I could kick myself

Why? Because I lived for four summers in Washington DC without knowing about Carderock and Great Falls! This past weekend I drove down to do a little climbing with Regina and I loved it so much that I'm driving back down to climb again on Friday. I headed south immediately after work on Friday and made it just in time to catch the 5:00 service at National Community Church, then stayed the night at Regina's house. We got an alpine start Sunday morning, and due to some confusion as to the location of the crag we got on the rock at about 8am...2 hours earlier than we expected!

Carderock was unbelievably crowded with groups, but we managed to get a top rope up on a 5.7 crack climb and we each climbed it twice to get warmed up. After that we hiked to the other end of the cliffs to see what else the area had to offer, but there were so many people that we couldn't get on anything else until after lunch. Even still, it was great to be outside on such a beautiful day. The second climb we managed to get a rope on was on a slightly positive face with a lot of possibilities, although nothing over a 5.4. Since it was the only thing free at the time we decided to run a few laps on it and try to climb it as many different ways as possible. We actually ended up climbing the entire route with no hands to work on foot placement and balance, which resulted in some extremely sore legs the next day! Things started winding down around 4 and we were able to put up a top rope on a crack that we had originally eyed as a warm up. We climbed it twice (once in tennis shoes) then decided to swing over and do the face climb right next door. At this point we were feeling too lazy to set up another anchor somewhere else, so we wrapped up the day with some bouldering with our new friends Scott and Dave.

Regina had to work until 3:30 on Monday, so I spent the morning hanging out at the Panera in Alexandria, did some browsing at REI then met her at work to go straight to Great Falls. After some searching we met up with Scott and Dave and managed to squeeze in two good climbs before the sun went down. Once was a diagonal crack and the second was a flake to an overhang. Not sure what they were rated but they were definitely more challenging than the stuff we had seen on Saturday. The area was decidedly less crowded than Carderock, probably because there is a $5 entrance fee...but the scenery and the quality of climbs was totally worth it! We finished off the day with an impromptu picnic provided by Scott...fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, mango and a baguette!

Overall it was a fantastic weekend and it was over much too soon. I wish that I had known about these places while I was still living in the area, but as far as I'm concerned Great Falls is not an unreasonable day trip. I wouldn't drive three hours just for Carderock, but it would definitely be a good place to take a beginner or go to work on technique or endurance.

The Gunks!

This weekend I traveled up to the Gunks to do some climbing with David and Maraya, some friends I met at the Rendezvous. Since I got to New Paltz first I was delegated the critical task of securing a good campsite at the multi-use (read multi-abuse) area. I managed to claim a relatively flat and rock free spot pretty far from the road, and it didn't get very crowded since no one else seemed to want to hike up the gigantic hill that lead there. After pitching the tents we went out to dinner and then to shop rite to pick up some last minute supplies.

Despite a rain scare in the early morning hours, the weather on Saturday was warm and clear with a light breeze...perfect climbing weather! Our first climb, Beginners Delight (5.3) was aptly named since it was to be my very first multi-pitch route and to say I was delighted would be the understatement of the century. It took me a little while to get used to how much more exposed the cliff there is than other places I had climbed, but by the second pitch I was hooked. Nothing like looking down during a climb and noticing birds soaring a good fifty feet below you!

For our second climb of the day we settled on Updraft (5.5) a three pitch climb that ended with a rather narrow chimney. One thing I will say about the Gunks is most of the climbs seem rather stiff for their grade... The second pitch could have easily passed for a 5.7. That, combined with the necessity of using 3 rusty old pitons in a row as protection, means Maraya gets mad respect points for leading that thing. There were a couple of sections that had me rather nervous and I was on top rope! We ended up moving a bit slower that we expected, which resulted in a totally safe but still rather freaky three pitch rappel by moonlight, involving one scary tiny ledge.

We got a rather late start on Sunday, owing to the fact that we slept soundly until 9:30 and still had to break camp. We did a bit of bouldering to warm up and then had a rather leisurely lunch, which left enough time for just one more climb. We settled on Andrew (5.4), a four pitch climb (one pitch being walk across the GT ledge to the next belay station...) with a long traverse on the third pitch. Learning from our previous mistake we took along a headlamp, even though we were starting the climb at around 3pm and should have been down in plenty of time. Thank God we did because we ended up getting caught up behind another party and by the time we got started on the last two pitches (which David combined into one) the sun was already going down. Without the headlamp we would have had a lot of trouble finding the rappel station, which was some 400 yards climbers left, and even more trouble checking our setup as the moon was completely useless in the cloudy sky. To save time David took the second rope down first to set up the second rappell and I continued right on to the ground while he waited for Maraya so he could pull the first rope. Once off of the actual cliff we commenced a rather treacherous 4th class scramble back to the main trail.

