8 hour, two transfer ride to Indianapolis to meet back up with Zach at my cousin's place. I was pretty stoked about my 8 hour ride after reading about "the buses" on the Greyhound site. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered the Ann Arbor to Detroit to Dayton to Indianapolis route was not one of those chosen for this improved bus-riding experience. Instead of my own outlet, wi-fi, leg-room, AND a seat belt, I enjoyed 8 hours and two transfers of musty, stuffy, shoulder-to-shoulder fun with 80 of my new best friends. On the upside, several of new best friends were fresh out of rehab camp (this made for good eavesdropping) and my seat mate had the sweetest rat-tail I had ever seen. Go Greyhound!

I arrived, stinky, but safely in Indianapolis where Zach, stinkier, fetched me from the bus station and then drove me to see my cousin, Heather.

Heather and I are only 9 months apart, so we spent the better part of our youth together. Heather and her husband, Justin, and their sweet puppy, Maya, live in a very lovely, soon-to-be-vacated bungalow in midtown. From their place we were able to explore their community via a great shared path that runs through the city. Emma and Maya had a blast on our day out to the brewpub -- both pups were totally exhausted after our afternoon excursion, which worked out well for the non-canines. We got to continue enjoying the beautiful weather over dinner outside. Heather and Justin were also nice enough to show us their very lovely, soon-to-be-occupied new home complete with a fantastic view of the wooded flood plain.

Zach also took a shower. Yay!

Unfortunately, we kinda sucked at taking pictures during this portion of our trip. Bummer.

Fortunately, we took more in Chicago, Madison, and Montana, and if we get our acts together, we'll have posts on that portion of our trip soon for you!

Side Story to Make You Happy

2010-04-18T13:47:00.001-07:00

This is a true story. If you are having a bad day and like puppies this should cheer you up. If you don't like puppies then shame on you.

Emma and I were cruising down Bert T Coombs Mountain Parkway in the middle of nowhere Kentucky when I saw a dog loping down the side of the highway. Being that it was a lightly trafficked highway (but a highway nonetheless) I decided to pull over and try to grab her. Emma could use a sibling, right? I chased her up and down the shoulder of the highway until some other people pulled over to try and help. They ended up scaring her into the middle of the road where she got by a car going about 50 miles an hour.

I picked her up to move her out of the road and realized she was still alive. The other people that pulled over offered to take her to an emergency vet. As I loaded her into their car, she started to come around more. We traded phone numbers and they promised to keep me updated as to what happened. I talked to them the next day and discovered that they took the dog to the vet and that she was not only alive, but had no broken bones and no internal bleeding. They were planning on keeping the dog once it got released from the veterinarian's.

So there you go: dog finds new home, people get new dog, Emma gets to remain a spoiled only child- happy endings for everyone! Now cheer up.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

2010-04-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

As of late, Paige and I have had a difference of opinion regarding climbing. I acknowledge it for what it is-the greatest sport ever. Paige disagrees. It isn't so much that she hates the sport, but she doesn't like it enough to do it for very long. Alas, when she's done with her three climbs for the week, she tends to gets really, really bored. The problem is compounded when we are in the same middle-of-nowhere place day after day after day. Places like New Paltz, NY and Jasper, AR aren't exactly overflowing with things to do. So in the interest of marital bliss, we decided to split up for a weekend recently while I went climbing and Paige caught up with her friends in Ann Arbor. We would rendezvous three days later in Indianapolis at Paige's cousin Heather's house.

So, we left Rochester and bee-lined it over to Ann Arbor to spend a night catching up with Maggie, Kat and Lloyd. After brunch at the Flim Flam (oh yeah, the diner was called the "Flim Flam"), I bid Paige adieu and took Emma for a weekend of camping, climbing and hiking at the Red River Gorge down in Kentucky.

A scant six hours later Emma and I found ourselves hiking through the beautiful hills in and around the Red River Gorge. We spent the three days climbing in the morning and hiking in the afternoon. The Red River Gorge was a breathtaking place with a higher concentration of overhanging walls, cliffs and natural arches than I would have ever expected possible from a small town in Kentucky. With so much climbing potential, it was no surprise that there was already a small village of tents, hippies and full time climbers in a field next to the local pizza shop. Needless to say I had no problem finding climbing partners. For those that are familiar with the area and/or interested, I spent two finger aching days climbing at the Gallery in the Pendergrass Wilderness Area and the Left Flank & Fantasia in the Daniel Boone Forest. By the end of the three days I was filthy, hungry, sore and overall quite content to spend a few days resting in Indianapolis.

Overall, the split up worked out phenomenally. While I never cease to amuse myself with hilarious quips and commentary along the road, I think I ceased amusing Paige somewhere around Beaverton. The three nights apart allowed us both to do what we wanted, without dragging the other person along. Our only regret is that we waiting so long before flying solo from time to time.

Emma romping along the cliff

Grey's Arch

Waterfall

Sunrise

Row Row Row Your Boat

2010-04-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

You might say that rowing was the theme for our mid-week "weekend" in Rochester. We met the master rowers for drinks, yelled at the freshmen rowers from our dinghy, rowed on the "erg," and even practiced with the old fogeys.

In addition to getting his PhD in Rochester, our friend Mike is a full time rowing coach. The requirements for being a rowing coach involve the ability to steer a motorized dinghy and a willingness to yell at people when they do things wrong. This would be a good time to mention that Mike excels at both of these things. Naturally, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn how to row from a world class expert while we were staying at his house.

Rowing lesson 1-Hydration is important:
Like all athletic ventures, hydration is the key to optimal performance. Accordingly, Mike had us meet him at the Acme Bar as soon as we got to town. We spent the evening mentally and physically preparing to be rowers. Like all good rowers, we hydrated with generous servings of Molson and pizza. The highlight of the night had to be near the end of the night when Mike and his friend both shoved their faces into a cake that someone had left at our table. This was all done in the name of rowing excellence.

Rowing lesson 2-Practice time is flexible:
So it turns out 7am practice can be difficult to make. Especially when they don't kick you out of the hydration facility until 2:15am...and then Mike makes you continue to hydrate back at his house with Crater Lake flavored vodka. Fortunately for Mike, his freshmen called him at 7:05 for practice. We decided to skip this practice. Mike showed us proper form later in the day on the rowing machine in his attic.

Rowing lesson 3-Fueling up is important:
After Mike got back from practice we spent the afternoon walking around Rochester and hanging out at Mike's place. After we went to the Salsa dancing night, we decided to fuel up with a traditional Rochester dinner. Mike introduced us to the world famous Rochester plate. It is a plate half covered with waffle fries and half covered with pasta salad. To this natural pairing, the chef introduces a generous portion of chile and finishes off the signature dish with two hamburger patties. If you can eat it without throwing up, you're ready to learn how to row.

Rowing lesson 4-Good form is important:
Since I was barely able to finish the Rochester plate without throwing up (but just barely), we were ready to learn proper rowing form the next morning. Mike took us out in his motorized boat to learn from the freshman rowers. He made them demonstrate perfect form...over and over and over and over again. He put the poor kids through the paces. By the end of the session on the Genessee river and the Erie canal, I felt exhausted for them. After the grueling preparation, we were finally ready to row ourselves.

Rowing lesson 5-Clash of the Titans sucks:
This isn't really a rowing lesson, but it seemed like an opportune moment to point out that the movie sucks. Don't watch it-even if your wife is obsessed with "the original" and you are looking for something to do when it is raining in Rochester-don't watch it. Learn from my mistakes people.

Rowing lesson 6-Practice in a tank:
We had never heard of rowing in a tank, but Mike was coaching an old people's rowing class at "the tank" so he took us with him so we could learn how to row. Basically, the tank is a big warehouse with two ovals of water and a lot of oars and seats. People use it when the weather is too bad to row outside. Mike pushed us and the old people through a blistering workout for an hour and a half. By the end of the workout, I had a whole new respect for his freshmen.

Rowing lesson 7-Don't waste so much time with lessons:
The last day we were there, we were going to take a boat out on the river and actually row. Unfortunately, by this time, all of the boats had gotten loaded onto the trailer for their regatta that weekend. So we didn't end up rowing on the water. Oh well. On the upside, we did learn how to play bridge. Speaking of which, if anyone in Houston is interested in channeling their inner grandparent and joining us for a weekly bridge night, that would be awesome. Old people clothes optional.

Mike Fantasizing about yelling at freshmen

Freshmen Rowing on the Gennessee River

Mike with cake on his face

Mike dreaming about yelling at the freshmen

Rochester plate: not so good for the belly

Look, it's the Erie Canal!

Paige rowing in the tanks

Me rowing in the tanks: spandex is awesome!

Paige Smyth: Delicate Flower or Hardcore Beast....You be the Judge

2010-04-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

When I asked dear old Paige what I should write about, she immediately replied "I don't know, I've been sick for the past week." Perfect I thought, I'll write about that! So with that as the inspiration, here and now I would like to settle the age old debate: Is Paige a fragile butterfly (one who gets sick at the drop of a hat) or is she a hearty mountain goat (albeit one with an adorable face)?

Argument in favor of Paige's fragile status (fragile):

She gets sick (or at least thinks she does) more frequently than someone on immunosuppressants.

Argument against (Hardcore)

She generally manages to carry on with life while she's sick. During her last round of sickness, she played the role of a tough Vermonter and suffered through a grueling day's work at three different factories. Granted, her only work included sampling Ben and Jerry's ice cream at the Ben and Jerry's factory, sampling cheese at the Cabot Creamery, and sampling syrup at the maple syrup farm. (counter argument: is she really sick every time she thinks she is?).

Edge here goes to: Fragile...

It is not hard to be a factory worker in Vermont. In fact, it must be delicious!

Fragile:

During the east coast's most recent battering of storms, she did not go on a hike in New Hampshire with me.

Hardcore:

I did not go on a hike with me either.

Edge here goes to: Hardcore...

Since I am the barometer by which all earthly toughness is measured, if I didn't do something, clearly only a superhuman could have done it.

Fragile:

Paige made me watch the station Bravo while we were waiting out the rain at the Mount Madison Motel in New Hampshire.

Hardcore:

She worked out while she watched all the horrible programming.

Edge here goes to: Fragile...

While working out when you're sick might seem like a hardcore thing to do, it is neither a good idea nor recommended by the surgeon general. Penalty point assessed in favor of Fragile.

Fragile:

Paige napped in the car while I went on a ridge-line hike over three "mountains" at Acadia National Park.

Hardcore:

Paige hiked up the steepest trail in the park with me the next day

Edge here goes to: Hardcore....

Napping in order to recover and be more hardcore tomorrow always earns you hardcore points in my book--that's why I personally try to nap at least three times a day!

Fragile:
Paige couldn't eat all of her food at the "Angler" in Maine when we sampled their "Restaurant Week" menu.

Hardcore:

This meant I got to eat a significant portion of her lobster roll

Edge here goes to: Hardcore...

More lobster for me always makes you hardcore. Everyone, keep this in mind if you would like to be considered hardcore in my book

Fragile:

Paige would not sleep in a tent with me when it was 8 degrees outside in Bishop, California.

Hardcore:

Paige did camp with me when it was in the teens, twenties and thirties throughout California, the Florida, the Carolinas, and Maine.

Edge here goes to: Hardcore...

Paige has camped in the cold with me just about anywhere we didn't find a campsite completely under water. This included camping at Acadia National Park during the last night she was sick.

I haven't been counting, but I'm pretty sure I'm right and the total is overwhelmingly in favor of her being a fragile butterfly. Any effort to point out that the opposite is true will be met with a death stare from me and five minutes of shunning. Feel free to weigh in and tell me that you agree with my analysis. Dissenters need not comment.

***Oh, and in case you are curious, we're currently bunked down outside of Boston, MA with Josh and Cameron. We've spent the weekend being showered with generosity, hospitality, and beautiful weather (it certainly doesn't take a hardcore person to appreciate that!). Tomorrow we'll load up and spend the day meandering through Rhode Island and Connecticut before we set up camp outside of New Paltz, NY for a few days of climbing at the Shawangunks! All in all, things are going exceedingly well. As always, thanks for your continuing support and encouragement while we're on this trip.

Nobu 57 Menu for 3/27

2010-03-30T21:23:00.001-07:00

"I'm going to need your menu back, Meena and I will be taking care of your meal for you. If you need, I will recommend the perfect drink to accompany any and all of your courses."

Your feast will include:

-edamame and lightly fried peppers with finishing salt

-uni with housemade tofu, parmesan cheese and chives aka, the perfect creamy, meaty combination

-yellowtail with pepper and spicy cucumber

-toro tartare with caviar and spicy wasabi puree (melt in your mouth meat)

-fluke with riccotta paste and chile lime

-salmon in sesame oil, vegetable oil, sesame seeds and chives with tiny, tasty, tomatoes

-alaskan cod soaked for three days in miso an broiled to an ethereal perfection

-rock shrimp tempura with chives on salad

-nantucket bay scallops with micro cilantro and yellow peruvian perfection served with...

-rock lobster claw with vinegar jalapenos (pickles be damned)

-brussel sprouts finished with truffle-yes truffle- and grapeseed

-red snapper with okra chips and sun-dried tomato glaze...yes it keeps on coming

-kobe beef with tiny crunchy things on top. Food coma yet?

desert:

-apples, ice cream and awesomeness served atop a flaming dish

-cappuccino deliciousness served with heavenly creaminess on top

-the lightest, fluffiest cake-a-ma-bobber you've ever had with chocolate ecstasy

In case you forgot to count, that was sixteen of the best dishes you've ever had in your entire life and the perfect way to finish off your week in New York.

-Thanks Meena

Paige & Zach: The Syndicated Version

2010-03-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

Our friend Christy told me not long ago that I had started laughing like Zach. This is somewhat disturbing since Zach's laugh is very distinct and is often the source of rampant fun-poking. Zach's laugh is high-pitched and involves a lot of 'hissing' sounds resulting from his spastic intake of air mid-laugh. Though I don't necessarily *think* my laugh sounds like this, her comment made me a little paranoid.

Christy also told me that my handwriting is turning into Zach's writing -- she produced the thank you card I sent her after our wedding -- which I wrote -- and a separate card -- which Zach wrote because he didn't realize I had already sent one. It was pretty compelling. Sigh.

I fear our trip has caused us to meld even more. Since approximately 99% of our experiences are shared we've become...well...predictable. We tell the same stories, over and over again (this is aided by the fact that folks tend to ask us similar questions about the trip). In any given conversation I usually know exactly what Zach is going to say before he says it. In any given conversation Zach usually knows what I am going to say before I say it. I think this is pretty typical for couples -- especially the longer they are together.

This hasn't been a problem until just recently. See normally as a couple you interact with the same people on a regular basis...you see your good friends a couple times a week, your coworkers daily. This means you're in the habit of keeping your material fresh. You wouldn't tell your hypothetical friend, Bob, on Monday about Zach's strange devotion to Meryl Streep or about my inability to entertain myself at a campsite for more than 48 hours, only to turn around and tell him the same tid-bits on Wednesday.

Because Bob knows. He knows that I want to see Clash of the Titans because my sister and I used to watch the original all the time when we were growing up. He knows that Zach makes me listen to books on tape even though I don't like them and that he thinks I am horrible at picking them out. Bob knows how we listened to the "This American Life" on Penn State and that we're still disgusted about what that guy said about cleaning his yard after a big football weekend. He knows I'm sick of PB&J and addicted to coffee. He knows I wish Zach would drink it too, so we could bond in the morning, and that I kinda resent that he drinks Dr. Pepper in the afternoon instead. Bob knows all of this.

Of course Bob knows. BECAUSE WE SEE HIM ALL THE TIME.

When you don't see the same people all the time, you scrap that whole "keep it fresh" thing because no one's heard your material lately...at least not the people you're hanging out with right now. You can just recycle your material over and over again. You become the syndicated version of yourself. You're the same show on a different network every time you hit a new city. All this happens subconsciously, of course. You don't even notice it.

Until someone points it out to you.

Sigh.

Sorry Anna and Dan -- you're the first people we've spent more than 48 hours with in a long time. We promise we'll have some new episodes of the Zach and Paige show next time we see you. In the meantime, thank you for being patient with the reruns. ;)

In other news, we've made it to Vermont and New Hampshire since leaving NYC yesterday. Turns out, Vermont is amazingly beautiful. Today we enjoyed all that Vermont is famous for -- ice cream, cheese, and syrup.

Apparently it's Spring Break this week, which means a lot of other people had the same ideas we did -- visit Ben&Jerry's for the ice cream tour, visit Cabot Creamery for the cheese tour, and visit a sugar house (where they make maple syrup). Everything was tasty. Instructions on how to make cheese coming soon.

We're headed to Acadia as soon as the east coast storm passes, and we're definitely pumped.

We'll post pictures soon of these adventures as well as give you the gory details of our awesome meal at Nobu 57. I'm going to let Zach do that post since he took notes on his phone as we were eating (yea, he's a huge dork, but the food was so good it was warranted).

A big, big, big thank you to Andrea, Anna and Dan, and Meena for hosting us while we were in the city. We couldn't do this trip the way we want without folks like you...

Much love.

Pictures Finally (New York)

2010-03-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Washington Square Arch in Washington Park, NYC

Times Square, NYC

Not Anna and Dan's favorite bar, NYC

Cathedral we walked past frequently on the upper west side NYC

Saturday at Central Park, NYC

Performance artist Marina Abramovic at Museum of Modern Art, NYC

Drag Queen Bingo

Cupcakes from Crumbs

We ate the cupcakes in Bryant Park

Pictures Finally (Philadelphia)

2010-03-28T20:13:00.001-07:00

The oldest neighborhood in America (not counting the TeePee neighborhoods that the colonists got rid of)

Constitution Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Constitution Hall, Philadelphia, PA

The first Bank of America (I think...) Philadelphia, PA

Pictures Finally (Washington DC)

2010-03-28T19:54:00.001-07:00

Most of these pictures were taken with a pocket camera. Since the camera was carried in my pocket, there was a fair amount of lint on the lens meaning the quality of some of these might not be the best in the world

Paige at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC

Paige in the atrium at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC

Some building in Washington, DC

Washington Monument, Washington, DC

Washington Monument, Washington, DC

Modern Art

2010-03-25T21:45:00.001-07:00

I'd like to consider myself an artist. Unfortunately, when I look at the art I produce it becomes all the harder to consider myself an artist. I suppose I should stop relying so heavily on macaroni and magic markers, but what can I say, I consider myself an artist of the old school--aka the "pre"-school.

Anyways, I mention this because Paige and I recently went to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. We had a lot of fun checking out the Rothko blocks, the Kandinsky swirls and the Picasso cubes. But to be honest, the most interesting exhibit was the performance art by Marina Abramovic. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Marina Abramovic's art work (I'm going to assume that includes everyone), she is an avant garde performance artist who's work can generally be summed up by the following description: she does crazy shit and calls it art.

Her more famous works include screaming until she lost her voice (I have nieces and nephews who could be considered artists by this standard), dancing until she collapsed (who among us hasn't done this after a dozen beers), and saying random words nonstop until her mind goes completely blank (sounds like a bad first date-am I right guys?!?). But the cool thing about Marina Abramovic is that she does all this naked. Well, at least it was cool when she did it back in the 60s. Now that she's pushing 70 years old I find it less cool. Maybe it makes me a chauvinist pig. Maybe it makes me an art critic. You be the judge.

The NYC Museum of Modern Art is currently doing a retrospective of her work where they have "artists" perform her past work (http://moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/965). The museum has films of the aforementioned works, plus several live exhibits of people re-creating her past works. There were a naked man and woman standing close to one another in a doorway people had to walk through to make people think about which way they would turn to squeeze through. There were two people facing each other that were almost touching fingers in a symbolic gesture of the tension just before touching. There was a naked woman sitting on an elevated bicycle seat slowly spreading her arms and legs because...I don't know why...maybe it is because bicycles are fun--look ma, no hands!

Because I was a bit confused I meandered down from the "adults only" exhibits on the top floor down to the "Artist is Present" exhibit on the second floor where Marina herself was sitting (fully clothed thank goodness). She is currently spending three months at the Museum of Modern Art as her next performance piece (http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/marinaabramovic/). In an effort to better understand her artwork I decided to sit down with the artist and ask her about her current work. She was suspiciously silent*. To be honest, she didn't say a single word--not to me or any of her other admirers! To quote another artist I admire: "How rude!**" I took her ominous lack of response to mean that I had out-arted her***.

Then I went and had a cupcake. It was delicious. More later.

*Her preparations for the project include a strictly regulated vegetarian diet, and although she is likely to be surrounded by milling crowds in the museum, Abramovic will not speak or respond to anyone during the entire run of the exhibition, an experience she likens to “going into seclusion in the middle of New York”. “It’s a huge experiment and I’m very nervous. http://www.theartnewspaper.com/whatson/results.asp?id=1110633

**Stephanie Tanner from TGIF's Full House circa 1993

***In all seriousness, while her art was not something I was used to, it was actually very interesting and thought provoking****

****But in all seriousness, I still think I out-arted her.

What's better than a hot dog?

2010-03-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

The answer my friends is a hot dog wrapped in bacon, flash fried and served with chili and coleslaw- unless you're talking from an artery perspective in which case the answer is an apple, a banana, or really almost anything. In case you don't know, I love hot dogs. I say "in case you don't know" because you probably actually don't know* since Paige refuses to eat them or let me eat them. Naturally when our friend Anna mentioned "gourmet" hot dogs served up at Crif-Dog's here in NYC and Paige didn't instantly say no, I suggested we go immediately. It was everything I'd imagined and more.

Since Paige and I arrived in New York City, we've enjoyed tasting the expansive culinary offerings of this, the food capital of the country. Since we've been in "the big apple" we've sampled vietnamese sandwiches, local burgers (at shake shack), fresh bagels, Sri Lankan food, jumbo slice pizza, milk shakes from the "Seinfeld" diner, all-you-can-drink sangria brunch, street fruit, fancy french food, dumplings, and yes, the aforementioned bacon wrapped crif-dogs. If we are able to squeeze into our pants by the time we leave this city, it will be a true miracle.

Aside from the all out gorging, we've managed to see quite a bit of the city. Friday we enjoyed finally having good weather and walked around the city for the better part of the day before we settled down at a sports bar to watch the first rounds of March Madness with Anna's boyfriend Dan. By ten o'clock we were exhausted and crashed at Andrea Lee's who was nice enough to offer up her apartment to us for the weekend. We spent all day Saturday wandering around Central Park with Anna before we went back to the park for a run with Dan. That evening we had our first experience with Sri Lankan food courtesy of Andrea. Needless to say, the spicy food caused significant sweating on my part, but was well worth the pain. Since I was already sweating, we decided to meet up with Anna and go dancing. We finished up the night with Dan's tour of his neighborhood's late night food. Sunday we walked around Harlem, stopped in at the Natural History Muesum (the best I've ever seen) and then had a lazy, boozy brunch near the park with Andrea Lee and her boy toy, Ben.

Since Sunday afternoon we have been enjoying the hilarious company of Anna and Dan. Anna is probably the funniest landscape architect in all of New York. Dan tells jokes similar to the ones I tell. Naturally Dan is the funnier of the two. We are staying in their spare bedroom for the rest of the week and are looking forward to enjoying their comedy show in the days to come.

Since it is getting late and we have a big day tomorrow, I'm going to have to sign off for now. I'll have to catch you all the way up to speed later.

*Christy and Tommy do know this since they witnessed me eat 18 free hot dogs after a long bike ride....ok, just after a short bike ride

West Virginia, Mountain Mama (and DC, and Delaware)

2010-03-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry DC and Delaware -- I was forced to include you as a parenthetical reference...not because you're not awesome, but because you just don't have an awesome song about you.

If you can believe it, we actually experienced a beautiful day today complete with sunshine, warm temperatures, and no precipitation frozen or otherwise. This is a pretty big deal since Zach and I manage to bring snow, sleet, sub-freezing temperatures and gale force winds wherever we go (sorry New Jersey). Perhaps the curse is over!

When we last left you, we were enjoying an amazing dinner at the Campbells' home in Sutton, West Virginia. If there are three things I can share with you about West Virginia they would be the following:

One.
Boy. The Campbells sure know how to spoil your stomachs. I mean really. They. Know. How. To. Eat. We went to bed, full of fried chicken and pork loin and macaroni and cheese, West Virginia slaw, and mashed potatoes -- then we'd wake up to the smell of homemade biscuits and gravy waiting on the stove for us. Yes, this is for real, folks. Finally we had to leave because let's face it -- we don't have any self control when it comes to delicious food nor do we have the metabolism of hummingbirds with which God has blessed the entire Campbell clan. A big shout out to Jan and Nan for cooking such amazing food and sending us off with yummy goodies, to Madison for playing Monopoly in such a cunning way that even Zach decided not to cheat, and to Phil for sleeping on a cot in the office so we'd have a room and a bed.

Two.
J.L., our host and my best friend's dad, is the Mayor. Staying with the Mayor is pretty dang cool. We were fortunate enough to witness the good Mayor in his natural habitat -- listening to citizen concerns and attending to city business. We also got to experience something that few of you will ever experience. A Mayoral tour of his city. Everywhere we went folks would wave and shout greetings...BECAUSE WE WERE WITH THE MAYOR. Yes. That's right. Lastly, the cool thing about staying with the Mayor is that you don't have to follow any stupid rules. If anyone asked us why were littering or leaving our dog poo on the sidewalk or tagging local city property with giant, stylized P's and Z's and E's, we just let them know, "Suck it. We're with the Mayor."*

Three.
West Virginia is beautiful. On our way in we stopped at the New River Gorge and on our way out we took a moment to enjoy Seneca Rocks -- which was breathtaking even through the misting gray weather. I think Zach suffered a bout of mild depression at passing such a perfect rock with no hopes of climbing.