Needless to say we packed plenty of adventure into those two short days. The funny thing about adventure though is the more you have the more you crave. I'm hoping to get back to the Gunks at least two more times before the season ends...who's with me?

Sandy Hook

Here are a few pictures from our bike ride at Sandy Hook yesterday. We left around 9am and got back home just in time for me to go to work. We rode the length of the park then explored Fort Hancock, an old army base that has since gone out of service. The lighthouse there is the oldest one in the United States! I took a little swim in the ocean while the parents ate lunch and had a quick nap on the beach. All in all a pretty good adventure!
























115,000 pound cannon. this is some serious fire power.






Part of the old gunnery





















The oldest lighthouse in the US

Happy 116th Birthday!

Today my dad turned 60 and my mom turned 56, so together they are 116 years old! I got a pretty funny look from the Carvel guy when I asked him to put that on the cake. I got my parents the Wii Fit game and I made spring rolls for lunch. After we at we went on a bike ride to the winery and had some wine and cheese. The last time I was there they were still framing the building so it was nice to finally see it finished.

An Adventure in Healthcare

Last week I got some good news and some bad news. The good news: the Peace Corps had finally started reviewing my medical evaluation, which brings me one step closer to an invitation. The bad news: my polio vaccination from 1992 wasn't current enough to protect me in parts of the world where polio is still prevalent. In order to complete my medical review I needed to get another polio vaccination, and thus I embarked on a journey into that crazy world we call the American health care system.

Had they started this process just two weeks earlier this would have been a complete non-issue. I would have gone to the doctor, forked over my $20 co-pay, gotten the shot and been on my merry way. Unfortunately for me I was dropped from my parents' health insurance on July 29th, and so obtaining a routine childhood vaccination became a little more complicated. I called the insurance company just in case there was some sort of paperwork error that left me still covered, but when I entered my social security number and birth date I was informed by a most realistic computer woman that I had indeed been terminated.

At first I wasn't too concerned about the lack of health insurance. When I lived in Virginia I was able to get all of the vaccinations that my insurance wouldn't cover at the Prince Edward County Health Department for the cost of the vaccine and a small processing fee. Thinking this was a universal system, I called up the Ocean County Health Department. After being transferred to 4 different people I finally sound someone who at least understood what I was asking for, only to be referred to an low-income vaccination clinic because "we don't do that sort of thing here." The lead sounded promising so I gave the clinic a call, but they wouldn't treat me because I was over the age of 18. Thinking that perhaps there could be clinics in other parts of the state that would have mercy I began dialing the health departments in other counties. For the next two hours I dialed every single county in the state, and I got every response from open hostility to complete indifference, but nothing that could be classified as useful.

At this point it was pretty clear I wasn't going to get any help from the state of New Jersey, so I decided to start looking at other alternatives. I called the CVS Minute Clinic on a whim, because a few years ago I got my yellow fever vaccination at a Ukrops, but all they can really do at CVS is take your temperature. Strike one. Next I tried looking up every variation of "low-income health care NJ" that I could think of on Google, but all I really got back were advertisements for pharmaceuticals. Strike two. Finally I tried calling Centra State hospital to see if they had any ideas where I could look, but I got transferred 8 different times and finally ended up with a voicemail in spanish. Strike three.

By this time I had been on the phone for about 4 hours and I was starting to get really frustrated. It was clear that when this was all said and done my wallet was going to be considerably lighter, so I kicked into bargain hunting mode and began calling around. I started with a few travel clinics, but all of them wanted to charge me a first-time patient fee of $65 or more plus a $25 administration fee plus $75 for the actual vaccine. I decided to keep looking. Next I called all of the doctors offices in New Egypt. 2 were on vacation and 2 weren't taking any new patients. The cheapest office visit fee I found was Dr. Jiovani for $90, but he didn't have any appointments open until September. I finally settled on Dr. Byrnes in Allentown because he had an appointment open Wednesday at 4pm and they were willing to take me as a new patient.

Luckily this story has a happy ending. Dr. Byrnes only charged me $88, which I suspect is just the cost of the vaccine, AND he even gave me some advice on how to treat my IT band, which has been bothering me since March. He was also by far the best doctor I've ever been to see when it comes to actually listening to what you have to say and not trying to rush you in and out.

This has definitely been an eye-opener as far as healthcare goes. I honestly don't know enough about Obama's new plan to comment one way or the other, but I certainly don't believe the people that argue that everything is fine the way it is. This has also made me really grateful for my good health, because to be sick or injured without insurance in this country would put you in debt for a really long time. I would be eligible for health coverage from NYSC in December, but I don't know that I'll be with them for that long. For now I'll just keep my fingers crossed that I remain healthy and I'll be just a little more careful when I'm hiking and climbing.