All good things must come to an end and so too it was for our West Virginia adventure. Zach wiped his tears and we headed out to Washington, D.C.

Our D.C. visit was short, but awesome. Our first night in town we met up with Dara, Eric, Lisa and Maggie, some of my friends from graduate school and from my prior stints in D.C. We spent the night chatting over beers and catching up at Maggie's new home. It is always remarkable to me how when you're with your closest friends, it doesn't matter how much time has passed, you just pick up right where you left off.

Saturday was gloomy and rainy, so we met Maggie for a movie in the afternoon and then went out for drinks at The Gibson.

Maggie had promised that it was well worth the wait, and she was definitely right. I might just start trying random, unmarked doors on the street more often in hopes that on the other side lies an intimate, tasty cocktail just waiting for me.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday we spent time welcoming Jenni's new baby, exploring the city on foot, and hitting the museums (Portrait Gallery and National Gallery of Art were awesome, Natural History made me not want to have kids for the next umpteen years, and unfortunately, the Corcoran is never open when we want to go). Big ups to Mags for sending us off properly -- first with an exciting game of Settlers and second with a delicious lunch from Founding Fathers. Yum.

Tuesday night we tried sleeping in our car for the first time. That would have been more fun if Emma hadn't rolled in something dead before snuggling with us in the back of the ole Matrix, but never fear, she ran on the beach today and got her salt water rinse as well as a real bath (the lady at Wash N Wag told Zach he looked really nice in the pink apron he chose to wear while bathing her).

Tonight we're bedding down in Newark, DE. Zach's friend, Dave, that he met while studying abroad in Costa Rica and Nicaragua hooked us up with the best hostess in the state (and maybe the East Coast), his mom. A big thanks to Ann Sylvester who agreed to have two strangers and a dog stay with her sight unseen and to Dave for hooking us up with such a sweet deal.

Tomorrow we head to Philly and then Friday to NYC! We'll post pictures soon of our travels thus far, though they may be the last for a while. The Canon's gotta be sent in for repairs -- it has a defective shutter. Thank goodness for warranties!

*No littering, or dog poo leaving, or tagging occurred on this trip. But that's what I would have said if it had.**
**I probably wouldn't have said that, even it had happened, which it didn't.

Notes from a Rebel Country

2010-03-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Oh the pressure. It has been so long since we updated the blog and so much has happened... Or at least, it seems like a long time ago. I'll give you the highlights from the South if you give me forgiveness for waiting so long to write.

When last we updated, we were on our way out of Chattanooga. We cut our time in Chattanooga short after suffering through freezing weather conditions, a drought of potential climbing partners, and an existential crisis when I realized I couldn't really call myself a climber if I only got on a wall once a month. But more interesting than that is the following story about our first night in Chattanooga:

We arrived in Chattanooga with hopes of camping and climbing. We headed to one of the most popular climbing areas to look for a campsite and find me a belay partner. After striking out on both accounts, we decided to spend the night in a hotel and reassess our plan. On our way back from the crag, we reached for our trusty Let's Go USA guidebook and reviewed the affordable hotel options in town. There were three not-all-that-cheap hostels and one motel called the King's Lodge. "Hmm, the King's Lodge?" I mused. "Sounds perfect for me! hahaha" The rooms were described as clean, with a good view overlooking downtown and best of all, priced from $30 and up. Paige called ahead and talked to the manager to find out if they were pet friendly (they were!) and reserved a room for us. She hung up and excitedly pronounced, "It sounds like a real family type place!" Internet, dog-friendly, and a family place-what more could we ask for? We plugged the address into the phone and headed on our merry way.

So about the King's Lodge being a family place...it turns out its not. At all. It is a four story, multi-building, crumbling monstrosity, nestled into the projects of Chattanooga. Between the highway and the hotel (a scant 1/4 mile I might add) we saw no fewer than three police cars. In fact, we actually followed them because they were headed to the King's Lodge as well. Maybe they were all there because for the coffee in the lobby. Maybe they were there because of the not-so-scenic view of Chattanooga. Who knows? But judging by the looks of the place, I'd say they were probably there because something illegal was happening. Probably lots of somethings.

Being the seasoned road veterans we are though, we took it all in stride and headed into the lobby to talk to the front desk clerk. She ran through her schpiel about prices, rules, etc and then removed a key and a television remote from the slot labeled "204" from the row of cubbies behind her. She informed us that if we wanted to, we could go look at the room first and decide if we still wanted it. I asked her "is there something wrong with it?" She replied, "Let's just say I'm not giving you your money back if you decide you don't want it after you've paid." So we went to check out the room. We wandered the halls and balconies of the forty year old boarding house until we found room 204, directly across an alley from a large group of shouting teenagers. We looked around, unsure of what to expect. The room wasn't fancy, but it didn't have blood stains (like our motel in Oklahoma). Unsure of whether to pass on the room or try to make the most of it, we plodded back towards the lobby. While we stood just outside the clerk's line of sight and wondered what to do, another cop car drove up. This sealed the deal. We got the hell out of there, went to a bar on the opposite side of town, and after confirming with the bartender that it was no where near the King's Lodge, booked a motel room for $40 in a completely different part of town. King's Lodge my ass!

We camped/froze for the next two nights near the "Tennessee Wall" climbing area. You might remember this campsite from videos such as "Daddy Needs a New Pair of Pants" and "Emma helped."

Leaving Chattanooga, we headed east towards the Smoky Mountains. An unexpected road closure into the Smokies stranded us in the twin cities of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. The best way to describe these cities would be if all of the buffets in Las Vegas, Nevada got together with all of the sights and attractions in Branson, Missouri and had two children. Gatlinburg would be the more stuffy older child and Pigeon Forge would be the messy younger sibling. Gatlinburg would always be bragging about its fudge shops (even going to such extremes as occasionally spelling them "shoppes"), its homemade arts and crafts, its covered sidewalks and its tasteful signs. Pigeon Forge would spend all its time saying that it doesn't need those things because it has three Ripley's Believe it or Nots, a water park, and 37 go cart tracks. But really, the two wouldn't be as different as they wanted to believe. They would both still have a fondness in their heart for buffets. They would both still love a good, cheap motel. And they would both play the banjo. Which is why they would both still live so close to one another, despite the fact that they both agree "they are absolutely, nothing alike."

Anyways, we made it into the smokies the next morning and set up camp. After two days in the smoky mountains we both decided that the gentle elegance of the smokies isn't nearly as impressive as the grandeur of the country's western mountain ranges. Nevertheless, we went on some pleasant hikes, camped next to a friendly old couple, and had an all-around agreeable time.

We spent the next two nights wandering through a snow-covered Asheville, NC. True to form, we brought nine inches of snow to Asheville, NC which caused massive shutdowns throughout downtown and ruined our plans to see the art museum and eat all-you-can-east mussels at a fancy french restaurant. Fortunately we made the most of it. We were still able to find a pizza house/brewery that showed movies and we spent many hours rambling through the snow covered streets with Emma.

Retreating from the snow, we hooked slightly south into the lowlands of North Carolina to try the whole camping and climbing thing again before we were to meet up with friends for the weekend in Raleigh. Still no climbing partners, but lots of hiking. I finally guilted Paige into belaying me a few times. On the upside, no more snow and a wide open campground.

Friday morning we finally made it to Raleigh and met up with our friend Sharon who was able to extend a work trip to spend the weekend with us. We hung out and had fun Friday night, but the real highlight of the weekend was Saturday night, when the University of North Carolina was scheduled to play Duke (or Dook as Matt insists I spell it), one of their biggest rivals. The three of us had plans to meet up with Matt (a friend Paige met when she worked in DC), hang out for the day, and watch the game that night. We had a wonderful day eating BBQ, exploring the UNC campus and seeing the surrounding neighborhood.

We spent the evening at a bar with several of Matt's UNC classmates and watched UNC get utterly trounced by Duke. At this point, it seemed like a good idea to go to a different bar to get a night cap before we call it an evening. So, Sharon, Paige, Matt, Susannah (Matt's girl-friend) and I headed to a nearby bar and order a round. Shortly after I return from the restroom, the guy sitting next to me (I don't know him...he's not with us) accosts me and asks me a very strange question. He looks very unhappy and asks me if I peed on his shoes. Confusedly I asked him, "What? Who are you? Where were your shoes?" He quite angrily informed me that when I was heading into the bathroom, he asked me not to pee on his shoes that he'd left next to the toilet. Naturally I have no recollection of this because if I had, I would not have gone into the restroom, but would have instead replied "WHAT!?!? Why did you leave your shoes in the men's room?...at a bar?...in a college town?...at midnight?" It was a very loud, very crowded bar, with lots of people going in and out of the restroom and I'm pretty sure I just didn't hear him. He told me that I gave him a blank "I hate you" stare and walked into the restroom. I think he misinterpreted my "I have to go to the bathroom" stare as an "I hate you" stare. Now, of course, being the mature, self controlled adult I am, I immediately diffused the situates in a calm and controlled manner...Or something like that. I never did find out how his shoes got so soaking wet or what they were doing not on his feet in the first place. In the end, we decided to leave the bar early because really, who wants to sit next to some guy that takes off his shoes and leaves them in the men's restroom.

Monday morning we headed north. Our plan was to drive about halfway to West Virginia, camp for the evening, and drive the other half of the way Tuesday. We managed to do this and even squeeze in a half day of climbing on the way at the New River Gorge. Right now we're bunked up at JL's house in Sutton West Virginia, stuffed from a feast of fried chicken, potatoes, pasta, beans and salad, about to hit the sack. We'll spend the rest of the week around here and head to DC for the weekend. I think that brings us about up to speed.

Oh, and for anyone interested in our upcoming itinerary, here's the latest scoop:

For a variety of reasons, Paige and I weren't sure how long this leg of our trip would last. During our first month on the road in California we came to realize that our stamina for life on the road might not be up to the six to nine month task we'd dreamed about. By the time we left Houston, we had tentative plans to tour the east coast for a month (or two if we were really grooving), return to Houston for a spell, and perhaps spend a few weeks in the mountains in late spring. Then we remembered we'll eventually be spending quite a bit of time in Houston and decided that perhaps instead of breaking in Houston, we'd break in Portland.

Well, things have indeed been grooving on the road. We do still want to break in Portland, but it might happen a tad later than we'd initially thought. This trip has shown us that more than traveling, spending time with the people we love is most important to us. It will probably be a long time before we have an opportunity to spend more than a mere long weekend with our friends in Portland and we'd be foolish not to take advantage of that. So with that being said, here is our projected itinerary for the next few weeks:

3/8-3/12: Hiking and climbing around the New River Gorge, staying with Courtney's family in Sutton, WV

3/12-3/19: Washington, DC

3/19-3/28: NYC

3/29-4/5: NYC->Boston, MA

4/5-4/9: Explore the far NE

4/9-4/11: Rochester, NY (let us know if that date doesn't work for you Mike)

4/12-4/19: Quick drive to stay with Paige's cousin in Indianapolis and climbing in Kentucky

4/19-4/25: Chicago, IL and Madison, WI

4/26-?: Twin Cities and Fargo ND

At that point we'll re-evaluate the motivation, budget and weather.

Pictures from the Smokies:

A Short Quiz and New Photos / Videos

2010-02-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

Directions: Each question of this type consists of two quantities, one in Column A and one in Column B. Compare the two quantities and indicate:

if the quantity in Column A is greater

if the quantity in Column B is greater

if the quantities are equal

if the relationship cannot be determined from the information given

In some questions, additional information pertaining to one or both of the quantities to be compared is centered above the two columns.

Any symbol appearing in both columns represents the same thing in one column as in the other.

All numbers used are real numbers.

To review these directions for subsequent questions of this type, click on HELP.**

No.	Column A	Column B
1	Pairs of pants with which Paige started this section of the roadtrip	8
2	Number of shirts with which Paige started this section of the roadtrip	4
3	Stupidity of this packing technique	Frequency at which Paige needs to do laundry
4	Pairs of pants with which Zach started this section of the roadtrip	3
5	Pairs of Zach’s pants that haven’t split up the middle	3
6	Number of beds in which Paige and Zach always thought they liked sleeping	1
7	Number of beds in which Paige and Zach actually like sleeping	1
8	Paige’s bra size	Child’s Large (aka training bra)
9	8	Hours Zach alternated between teasing Paige and being troubled about a 12 year old wearing the same size bra as his wife.
10	Price Paige paid for not one, but two of said bras	$2.00
11	Thrifty genius	Paige
12	5	Number of confederate flags flying within 6 miles of Paige and Zach’s Tennessee campsite
13	Number of churches flying a confederate flag within 6 miles of Paige and Zach’s Tennessee campsite	1
14	0	Number of times Paige wore her Obama t-shirt within 6 miles of Paige and Zach’s campsite
15	Additional hours Paige wants to stay in Tennessee	24

Another one of the whale shark.

Trying to give you some scale on the whale shark--the guy in the boat is feeding her.

Me checking out the tchotkes.

Yes, we are huge dorks.

Our Tennessee campsite.

More campsite.

Cool tree.

Trees at sunset.

I am wearing all eight pairs of pants and 3 shirts in this picture.

We had lots of firewood.

Emma helped, as you can see in this video:

I like to call this one Daddy needs a new pair of pants:

ANSWERS (because Blogger wouldn't let me put them up top:

1. =
2. <
3. =
4. =
5. <
6. =
7. >
8. =
9. <
10. <
11. =
12. >
13. =
14. =
15. <

We're off to the Smokey's, North Carolina, and then DC...all our love!

Photos from the Southeast

2010-02-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

Since you last joined us we've made the long journey from Pensacola to St. Augustine, up through Jacksonville to Savannah and on into Charleston. St Augustine was wonderful. Nothing brightens the spirits like a visit with a good friend. Savannah was gorgeous. I highly recommend walking the streets of downtown. And Charleston.... Well, we haven't explored Charleston yet, but we hear good things. We'll let you know.

Rather than run you through an elaborate summary of the last week, here are some pictures that can tell the story just fine:

This was one of the only pictures we took in Mississippi. It's the "friendship tree" at a Southern Mississippi campus. I made Paige get out and take a picture with me under it. She only obliged me after I promised not to make her go to one of the many casinos along the gulf if she got out and took the picture.

Paige, Leola and Lincoln on Leola's parents' back deck. They have a beautiful place in St. Augustine with a creek and wild animals in their backyard. Her parents were nice enough to share her and Lincoln with us while we were visiting.

After we left St. Augustine, we camped on Amelia Island, just north of Jacksonville. It was serene to camp on the beach and listen to the ocean while we fell asleep.

Paige enjoyed camping on the beach until she went to bed and realized that there is sand on the beach. Note the look of sheer delight on her face.

Savannah was beautiful. Spanish moss covered all the trees and gave everything an enchanted look. The historic part of the city is about one square mile and has almost 30 public spaces with fountains, statues and other art- not to mention countless homes built over 150 years ago.

This is how Savannah does Catholicism. Really quite breathtaking.

We went for a walk on the trails at Skidaway State Park where we camped near Savannah and found some swamps

By the way, I got bored and tried to shave my head at the campsite with my beard trimmer. It didn't work out so well. I've since found a real hair trimmer and finished the job off. I got a haircut in Dallas around Christmas that hasn't grown out so beautifully. Instead of finding another "stylist," I decided to take matters into my own hand.

That about wraps it up for now. We're headed off to Atlanta before too long and then into the Appalachian mountains. We'll probably be back near the coast around Raleigh in two weeks. Perhaps in Washington DC the following week and then New York a week or two after that. Things are going well and we look forward to seeing our friends up and down the east coast.

Pictures

2010-02-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

Walking in French Quarter -- kinda dead -- cold and the day after the Saints' Parade.

I want to go in this garden.

Jackson Square

Paige at Mardi Gras in Shreveport.

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2010-02-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

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Ode to Alabama

2010-02-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

F* YOU!!!

I kid, I kid. But seriously folks, I'm pretty sure there's a warm place reserved down under for the hotel proprietors in Mobile, Alabama. After a long-ish day on the road trying to find a place to stay in Mobile, Paige and I spent almost an hour in the lobby of a La Quinta while they proceeded to give perhaps the poorest customer service this side of the Mason Dixon Line...but we'll get back to that later.

The day started off well enough. Paige and I spent our final night in New Orleans at "Chateau Spider-Bite." We decided that while we had fun in New Orleans, she is a town best appreciated with a group larger than your months-long travel partner. Admittedly, we could have "manned" up and made our own party, but after our fun-filled Mardi Gras weekend in Shreveport, our livers, spirits, and budget weren't up to the task. So instead we brunched and wandered in the Garden District while Peter Parker, errr, Dave, had his follow up draining at the urgent care facility nearby. For all those concerned, Dave's doctor thinks his ankle is healing nicely and is well over 70% sure he won't lose the foot and will gain superpowers. In light of the good news, we bid him adieu and headed east with vague intimations of where we would stop for the night.

We took I-10 east to "scenic" highway 90 in Mississippi. My overall impression of Mississippi was: "generally a lot better than I expected." The "scenic" highway actually turned out to be fairly scenic. It starts right away from the first rest stop on the edge of the Louisiana-Mississippi border. And talk about rest stop! This rest stop had pull-outs for picnic tables, a triple staffed info desk, free coffee, clean restrooms, free wireless internet, an odd Mardi Gras display with free beads, a free NASA rocket test site tour and a significant number of trees and scenic grassy spots. Mississippi was off to an impressive start. While I probably wouldn't make a trip to Mississippi just for the rest stop, I would sure as hell make it a priority to stop there if I were driving through the gulf! From there, the scenic highway took us along the coast, past some beautiful historic homes and plantations and right through several not-too-shabby looking casinos. We even found a nice place to stop for a Mississippi mud pie and pecan flavored beer! Mississippi, way to go.

But like all good things, Mississippi had to come to an end. No offense to all the good people we know from Alabama, but I if I never find myself back in Alabama again, I won't be too sad. We had checked ahead and knew there was a La Quinta we could stay at, but decided to call around and see if we might be able to get into a hotel with a workout facility using my rewards points from my year long hotel stay in Eugene (remember the blubber layer). It turns out there was a limited number of rooms available in Mobile due to their Mardi Gras celebration. My dad told me they have the original Mardi Gras, but it is just "less advertised." I'm not sure I believe that or not, but whatever. Rooms were scarce and the ones that were available didn't want to let Emma in. So no problem, La Quinta sans workout room will have to suffice.

Unfortunately, at the La Quinta I lost my patience and quite possibly my sanity. Here's the play-by-play: I wait 20 minutes while the lady at the front desk repeatedly tries to scan the gift cards we have. It doesn't scan the first 29 times, but I'm sure it will scan the 30th. This lady is a genius. She finally gives up and calls the 800 number. Then another 800 number. And another. She finally gives ME an 800 number to call. I do so and after punching a few hundred numbers into an automated system I get a real person who tells me both gift cards are working, valid and loaded with the amount listed. I tell the front desk lady this and ask if I can just get into a room while they sort out the issues with the cards. This decision is clearly above her pay grade so she goes into the back room for 20 more minutes. When she comes out, she lets me know her manager is calling about the gift cards-no news on the room yet. In a fit of rage I demand the cards, storm out and make snippy comments about how I'm going to find somewhere else to stay. I am the definition of maturity.

Paige and I then decided that we'd continue down the road to Pensacola where we hoped to find a hotel that knew what they were doing. At the La Quinta Inn Pensacola (spring break 2010!!!! Wooo!!!!!) Teresa, the front desk lady, handled the questionable gift cards with the customer care aplomb of a seasoned veteran. She got me into a room, promised to sort out the issue with the cards and gave me directions to a cheap ale house where I could drink away my soiled memories of Alabama.

In all fairness we didn't give Alabama a fair chance. If my friend Greg is any indication of what the "Yellowhammer State" actually has to offer I regret having missed out on the land of eclectic interests, responsible drinking habits and wildly curly hair. But I don't know if he is. Maybe I'll go back someday and find out...

Probably not though.

Greetings from New Orleans - Pictures coming later

2010-02-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hey yall --

So after two days Zach and I feel like we should shed light on some of our cultural observations made since being here in NOLA.

So without further ado:

The Top Ten Things that are Confusing to a Person Raised in NOLA, but who finds himself elsewhere:

1. When you order a drink and ask "Bartender, I'd like that to go." Um no. You can't do that. And no, tape over the straw hole won't get you past the open container laws (exception -- Igloos in College Station, at least when I lived there). You cannot order a drink and then stumble outside the bar to walk the streets with your beer, cocktail, or frozen miracle. America does not embrace this. We are sorry. No. We are really sorry. It seems fine to us. We would be on board with a campaign to fix this travesty.

2. It's not acceptable to roll an ice chest along the streets. In any other city, town, or settlement, the poooo-lice will not look kindly upon you rolling your one-man bar across the town square. Number two on our countdown also served as the inspiration for Zach's and my new business venture -- ice chests disguised as rolling suitcases. Just think, you could safely transport your three piece suit AND your case of beer to all locations. Minors everywhere, take note. We should have a prototype ready in early 2011.

3. When you say "Who dat" don't be confused if people start introducing themselves. "Who dat." "Um, it's Paige...Paige Smyth?"

4. When you say "Who dat" repeatedly, don't expect other people (including me and Zach) to be able to repeat any of the numerous acceptable responses. We don't know them. We will just smile and say "Who dat?" Which doesn't have the same gusto attached.

5. Throwing cheap plastic at women will not inspire them to show you their titties. You're actually going to be lucky if you don't get socked in the face. Good luck. We salute you.

6. Cats are not allowed to drink from people's drinks on the bar. They are scary. They make me itch. They carry leukemia.*

7. Abita is not God's gift to beer. Ouch. I know.

8. Forty degrees isn't actually "f*cking cold." Seriously, it's February. If you find yourself anywhere north of the Mason Dixon, I hope you don't freeze to death.**

9. It won't be acceptable to charge for food, no matter how good it smells or tastes, if you serve it in Walgreens plastic bags -- especially if you aren't working at a Walgreens. PS -- we love you, it was delicious.

10. All drinks you ever have from this point forward will be approximately a third of the strength to which you're accustomed.***

Also our favorite "Things overheard at dinner" quotes:

"I've known her forever. I bought that there girl her first corn dog."

"Fine. I'm wearing my leather pants...F*ck it."

*Dogs are entirely acceptable as they do not hop on bars, drink from peoples glasses, and are just better animals in general.

**Also noteworthy, if you are Christy Blain, NOT of NOLA, this still applies.

***True in all but two cases: 1) You only drink slushies sold on Bourbon for an ungodly mark-up (we're still not sure there was any alcohol in them) or 2) You are the one man/woman/child in New Orleans who refuses to drink anything but NW IPAs (we haven't found you yet, but if you're out there, we love you and want you to be our BFF).

The Ankle

2010-02-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

By popular request:

2 in 1 day?!??!?! no way!!!

2010-02-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

So in an effort to give less of a summary and be more entertaining (no where to go but up, right?) Paige and I are going to try and update the blog more frequently.

Today's second update will consist mainly of cataloguing the roadkill on the highway between Shreveport and New Orleans and describing the gangrenous foot of our New Orleans host.

First things first: there's a ton of roadkill between Shreveport and New Orleans. We saw raccoon, squirrel, cat, dog (so sad), gator, nutria, turkey, vulture, turkey vulture, deer, moose, snake, zebra, hippo, and a bull elephant. You know, nothing too crazy, but everything you need to make a simple swamp stew.

Speaking of swamps, the only other things between Shreveport and New Orleans are swamps. Lots and lots of swamps. Because of this, I decided it was not a good idea to camp between Shreveport and New Orleans. I'd hate for Emma to end up as 'gator food. So instead of camping we listened to the ever-uplifting voice of Ira Glass and NPR's This American Life for 5 hours as we made the push all the way from Shreveport to New Orleans.

Shortly before we arrived in New Orleans Paige received a text message from her grad school friend Dave, who we were planning on staying with, that said something to the effect of "I've been bitten by a radioactive spider and have started developing super powers that will turn me into the most lethal fighting machine ever to hit the Big Easy." Or something to that effect. The text message was actually more along the lines of "my ankle is swollen, scaly, bloody and oozing from a suspected spider bite...but don't let that deter you from coming." Not wanting to deprive a friend of our mothering company, we naturally followed his direction, nay his order, and sped into town.

We arrived in New Orleans to find but a shell of a man, hollowed from pain, limping out to greet us on an ankle twice as big as mine (which translates to about 16 times normal size). The poor guy's ankle started feeling weird last week so he went into urgent care on Saturday. Today he finally got in to see a doctor who's best guess was that he had a spider bite and gave him massive doses of antibiotics and pain killers. Dave's hoping for a miraculous over night recovery, but judging by the size of his ankle, I'm not surprised Paige has already had me map out the fasted route to the hospital. I'm pulling for the miraculous recovery and if not that, then miraculous crime fighting powers.

After Paige has exhausted her mothering instincts tonight, we're going to get up tomorrow and go for a run around Dave's neighborhood in the morning. If Dave is still holding steady, we're going to brave the crowds and check out the parade the city is holding for the Saints. If we're still conscious, we'll come back and I'll make Paige update the ol' blog for you.

We miss you all and look forward to seeing you soon.

Oklahoma Arkansas Louisiana

2010-02-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

So for everyone following us out there, here's the quick recap from the road:

From Dallas we headed north into Oklahoma and the 2010 Arctic Blast. Just before we started our week of camping and climbing, mother nature was kind enough to dump a half a foot of snow on Oklahoma and Arkansas. Thanks for nothing mother nature!

Before we headed up to do the camping, we stopped in and spent the afternoon with my grandparents in Marietta, Oklahoma visiting with them and shoveling as much fried catfish, hushpuppies and french fries into our mouth as we could without exploding. Paige was doing such an inadequate job at this that my grandfather's wife kept adding food to Paige's plate despite her strenuous protestations. In the end we decided that it was ok to engage in such a gluttonous affair because we needed a thick layer of blubber to protect us from the arctic blast while we were camping.

Shortly after leaving Marietta and exploring the offerings of the Oklahoma state parks, we quickly decided to scrap the camping. At least we still had our blubber layers! I can do cold camping. I can do wet camping. I can do snow camping. However I am not really up for cold, wet, melting snow camping though. Especially not when there's a perfectly good super scary, cheap motel. While Paige was in the restroom at said motel discovering red splatter all over the walls and shower curtains, I was reinforcing the door with a chair under the door handle. Can't be too safe in a motel with bloodstains!

The next morning we made the drive into Fayetteville, AR where we spent the better part of the day visiting with Ms. Vicki and her sister Michelle, Paige's best friend's mom. They were kind enough to let us play with Michelle's adorable children as well as getting us a fajita lunch. After a teary goodbye, we bid them adieu and continued our journey through the scenic Arkansas countryside to Eureka Springs.

We had heard Eureka Springs was supposed to be a charming town and I'm sure it would have been, had anything in the damned town been open. We didn't realize it, but we were visiting during the off season. This fact, combined with the still-not-melted snow meant that just about every restaurant, shop and attraction in town was shut down. On the upside, you can't beat $35 motels that are stain free!

The best part about Eureka Springs? The only restaurant open was called the "Rowdy Beaver." We took a picture of Paige in front of the sign.

Yes, that's right, she's pointing at her "rowdy beaver."

The next morning we beat it out of town and headed to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Jasper, AR to try to do a bit of climbing. The weather was good enough to squeeze in one pretty good day of climbing. Since we were the only ones in town in the middle of the week at the ranch aside from the staff, I had to put my well honed bumming skills to work. I managed to convince the guy who ran the ranch's shop to close up and come climbing with me. This was both good and bad. He showed me a lot of fun routes, but also showed me how weak and out of shape I've gotten. Damn you blubber!

The next day's weather called for sleet, snow, ice and crud so we hightailed it south where we spent two days in Heber Springs with my Aunt Nette. Because of the ever faster deterioration of my figure and the non stop freezing rain, Paige and I decided to sneak into the local gym to whip ourselves back into shape with one massive workout. The sneaking into the gym was facilitated by my Aunt Nette having taught kindergarten to every man woman and child in Heber Springs. She phoned one of her myriad friends who just happened to own the gym and suddenly the sneaking into the gym became phenomenally easier. Unfortunately the one workout didn't do the trick and we've decided to start sneaking into gyms on a more regular basis.

After our tour de Arkansas we hightailed it south to Shreveport, LA to meet up with Benjamin Luck, the priest who married us. Under his guidance, we experienced every indulgence Shreveport has to offer. I think the highlight of the weekend was the Mardi Gras parade. This eight hour festival consisted of six hours of flip cup, a walk around the neighborhood (where we got called redneck potheads), slushies, black and milds, crawfish, cake balls, macaroni, hamburgers, sausage, cookies, camo, and more food. Hello blubber! It was amazing.

The real highlight of the weekend was yesterday when Paige and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. Being on the road, we celebrated in a low-key fashion with pizza and a beer during the SuperBowl. It has been an incredible year and I consider myself a very lucky man.

Right now we're about to get our stuff together and head into New Orleans. I hope my liver makes it out of there in one piece.

Here are a few more pictures from the trip so far:

Eureka Springs covered in Snow

Keel Creek Winery in Arkansas: I'd recommend the $5 wine tasting, but not actually buying any bottles. There's just something a little off about Arkansas wine.

Jasper, AR

Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

Our wedding officiant, former roommate and good friend, Benjamin Luck.

Thanks for showing us such a good time!

On the Road Again

2010-01-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

Well, after a long break Paige and I are back on the road again. We hung around Texas for a long to get things settled a bit, hang out with family and killed time so that when we left Texas we could go through Louisiana during Mardi Gras.

So now we're on the road. We got things started off right with a trip north through College Station where we spent a night with my sister and her college friends where we played games and danced at the local, collegiate watering hole. Despite the fact that we were about 10 years older than her and her friends we had a fantastic time. Nothing beats people watching on a Thursday night at a bar called Hurricane Harry's.

From there we continued the northward journey towards Dallas and spent a long, peaceful weekend at my mom's lakehouse. We arrived in Dallas yesterday and spent the night with Lisa and Todd. Our plan is to spend the rest of the week here in Dallas with family and friends, then head out on Sunday or Monday. If the weather is good in the Ozarks of Arkansas (i.e. no wintry mix forecasted) we're going to go up there to camp and climb for a week before we drop into the Gulf Coast to start our trip. If the wintry mix wins out, we'll skip the Arkansas leg and go into Louisiana early.

Here is a map of our projected itinerary:

View Road Trip: Portland to Houston in a larger map

From Louisiana we'll be driving east along the Gulf Coast to Florida where we'll jump straight across to St. Augustine to meet friends from Portland. From there we'll head up the coast to Savanna and Charleston, then inland to Atlanta to stay with family. After that we'll go roughly along the Appalachian mountains all the way to Maine. We'll be coming back via a more midwesterly route with stops along the great lakes, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

At that point we don't really have much of a plan. Assuming we make it that far, we'll have to evaluate what's left of our bank account and motivation. If we need a break, we'll probably head back to Texas. If not, we'll be westward bound.

Start looking for more regular updates starting next week. In the meantime, here's a rough itinerary for you to look at and figure out where you want to meet us.

2/1-2/6 Arkansas: Climbing at Horshoe Canyon Ranch, camping on the Buffalo River, Aunt Nette in Heber Springs
2/6-2/8 Shreveport, LA: everyone's dream vacation? We'll be staying with our wedding officiant Ben Luck, aka mr. fun
2/8-2/14 Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida: Mardi Gras, Gulf Coast fun
2/14-2/17 St. Augustine Florida: Yay Lincoln, Leola, Blackie and Mariann
2/17-2/21 Savannah, Charleston, Atlanta
2/21-3/3 Atlanta to Washington, DC via Chatanooga, Asheville, Red River Gorge, and the Virginias (this is where our dates start to get pretty loose so if you want to meet us somewhere, let us know and we can make arrangements).
3/3 -3/8 Washington, DC: Happy hour anyone? Camping trip Maggie?
3/8-3/10 DC-NYC: We're taking recommendations for things to do between these two spots. After being forced to watch Jersey Shore last night I've decided we'll definitely be avoiding the coast.
3/10-3/15 New York City: I've never been. Looking forward to it.
3/15-3/19 Explore NH, VT, Maine: Hopefully we don't freeze to death.
3/19-3/21 Boston: Cameron and Josh, I hope you don't have plans yet
3/22-4/? Rochester NY, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Chicago, Madison, WI, St Paul, MN: This is a long ways off. The dates and locations from here on out are fuzzier than my vision without contacts in, but we'll be moving a tad quicker through this section of the trip.

Holiday Recap

2010-01-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

In case you're wondering what's new with Paige and Zach, the long and short of it is not a whole lot...which has been nice (for now).

We spent the holidays hanging out with friends and family, shuffling between houses in Houston and Dallas. All of our Christmas celebrations were wonderful. Friends. Family. Presents. Lots of food. Probably not all that different from anyone else's Christmas, but special in its own right. I will spare you the blow by blow, however highlights include...

Seeing one of Paige's best friends act in the play A Christmas Carol.
Homemade cinnamon rolls and family time on Christmas day.
Getting to play with all five of the nieces and nephews in Dallas.
Playing a new board game called "Quelf" with my family and then having to explain to my aunts what the word "quief" meant. My sister used the word in a "list as many words that start with the letter 'Q' " competetion and no one else would explain what it meant to them.
Getting settled into Justin's house. I forgot how fun it was to live with another guy. I finally have someone who will do all the stupid crap with me Paige never would.

We are spending the next few weeks in Houston and then heading to Dallas for a bit before we get back on the road February first. Depending on the weather we'll either be heading through Louisiana by way of Arkansas or straight into Louisiana.

From there we're trying to figure out our route. We'll probably hug the coast until we get to Florida, where we'll jump straight over to the Atlantic side for a few days. After that we'll cut inland to the mountains via Atlanta and stick close to the Appalachian Trail all the way up through New England. Start looking at a map and a calendar and figure out where you want to meet us. We want to see you in a bad way.

Thats all for now. Give us a call. We'd love to hear from you.

Houston: Home Sweet Home

2009-12-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in posting a new update. My little sister has been berating me nonstop to post something new and since I didn't get her anything for Christmas, I thought this could suffice.

We left Phoenix last Friday and booked it to El Paso where we stayed with Paige's Uncle Frank, Grandpa Derf (Fred spelled backwards...don't ask) and cousin Marie. Saturday we got up early and pushed all the way to Houston.

Highlights from the drive included eating at a pizza hut buffet in New Mexico, reviewing an "entrance exam" on Smyth family history given to the new fiance of one of Paige's cousins, and driving for 18 hours on I-10. My favorite question from the quiz was from the essay portion: "Explain in 1000 words why you want to be a part of the Smyth family. Because I'm in love with a member of the family does not count. Please be specific."

We've spent the last few days in Houston wrapping up Christmas shopping, hanging out with friends and family and getting settled into our new home with Justin. My best friend Justin recently bought a house in Houston and has graciously offered to let us bunk down with him until we get our own place. We are going to use his place as home base during the rest of our time off. Then we'll live with him for a few more months after we settle into Houston while we save some money to get our own place.

We're spending Christmas with Paige's family then heading to Dallas to spend some time with my family next week. We will probably spend New Years in Houston.

It has been a nice change of pace to settle a bit in Houston. When we initially packed the car for the roadtrip we also had to pack our whole house at the same time. With everything going on, we ended up with more crap in our car than we would have liked. After three weeks on the road, we've figured out exactly what we need and what we don't and we're glad to have the opportunity to trim the fat. I think Emma has also enjoyed having a bit more stability. Between being on the road and not being able to exercise because of her hurt paw, she was starting to get a bit antsy. I think Paige has also enjoyed the stability as well. The simple act of getting settled in with Justin and knowing where all of our stuff is has been a surprising relief. I've had a lot of fun exploring Houston (as opposed to Houston's suburbs) for the first time and I think we're going to end up surprised at how much we enjoy the city. Houston is wildly different from Portland, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. At first pass, there seems to be a lot of things to enjoy. That being said, we're still looking forward to getting back on the road and seeing the country.

Here're a few pictures from the last leg of our trip (Las Vegas to Houston):

Paige in front of the Hoover Dam

View from the top of CamelBack Mountain in Phoenix

Nephew Jaxson with Paige

Phoenix

2009-12-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

Alas, I have not yet convinced my sister to name her unborn child after me. Why does she have to be so selfish all the time? Other than that, Arizona has been great.

On the way to Phoenix we stopped at the Hoover Dam and at the Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff. Paige and I were pretty impressed with the Hoover Dam; its pretty damn big. Due to the overwhelming number of recommendations to stop and take the tour at the dam, we really had no choice but to stop. We were told by everyone to pay the extra money and take the "deluxe" tour. In the end we couldn't let go of the $60 for the fancy tour and just did the regular tour. I think we should have ponied up the dough though. The basic tour was just an elevator ride down to the bottom where we saw a big pipe and a walk to see the generators. We had a better time watching the videos in the exhibit hall than riding an elevator with 60 other people. Oh well-live and learn. In the end, just walking around the dam was the most impressive part. As my buddy Jackson from Portland told me, "the Hoover dam changed the whole west." Seeing the dam makes you understand how.

We cruised into Phoenix with our one headlight (still working on replacing that darn thing) and spent the night with my sister Summer. The next day we hung out with her and my nephew Jaxson at their house. Today we went on a hike in Phoenix up Camelback Mountain. The hike was nice except for the fact that I had to stare longingly at the walls all afternoon and wish I had a climbing partner around.

Tomorrow we're starting the two day trek out to Houston and basically skipping most of Arizona and New Mexico. It has been hard to skip so much of the southwest, but we've been consoled by knowing we'll be back here next summer to explore it more thoroughly.

I suppose that's all for now. As always, if anyone is interested in meeting up with us, give us a call and we'll come meet you. I would love to have a climbing partner I knew for once. El Potrero Chico over the winter anyone? Paige would love to see anyone other than me pretty much. I think I might be driving her crazy.

Pictures from Death Valley

2009-12-15T08:09:00.001-08:00

Mosaic Canyon

Who knew they had sand dunes in Death Valley?

Who's the best dog ever? Emma finally learned to settle down while on a dog run.

They have a golf course in Death Valley?!?! This seemed too absurd not to take a picture of. Where do they get the water to water the grass?

The lowest point in North America

Paige and I underneath the natural bridge in one of the canyons at Death Valley

Vegas Baby, Vegas

2009-12-14T22:06:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh Vegas. What an interesting city. It is the epitome of commercialism and somehow still wildly irresistible.

We arrived in Vegas by way of Death Valley where we spent the better part of a day and a half. We scooted out of Bishop, CA early on Friday with hopes (my hopes) of climbing south of there where hopefully the weather was a bit warmer. Alas, the climbing locale known as the Alabama Hills was not as warm as its namesake would have you believe. It was a brisk morning and I could not convince Paige to climb with me. I will say, the climbing looked extremely promising and I hope to come back sometime when there are other climbers around and/or the weather is warmer.

From there we hopped into Death Valley and went for a few hikes. Our first stop was Mosaic Canyon, a very cool slot canyon that narrowed to just a few feet in some places. We followed up the canyon hike with a stroll along the sand dunes right before sunset and settled into our campsite just after dusk. The next morning we went for a run around the campsite and down around the visitor center. We stopped in at the lowest golf course on earth in the heart of death valley and headed back to our tent for breakfast and to get packed up. On the way out we made sure to stop in at the salt flat (the lowest point in north america) and for another short hike through yet another canyon.

Once we were back in cell phone range we called Marc Moore, Paige's friend from high school and met him at his house in Las Vegas. While we killed time before we headed down to the strip, Marc introduced us to the hilarious show that is "It's Always Funny in Philadelphia." I had no idea what I'd been missing out on. This show is hilarious.

Once we deemed it late enough to head downtown, we went on a tour of the strip that was not to be forgotten. After the statutory visits to Caesar's Palace, the Bellagio, and all the rest, we ended up at Marc s favorite spot, O'Shea's. If memory serves, we had a good time. You'll have to check with Paige for all the details, but I think we won like a million dollars. I don't remember exactly. I'm pretty sure it happened though.

There's not much to say for Sunday. It was a day of rest. It was much needed.

After Sunday's recovery, today I actually got out for a real day of climbing. While Paige tended to the home-front and to Emma's wounded paw, I went out and made some new climbing friends at Red Rock Canyon. In true Zach fashion, I found several groups of climbers and forced myself on them. By the end of the day I'd racked up almost a dozen pitches and managed to find a half dozen new belay partners that were willing to catch me (a kind gesture on their part considering I was generally twice their size).

Tomorrow we are going to head to Phoenix to stay with my sister Summer and my brother-in-law Matt. While there I will try to convince Summer to name her unborn child after one of her favorite brothers. I think Zachary Boyd has a nice ring to it. It sounds almost as nice as Zacharina Boyd in case the child is a girl. I'll let you know how it turns out. If I can't convince her to name her kid after me, we might go for a hike or something instead. Who knows.

Thats all for now.

P.S. I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow from death valley.

Quick Post from Vegas

2009-12-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

I'll update later about our time in Death Valley, but I just wanted to make a quick note. We just got into Vegas and are staying with Paige's friend from high school, Mark Moore. I just want to say, its AMAZING! Holy frijoles, I love being back in a bachelor pad.

Recap of his tour of the place:
"We're moving, you can't mess anything up"
"put anything anywhere you want"
"this is the shower. It works how every other shower you've ever used works."

While he was running an errand, I unloaded a few things into the fridge. Here's a quick inventory of items in the kitchen:

BB Gun (why won't paige let me have one of these?)
Box of hamburger helper. I miss the helper. Again, Paige, why can't we buy this?
A book called "getting it on"
4 varieties of pepper/steak seasoning
Log cabin syrup (I buy this, but Paige would prefer if I didn't)
3 jars of peanut butter
An amazing looking store bought apple pie
A framed picture of the Backstreet Boys. Ironic? Hilarious.

Oh lordy, I miss living with men.

Snow Shoeing, Adventure, and Bishop

2009-12-10T21:40:00.000-08:00

Hallo there, friends. Sorry about the delay in posting, we've had a pretty interesting, some might say, painful, couple of days -- but more on that later.

After our awesome day in Napa (thanks, Alex), we felt like doing, well, nothing. Yes, I know all of you out there are groaning -- but really, people, even when you're unemployed and traveling, you sometimes need a day to do nothing. We stayed in, played with the kitties, watched Apocalypto (or something like that), napped, and went for a run. Yep. That's it.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Meredith, Alex, Dumpy, and Izzy for opening up their home to us and letting us crash for a few days. A special message to Dumps and Izz -- sorry about the fact that you may or may not have almost died. You're fluffy, and we like you, even if Emma doesn't.

We left Sacramento after dropping Mer at work and making a quick stop at the grocery store and Trader Joes (yay Vegetarian Chili and Joe Joes!) and headed to Lake Tahoe. The region has been getting a lot of snow lately, so several of the roads around the Lake were closed off. We decided that driving all the way around the lake wasn't worth the risk of getting stuck somewhere, so we took the most direct route on the 50.

What I can say about Lake Tahoe -- it is definitely not ugly. Seems like you just round this corner and then there it is...this crystal blue lake surrounded by mountains. Breathtaking.

I wish we had pictures, but well, we were busy gawking and then busy trying to locate the visitor center to find out where to snow shoe that we missed the view points to pull off the road. Sorry folks!!

We got a recommendation from a very lovely man that ran a shop full of mounted fish and animal heads (turns out his "winter sports" were a little more hunting and fishing oriented than snow-showing) we headed to Spooner Lake for a little sunshine, snow, and exercise.

As we were getting ready to head out, we ran into an older couple that had just finished up. Apparently folks had been ice skating on the lake a few days before, so it was pretty solid. Walking across a frozen lake...that sounded cool!

Me walking out towards the lake:

I was having a blast watching Emma run around:

Zach was having a blast making faces at me:

And as it turns out, Zach and I are both scaredy cats -- we only got a little ways out on the lake before I started "hearing water." It's very likely I was hearing the water sloshing in the water bladder in my backpack -- but really, I'm risk averse. So the only one who got more than 5 feet from the shoreline was Emma (risk-loving).

The slight bump in the snow on the right side of the picture is the shoreline:

Feeling thoroughly tired (when we weren't on the lake we were shoeing through at least 2.5 - 3 feet of snow) we wrapped up the hike and headed back to the trail head. It was there we discovered that Emma had split her paw pretty badly. Good thing the bears are hibernating (or at least this is what we said to comfort ourselves).

Don't worry, though, we're making sure to clean and dress her wound a few times a day and she seems to be no worse for the wear.

After leaving Spooner Lake, we began the 180 mile drive to Bishop, California. This is where stuff got interesting.

We had noticed as the sun started to set that one of our headlights was out -- as we were driving through a very sparsely populated route, we couldn't exactly stop to fix the headlight, so we just drove on -- we could see just fine with our brights on, and since there weren't that many cars on the highway that wasn't a problem. So we're driving along, and a state trooper passes us, slows, then pulls behind us. Great. We're getting pulled over. We stop and the officer asks for my license and registration and all that jazz. He said he was only stopping us for the headlight, so I figure we'll get a warning and that will be that (I mean, even he can understand that there isn't exactly a Pep Boys in Mammoth Lakes, CA).

But. Wow. He was taking a really long time. I look to Zach suspiciously and ask -- is there anything on your record (because we're both listed on the insurance) that I should know about? -- because clearly my record is clear. He protests that there's nothing -- and we continue to wait. Officer returns:

"Ma'am, can you step out of the car?"

So I'm pretty annoyed. It's 13 degrees outside, and I think we've devoted enough time to my hatred of temperatures lower than 39 degrees. I get out of the car -- maybe I was swerving? It was kind of windy. Then this --

"Ma'am, seems you have a warrant out for your arrest in Oregon for an unpaid towing ticket on a Honda Civic, I'm going to have to take you down to county and book you until we can get this sorted out."

A little back story for those of you before I tell you how awesome County jail is --

About a year and a half ago, in between theft one and theft two of my Honda Civic, I came home from vacation to find my car marked as an abandoned vehicle in front of my house (since you know, it had been there for a week or two because I don't drive often and then went out of town). I try to call the number on the thingy, but no one answers so I take the tag off and then move the car, figuring this is okay.

The next day I return from work to find my car missing. At first I thought maybe it had been stolen again (foreshadowing, perhaps?) but a few hours later I located it at a tow yard. I picked it up, paid the tow fee, and figured I was done with it.

Six weeks later I got a letter in the mail addressed to my father from the County. Seems that on top of the towing fee, I was supposed to pay a fee for my "alleged" abandoned vehicle. Apparently there was a ticket on the car (there wasn't, just a sticker from the towing company). I call, try and sort it out, to no avail. The County won't let my father (me) protest the charges until I pay the fine, and since it's been six weeks, the fine is now $500. I call Dad to ask if he's gotten any similar letter (the title was in his name at this time) and he insists that I do not pay the ticket. I mean, he went as far as saying, "PAIGE, I WILL BE VERY ANGRY IF YOU PAY THIS TICKET." And I could just imagine him stamping his feet and turning that very red color that he turns when he's very angry. So I told him, hey, it's in your name -- I don't care. He took down the number to call the place and that was that.

Skip forward to yesterday. Upon arriving at the Inyo County Jail, they explain that when the title was transferred into my name, the ticket also transferred. Because I failed to pay the ticket they issued a warrant. And then it was official. I was arrested.

Now, this isn't exactly the type of adventure I thought I would be having on this trip -- I mean, if I was going to be arrested, at least I would have liked to have done something -- and since I'm risk averse (as aforementioned) this was pretty unlikely. And normally I would think I'd be reacting pretty badly. I mean, I cry when I'm cold or when I miss my friends (I MISS YOU!). You'd think I would cry, but no! The whole thing just seemed absurdly funny to me.

I guess the good news was, since it was relatively early, I didn't have but one cell mate. We'll call her Hettie. Hettie had but 3 teeth and smelled of malt liquor, but Hettie was nice enough. She didn't so much talk to me as talk around me (something about it being too late, too cold, and her dinner was burning), so I just sat there, hoping that all that saving that both Zach and I had been doing for this roadtrip would cover my bail/lawyer if needed.

Long story short -- once Zach paid the man the ticket price and some paperwork was passed back and forth, I was free to go.

We got back on the road to Bishop, and pulled into our motel a few hours later than expected, but still early enough to catch some horrendous movie on FX that Zach made me watch.

Today we spent the day climbing (more accurately, Zach bouldered. I read a Tale of Two Cities and walked around with the camera). I am including a few photos that I took that are not quite as sucky as my normal photos.

Zach on a bouldering problem at the Happy Boulders.

Getting ready for his next climb:

Walking with the dog at the foot of the hill:

Emma running and having fun:

Trying to catch the Sierras as they looked -- I'm not good enough with the camera to do them justice:

Well that's it yall, at least for today. Tomorrow we head south toward Death Valley.

And yea, just kidding, we really only got a warning for the headlight, but it did take a REALLY long time for that cop to get back to the car -- long enough for me to worry about Dad's OR warrant coming back to haunt me. :)

Race Results

2009-12-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

FYI-for anyone interested, we placed 13th in the Open Coed Relay out of 249 teams in the California International Relay Challenge.

Pictures from Napa, CA

2009-12-08T00:18:00.001-08:00

Cat Hunts, Wine Tastings, and World Domination

2009-12-07T23:24:00.000-08:00

Today finds us once again, reporting live from Sacramento. Paige and I have decided to extend our stay here by one more night so we could spend time with Meredith when she returns from her business trip.

Interestingly enough, this in turn gives Emma one more night to capture one of the cats, Izzy and Potsticker (affectionately called Dumpy because of the extra weight she carries). This may be just enough time, considering Emma's getting closer and closer. Only this morning she had her closest call yet. Due to gross negligence on the part of someone who shall remain nameless (their name starts with a "P" and it rhymes with "rage"), Emma escaped our bedroom before the cats had been put away. Unfortunately for Emma, her fast food breakfast was just a tad too fast and narrowly managed to elude her. This morning Emma went after Izzy, the more agile of the two cats. If slow and pudgy Dumpy gets chased next time, Dumpy might find herself in a world of hurt! Despite the sheer Glee Alex gets from seeing the cats scramble, we'll be keeping Emma on a short leash for the rest of the trip. We'd really like to make it to Christmas without any feline casualties.

After the big cat hunt, Alex took Paige and I up and down the Napa Valley to taste some wine. We stopped in at about a half dozen wineries or so. I don't know much about wine, but I'd say that most of them were at least as good or better than Franzia or Carlo Rossi. We had fun and the area was gorgeous. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. The highlight of the adventure however was when we stopped for lunch at KFC/A&W. With Alex's help, I finally managed to out-vote Paige and get some fast food! Where else would you stop to eat in Napa?!?!

We rounded out the evening with the finest pizza Digiorno had to offer and played a couple of games of Settlers. True to form, Alex snatched victory from the hands of defeat right at the end of the first game. I demanded a rematch. While I continued to use about as much strategy as one uses when playing Candyland, Paige unseated the champion and dealt Alex his first ever defeat. And since what's mine is Paige's and what's Paige's is mine (thats how marriage works, right?), really, it was ME who dealt him his first defeat! I don't care that Paige did all the hard work or that I made mistakes after mistake. I don't even care that it wasn't really Alex's first defeat! All that matters is that I won... and that feels damn good.

And since I beat Alex, that means I am free to go home for Christmas! Woo Hoo! It doesn't look like anyone is going to be able to get time off to meet us in Vegas, so here is a revised rough itinerary for anyone who cares and/or lives along the way and/or still wants to meet us somewhere:

12/8 Happy 20th birthday for my little sister Mackenzie (if you are reading this call and wish her a happy birthday. I don't care if you don't know her. Her number is 214-532-1475.)

12/9 Leaving Sacramento in the morning, spending the day in Tahoe

12/10-11 Climbing in Bishop, CA

12/12 Death Valley National Park

12/13-14 Climbing Red Rocks/Going out in Las Vegas

12/15 -19 Climbing Arizona/Camping Arizona/Staying with Summer in Phoenix

12/19 Drive Phoenix-El Paso

12/20 Drive El Paso-Austin/San Antonio

12/21 Arrive in Houston

Remember, if you want to meet us, our travel plans are flexible. We'd love to see any of you.

Roadrunner, Roadrunner going 100 MPH

2009-12-06T18:06:00.000-08:00

Pictures from the California International Relay Challenge

2009-12-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

In reverse-time order:

The team in front of the Capital after the race. For my coworkers -- note the Kaiser SWAG on Zach's head...

Another shot of the Capital.

Zach supporting me as I "recover." Mmmmm chocolate milk and cookies.

Zach's pretty.

The leader. By the time I saw him at mile 20 he had at least a 1-2 minute lead on the next guys behind him (and that was at 1:47).

Mer took this for Lisa (I think the Foo's cuter)

Welcome to Sunny Sacramento

2009-12-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

In case you were wondering, the hippies over in Berkeley actually DO know how to run a BBQ joint. Between Pablo and Patrick's company and the pulled-pork plate, we had a fabulous Thursday night. I think we might have even convinced Pablo to join us in Vegas. Now if he can just convince the good doctor to come along, we'll be all set to have a rip-roaring good time in Las Vegas next weekend!

After dinner Paige decided to shake her money maker in the kitchen with our temporary roommates until I finally had to say good night and pass out fully clothed on the couch. She was moving a bit slow on Friday morning due to her late night dance-athon so we got a bit of a late start. Nevertheless, we managed to sneak in a quick tour of the Berkeley campus and grab coffee and a bun at Crixia Cakes (highly recommended) before we headed east to stay with our friends Meredith and Alex in Sacramento.

Woo Hoo Sacramento!!! We've had a blast since we got to Sacramento. The cute little city aside, it has been a blast to spend time with friends we haven't seen in ages without feeling rushed like we do at the holidays or long weekends. Since we were SOA (starving on arrival) Mer and Alex took us out to eat at Meredith's favorite restaurant, Sandra Dee's for some tasty southern food. From there we retreated to the house to open a bottle of wine and battle it out with a rousing game of Settlers, a new board game for Paige and me. Even after Paige, Meredith and I teamed up against Alex, he still managed to snag the victory. From what I understand he is all powerful and can not been beaten. Naturally, given my competitive nature, I'm not leaving his house until I have beaten him. It might be a while. Mom, Dad, I hope I can make it home by Christmas.

This afternoon while I strategized for victory in Settlers, we trading in the Thule box that fell off of our car for a nice new one from REI. Nothing beats the REI return policy (we actually got $25 back). Later Meredith and Alex took us on a 20 mile bike ride along the American River to warm us up for the marathon relay we are doing with them tomorrow. The marathon relay should be a lot of fun, but Paige and I didn't run so much during our last few weeks in Portland and are a tad out of shape. To say that we are both under-trained for this event would be the understatement of the year. We'll let you know how it goes. I hope they have beer at the finish line.

Pictures from San Francisco

2009-12-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Note the "Danger BioHazard-No swimming" sign this woman has hung her clothes from

Trans America Pyramid

Paige in front of the Embarcadero

obligatory picture of the Golden Gate Bridge

The Palace of Fine Arts

Paige inside the Palace of Fine Arts

By request of Sharon: Pictures of Emma

2009-12-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Emma in Northern California

San Francisco

2009-12-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

So here's the latest from San Francisco: The buildings are gorgeous, the hills are steep, and the drivers are vicious.

We spent our first night here in a luxurious bed where Paige experienced the long since forgotten joy of waking up, getting out of bed and not freezing. Which in turn meant that I got to experience the long forgotten joy of waking up, getting out of bed, and not having to console a crying wife with frozen appendages. It was glorious.

Naturally, being in the bay area, we decided we needed to go into San Francisco and see the city. The only thing we had planned was a meet up with Daniel Templeton, a friend from high school who lives in the city. In an effort to be more mobile and to possibly walk around with Emma, we decided to drive into the city, park the car and explore from there. Being a human compass, this sounded like a stupendous idea. I looked up a nice parking garage online, noted the slightly less than outrageous price, and motored directly to it. Upon pulling into the garage and tapping the "low clearance" sign with the ever-so-troublesome Thule box, I backed out onto the street and searched for another garage. After this Austin Powers-esque moment played itself out several more times, I decided it was time to drive back to Ashley's house and take mass transit into the city. So, 15 minutes after driving across the bay bridge for the first time, I got to turn around and drive back over it again.

San Francisco: take two.

Mass transit is a beautiful thing. I don't know why I didn't have faith in it from the get go. We had no trouble parking the car at a park-and-ride and getting into the city lickity-split. We'd heard from several people that we should check out the Mission district, so we got off at 16th and Mission. Between the raving crazies and all the homeless people, the neighborhood was a little grittier than we expected so we decided to skedaddle We headed north towards downtown and proceeded to walk all over the city. We checked out SOMA, Market Street, the Embarcadero, the Ferry Building, nob hill and several other neighborhoods. We finished the afternoon up at City Lights bookstore and then headed to happy hour at a nearby bar. Daniel met us there with his lovely girlfriend Stacey. We had a few drinks, went to dinner and called it a night.

We went back into the city today and hit all the touristy stops. We walked the entire Embarcadero, saw the sea lions on Pier 39, and basked in the neon glow of Fisherman's Wharf. A former colleague of mine (from back when I actually did work) picked us up and gave us a tour of the west side of the city and dropped us off just under the Golden Gate bridge. We took the obligatory pictures and wandered back downtown to meet another friend from college for wine. Oh and by the way, in case you are curious, there are absolutely no rules about how many people are allowed to squeeze onto a single city bus in San Francisco. Or if there are, they are blatantly disregarded. On our normal sized city bus, there were well over 120 people. A small asian lady leaned on me for a dozen blocks or so. It was sort of nice and sort of not nice. In the end it was too much. We finally had to swim our way out and walk the last few blocks.

And now I must bid you adieu. We are headed into Berkeley to meet up with my friend from college for some BBQ at a place called T-Rex. I'm not so sure how good BBQ could be in Berkeley, but I hear this restaurant is the only place to get dinosaur this time of year. What are you going to do?

FYI: Some pictures are available on facebook, but I'll try to post some more on this website later tonight.

More Pictures

2009-12-02T10:32:00.001-08:00

Hwy 1, She Giveth and She Taketh Away

2009-12-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

So we left open mic last night, which by the way, sounded a lot better than Ear Bleed Arcata Open Mic Night.

sidebar -- I looked up whether bleeding from the ear is ever a good thing, or even just NOT a bad thing - as it turns out, the only time bleeding is expected and/or a good thing is due to deliberate puncturing of the eardrum to drain the ear of unwanted fluids and blood originating from extreme infection. This procedure should only be performed by a licensed surgeon. Since neither Zach nor I have extreme infection and/or unwanted fluids and blood in our ears AND I seriously doubt Aaron, the performer from the open mic night in Arcata, was a licensed surgeon (at least he did not testify, testify, testify, testify, testify -- yes really -- testify, testify to being so), YES, it is safe to say that the open mic night performance in Arcata was horrendously bad.

Back to the point, yes, we left and traveled south through Mendocino to arrive at our campsite at Van Damme State Park which all in all wasn't too shabby. I think we're getting better and better at this camping thing, or at least more and more clear about what we need to do better and better.

I'd say Emma has earned a C + in slack-line dog-run leashing. She does all right when she's eating and we're setting stuff up around her -- not sure if she'll ever be cool with it for extended periods of time. Regardless, she didn't get eaten by a bear so I'd say 1 point for the the dog-run.

I am still having temperature issues -- apparently I don't own base layers, socks, or water resistant gloves that can actually keep me from A) Being a super-bia in the morning and B) Crying and apologizing for being a super-bia in the morning approximately 30 minutes after I warm up. If you're struggling with what to get me for Christmas, any of those things would be amazing -- and Zach would thank you for preventing this vicious a.m. cycle.

After a breakfast of beans and egg tacos seasoned with my tears, we headed off to downtown Mendocino to see the sights. Mendocino is a sleepy little coastal town with picturesque cliffs, art galleries, book stores, bed and breakfasts. We got to the city around 9 and walked around for a few hours. Notable sites -- one of the galleries had many pieces by this artist that were pretty cool and, quite surprising, if not disturbing, the visitor center's photo mushroom exhibit ("We used to have a live mushroom exhibit -- but we had to get rid of it because they got smelly").

Nothing like fungi to get you in the mood for some physical activity. Zach suited up to bike a 30 mile stretch of Hwy 1 between Mendocino and Port Arena. Emma and I went ahead in the car, stopping to play ball at a few of the beaches and take some photos at a view point or two. I would share some of the photos with you if I could -- the northern coast from Hwy 1 is absolutely stunning with it's misty cliffs and crazy big, powerful waves -- but I can't because, again, my photography skills can best be described as "sucky" and so you'll have to hope that Zach caught a few shots from his bike which will undoubtedly (and annoyingly) come out better than anything I took with our nice camera.

Zach and I met up at the Port Arena Lighthouse -- or more accurately at the cafe 2 miles from the lighthouse. A short bagel and cheetos break later, we were off again. Hwy 1 is gorgeous. Really. Gorgeous. Hwy 1 is also super, super curvy -- up to this point it hadn't been so bad, but the section of road following Port Arena was especially treacherous, hugging the cliffs of the coast and twisting with hairpin turns. As some of you (namely Mom, Dad, and Penny) know, I don't do so hot with the motion sickness. You're reading the words of a woman who spent 95% of all childhood roadtrips in a drug induced coma to avoid throwing up (Thanks, Mom).

sidenote -- My grandmother's best friend, Aunt Jeanne, once lost a prized hat to my "problem." I had a red slurpee before leaving the hot springs. I rode in the very back of the Suburban. The hat left blue, came back purple. You do the math.

Just as I felt like I was going to toss my cookies, though, my attention was drawn elsewhere. As we rounded a particularly tight turn, a strange noise not unlike the noise your garbage makes as it is hurled into the back of the municipal truck tumbled through the roof of the car. I instinctively looked back to see what had shifted in the car that would make such a noise when out of the rear passenger window I see our entire Thule box tumbling off of the roof of the car and rolling towards the cliff side of the highway (for those of you wondering) . Lucky for us, the box is pretty heavy and not designed for rolling, so it slid to a stop before reaching the edge. Zach had just enough time to slide the box out of traffics way before any cars came by.

One of the brackets was broken, another bent, but no one was hurt, the car is fine, and REI has an outstanding return policy. We strapped that puppy back on the car after unloading a few items (yay cam straps) and headed on to San Francisco.

We're staying in Richmond tonight (and possibly tomorrow) with a friend of J.J.'s, Ashley, and her housemates, who are all lovely and wonderfully hospitable (can you say warm, homemade mushroom barley soup??). We even got to drink some Kompucha -- apparently Christian, Emily's brother and housemate loves this stuff. He likes to tell people how awful it is, and then force them to drink it. It wasn't so bad -- kind of like carbonated sake.

Alrighty, that's it for tonight, I'm pooped and so is Zach. More tomorrow!

Today's Pictures: Richardson Grove State Park, Highway 1, the Beach just north of Fort Bragg

2009-11-30T18:13:00.001-08:00

BLASPHEMY! LIES! HOGWASH!

2009-11-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

I refuse to be vilified in such a manner!

1. Brushing teeth is not as important as your dentist would recommend. Apples are nature's toothbrush. I'm not saying I ate an apple, just stating a fun fact. Besides, I got around to it eventually...or rather will get around to it.

2. The underwear incident is still under review. I maintain my position of innocent-until-proven-guilty. Right now the only witness (Emma) is refusing to cooperate.

3. Just like the burnt cheese crisps on Thanksgiving, there is more than enough responsibility to go around. I am not my ice chests keeper.

4. Taxidermied animals? Really. I think this should be moved into the column of "reasons I do appreciate Zach today." If the FBI had any idea that Paige was as obsessed with taxidermied animals to the degree in which she is, she'd be tops on their watch list. I'm doing her a favor by keeping her sicko fascinations under the radar.

Alright, but seriously folks, you're probably not here to watch me score points on Paige. You're here to find out what we've been up to lately. Either that or because its commercial time on the TV and you haven't ponied up for a TiVO yet.

Here's the play-by-play since you last joined us:

After leaving the coffee shop in Arcata (where the open mic night made our ears bleed...in a bad way) we went on the never-ending hunt for a camp site. For those of you traveling through northern California hoping to camp most of the way, you should note that there is a scarcity of non-RV-infested campsites from the southern edge of Redwoods National and State Parks to about two or three hours south of there. We had decided to forgo camping in the national park because they ask that you keep your pets leashed while you are there. Dogs are predators, lots of wildlife, we understand. We also didn't want to stay in a huge RV park where Emma could get hit by an ATV, four wheeler, Humvee, or anything else you can drag behind a bus, so after a back and forth search for an amenable site in Trinidad, Arcata and Eureka, we opted to push on to the next state park with camping, Richardson Grove State Park (for those of you following us on your state parks maps). There, we bunked down just after midnight in a very nice, isolated campsite.

In the morning we discovered we had chosen a wonderful campsite. We lounged around and read near camp all morning while Emma chased that wildlife she's not supposed to chase [On the way out of the campsite we noticed the posted sign that said that we should keep our dogs leashed at all times in all state parks also. I guess the national parks aren't that crazy. Maybe it would make sense to keep Emma on her leash while camping in a state who has bears emblazoned across everything from its flags to its coins. We're going to set up a dog run with some rope and test her out tonight. Hopefully she won't scream bloody murder while we're setting up camp]. Around noon we packed up and headed south towards the famously rugged highway 1.

With regards to highway 1: lets just say that if you ever get the chance to drive this highway, jump on it like Emma on a cat. It has arguably more turns in the first twenty miles than Hawaii's famed road to Hana. And if you are able to resist the urge to pull of the highway at the end of the twenty miles when you hit the ocean and marvel at the vista you're faced with, you must be inhuman or in desperate need of a bathroom (which is another 10 miles down the road). We stopped and took many a picture which someday you might be able to see if we can ever find somewhere that will let me upload my pictures or download an image resizer. Imagine a rocky cliff of a coast that meanders in and out of an angry, pounding ocean, lit by sun and shaded by layers of mist. Now take what you are imagining and make it 10 times as nice. I just looked back at the pictures I took. This description and the pictures are grossly inadequate to the actual scenery and experience.

From the lookout point we cruised down the coast, stopping at a lowpoint to wander around the beach and throw the ball with Emma. From there we stopped and tasted some delicious wine, hit the North Coast Brewery for a pitcher of beer and checked out the Triangle Tattoo parlor in Fort Bragg. We'll be setting up camp tonight at Van Damme State Park just south of Mendocino.

Tomorrow we are going to have a lazy morning on the beach and explore Mendocino. From there we're going to book it down to San Francisco and stay with Ashley, a friend of JJ's. *Note: we have never met Ashley before and are incredibly grateful she is opening her house up to two strangers and a dog. **Second note: if you know of anyone willing to be as friendly/crazy as Ashley that lives in pretty much any other city across the country, please give them our phone number.

And here we are, back up to speed, sitting in a coffee shop with another open mic; life has a way of repeating itself.

Paige posted our projected itinerary for the next few weeks. Note the weekend in Vegas. Contact your travel agent, internet site of choice, or the host at your favorite casino and book your travel now. For all you climbing bums out there, note the time in Bishop, Vegas (red rocks) and possibly Hueco Tanks. We would love to see some familiar faces.

Zach

Day 3 - Northern California

2009-11-29T18:53:00.000-08:00

So as it turns out pictures take a long time to load when you're sharing Internet with 30 other people. Hopefully we'll be able to find some bandwidth soon so we can share some of the great photos that Zach is taking with you (none of my photos are great or worth sharing).

In English class when I learned how to write the perfect paragraph, the first sentence was supposed to sum up everything else to come -- so here it goes:

Today we left our beloved Oregon and traveled down into California where we saw lots of big trees and the Pacific Ocean, ate the rest of our Thanksgiving leftovers, and opened the bag of Baked Cheetos [Thanks, Leola].

We drove south on the 101 through Brookings, OR and into California. We made many stops to ogle the beauty of the coast. As it turns out, it's pretty freaking gorgeous (again, you'll see pictures soon).

Continuing on the 101 we arrived in Crescent City to pick up maps and info on the California Redwoods National and State Park. Turns out people are right -- those trees, they're big, and pretty, but mostly big. We took Howland Hill Road through the Jebediah Smith Redwoods State Park, stopping to eat lunch. Then we went in search of the illusive (is that the right "illusive?" Or is it "elusive?") Boy Scout Tree. The hike was roughly 6 miles out and back -- about halfway in we came across a man who tipped us off that the trail would split into right and left forks -- we should take the right one to stay on trail, otherwise we'd wind up in a ravine. We thought he was a fuddy duddy.

We then came across a beautiful ravine. Oops. Seeing as we'd been hiking for a little over and hour (with stops for pictures), we decided to head back out -- we never did find the 22-ft diameter Boy Scout Tree (this is it), but we saw a lot of other big trees.

After our hike, we continued on through Klamath, whose entrance is guarded by these guys.

We checked out a climbing venue which we may come back to tomorrow (we're taking a layover day) and continues down Coastal Drive to meet back up with the 101. We now find ourselves in Arcata, pretty pooped, hungry, and missing a lot of you.

What's next? Here's a quick breakdown of our the next few weeks -- any of you are welcome to join for all parts -- we're flexible. You commit to dates, we commit to dates.

11/30 Layover in Arcata
12/1 - 12/2 Arcata to Fort Bragg
12/2 (Happy Birthday Courtney) - 12/4 San Francisco
12/4 - 12/8 Sacramento
12/8 - 12/9 Lake Tahoe
12/9 - 12/11 Bishop
12/11 - 12/13 Las Vegas
12/14 Somewhere in between Vegas and Phoenix
12/15 - 12/17 Phoenix
12/17 - 12/18 El Paso
12/18 - 12/20 Getting to Houston (maybe a stop in San Antonio??)

Lastly -- more than a handful of you wondered how spending 6-9 months in a car with the same person would play out. Well, I can't really tell you. BUT, I can tell you about how spending 3 days in a car with same person, namely Zach, played out. A few insights for those of you who care about the less scenic going-ons of our trip:

Reasons I appreciated Zach today -

He managed to re-pack the car (Again) and fit our entire bedroll and blanket up top, freeing up valuable space in the cab for more important things like the 3 jackets I apparently need since my body cannot regulate its own heat.
He praised me for my brilliant my camping suggestions, though right now as I am thinking of them, I cannot think of one that I would not be embarrassed to share with you because they really aren't that brilliant.
He had dance party with me this morning while we broke down camp (Sharon will appreciate this).
He apparently just found us a place to camp tonight, which is good, because otherwise we were going to have to sleep in the car in Arcata.
He agreed to go on the Boy Scout Tree hike with me instead of skipping it to go climbing and put up with me asking if every large tree was "The Boy Scout Tree."

Reasons I did not appreciate Zach today -

As of this moment, he has not brushed his teeth today (gross).
He put a pair of dirty underwear in my bath bag (gross).
He tried to serve me pie (which I would have TOTALLY appreciated) that he had let soak in ice chest water (gross).
He would not let me stop outside of Brookings at this farm to take pictures of the multiple taxidermied (I don't know the right word) horses out front (he hates me).

So -- so far I appreciate Zach more than I do not appreciate him.

Lessons for the day -

We need more than 1 gallon of water a day for two people and a dog.
We should know where we're staying (or at least have a good plan) by 10 am on the current day.
We should stop to take pictures of any farm with taxidermied horses out front.

Love all of you.

P & Z

I swear, we really are going to blog eventually

2009-11-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

So, here goes- my first foray into the blogosphere. Paige and I will be posting a "his" and "hers" play-by-play of what happens on our roadtrip here on the blog so everyone can find out what happens (from me) and how it could be overly dramatized (from Paige).

I'll start out with a quick recap of our time right before our departure for our faithful followers outside the state of Oregon. For the last few months while I've been fun-employed everyone asked me what I've been doing to stay busy. For the life of me, I can't really remember. I have fuzzy recollections of some climbing, some running, a decent amount of rain, and getting mixed up in a lot of fights. The final two weeks before our trip we mostly packed and said goodbye to friends. Highlights from this period include a failed attempt to climb the Monkey Face Rock at Smith Rock, Pre-Thanksgiving dinner at a swanky downtown high-rise, a going away party at East Burn, snow camping (built an igloo and played poker), and the all day gorge-fest that was Thanksgiving (pictures coming soon).

We finally hit the road Friday shortly after noon. I spent the morning at Kenny and Leola's playing Tetris with all of our camping gear in an effort to squeeze everything in, while a certain someone stood on their porch, in their robe, heckling me and questioning each placement, piece of equipment, and generally my entire packing philosophy. Thanks to my genetically inherited packing skills, we hit the road with all of our junk and a completely unobstructed view out my rearview mirror (thanks Dad). Paige shot a few pictures as we headed south on I-5. Needless to say, our final drive over the Willamette River was more than a tad bittersweet.

We made a stop in Eugene to let Emma run around, get the oil changed on the car, and swap out Paige's broken phone for a new one. From there we made a beeline for Florence, crossing the coast range mountains around sunset. In Florence, OR, we had dinner at the finest taqueria in town. We finally pulled into the RV paradise that is Umpqua Lighthouse State Park around 7:30, where we found a nice spot in the deserted car camping section and set up the tent.

I'm not going to lie, the first night was a little rough. Paige started to come down with a light fever Wednesday night that has made the evenings rough for her. Emma and I are still trying to figure out how to get comfortable with one another in the tent. And despite the unobstructed view I bragged about earlier, I still think the packing needs refinement....I mean how many t-shirts do I really need? Surely seven is too many. Oh well, I'm sure we'll figure it all out pretty quickly.

Breakfast this morning was eggs on tortillas. We went for a peaceful walk around a lake where emma found countless small animals to chase through the brush. Fortunately for the wildlife, she's a rather unskilled hunter. After the walk, we checked out the light house, saw the dunes and kept an eye out for Humpback whales which are making their annual migration down to California for the winter.

After a rather enjoyable morning and 20 more miles down the road, we decided it was time for a rest stop. We decided to take all the cash we had on us and test our luck at the Mill Casino in Coos Bay. We took our two dollars in and made out like bandits!! Paige, being a highly unskilled gambler lost her share of our cash ($1) within five minutes on the penny slots. I on the other hand was able to turn my dollar into well over six dollars and ninety-nine cents at the penny machine right next to her. Some people got it, some people don't.

Back on the road, we drove another 25 "grueling" miles along the Pacific down highway 101 to Bandon where we stopped for a lunch of leftover Thanksgiving food. We ate in the car overlooking the rocky coast. Delicious AND beautiful! The only thing that would have made it better is if we'd managed to save a few of the homemade cheese crisps from Thanksgiving. Damn Leola for not share any of them with me. I even had a special tin set aside for them and everything!

And that pretty much brings us right up to now. We are hanging out at the two loons cafe in scenic downtown Bandon. We're headed down to Humbug State Park tonight (thanks for this and all of the other recommendations Sam and Jackson). Tomorrow we will probably go see the Redwoods and maybe try to do a little bouldering on the beach at the Lost Rocks.

Thanks again to everyone in Portland, Texas, and the rest of the country for all of your kind words, support, and encouragement as we set off. It means more to us than you know.

Zach