Blast from the Past

The Book Garden is this sketchy little used book store/florist on the edge of town, and for the longest time I thought it was a porn shop. On Tuesday Courtney drove over from Philly to make a donation there and meet me for lunch at the Bamboo House. On a whim I decided to do a little digging in the back, and what I came up with was a gold mine of really old Nat Geo, Life and travel magazines. They had stuff going all the way back to the 1920's for super cheap. I was tempted by a lot of things, but I ended up settling on this Holiday magazine from November 1956, because it was an entire issue on South America. My favorite article in the magazine, "Party of One," actually has nothing to do with travel at all. It is an editorial piece about eccentricity, and if it didn't span 6 pages I would copy the entire thing for you to read...instead I'll settle for an insanely long quote:
"One might begin by arguing that it is the eccentric who is the truly normal man. That is, he dares to be himself, which is what Henry Jones would like to be, only the neighbors would talk. In a sense the eccentric is our surrogate, our vicar. He takes upon him the cross of whim which the rest of us shrewdly suppress. He is humanity's Punch or Jack-in-the-box, a type and a toy for which we feel a kind of derisive affection. In one of his manifestations, the eccentric is merely a man with an excess of good sense. Failing to use the checkrein of common irrationality, he permits reasonableness to get out of hand. Visit the anatomical Museum of University College in London and you will come upon a cabinet containing the neatly wired skeleton of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, dressed in the clothes he was wearing at his death in 1832. His will provided for this permanent window display. It also provided that his body be dissected....As a partial consequence of Bentham's will, the Anatomy Act was passed, removing legal barriers to dissection. Now-was Jeremy an eccentric? Or was he merely carrying out-to the final extremity- his idea of the greatest good for the greatest number? I say he was so sane that he seems queer, whereas the rest of us, who look forward to encumbering with our remains a vast area of valuable real estate, are meerly queer in such large numbers that we seem sane."

The article goes on to describe all of the different types of eccentrics....eccentricity as an exuberance of imagination, the eccentric man who lives in part in the future, the full-flower eccentric, the perfect eccentric.... Lets just say it makes me feel a lot better about being "that weird outdoorsy girl" at work. I'd be happy to type up the whole article and send it to anyone who wants it...I think its totally worth it.

Possibly better than the articles in this magazine are the advertisements. Funny to see stuff like "Atlantic crossed for first time by telephone cables!" and "Be the first to cook with microwaves!" in big bold letters. Here are a few of my other favorites...



"Translate your figure into fashion success with modern line by Formfit. For Gaytime you'll love Life Girdle No. 1590. Starts high on the midriff...trims and slims with Nylon taffeta and light elastic. White or Pink. 15 or 16 inches long. $16.50"









"Buy only the Haf-A-Jama you sleep in. Famous Pajama Separates in fine Sanforized cotton breadcloth."

"Uppa-Jama extra long jacket, no southern exposure!"

"Lowa-Jama boxer waistband- gripper snaps, large pocket."

"Why pay for a whole pair when you wear only half? Haf-A-Jama is the answer!"


"Take a Pack"

"Tobacco is a dirty weed; I like it. is the start of the delightful verse on this antiqued pine Cigarette Dispenser. Fill it at the top and remove a pack at a time from the bottom. It is 12" high, hangs on the wall; one size holds a full carton of regular or king-sized cigarettes. For your kitchen, hall playroom or den"


Seriously... PLAYROOM?

July Recap

First things first, the reason I haven't written anything in so long is not because there hasn't been anything going on. Quite the contrary, there has been quite a lot going on in the past month.

Item of Business #1

The reason I've put off writing for so long is because I didn't want to talk about Oxford. A few weeks ago the neighbor's cat got him during the night. It didn't get into the kennel but he was sticking his head out to look for me in the morning like he always does and the cat got a hold of it. I like to think that he didn't suffer much, and I know that he had a great life, but it was still really sad. Ox was pretty much my only friend in New Jersey and doing things without him just isn't the same.

Item of Business #2

The funny thing about life is if you have the money to do what you want you don't have the time, and if you have the time then you don't have the money. It's not too bad if you have a job you love, but that's not exactly the case right now. Still I'm trying to make the best of the job I have. I'm using our slow times to train for climbing and I've managed to drop 10lbs since I started working there. I'm also looking at taking a second training job at LA Fitness. If I've got to work all the time I might as well make as much money as possible.

Item of Business # 3

After only a month at New York Sports Clubs I was already in desperate need of a vacation, so I took six days off and ran away to West Virginia to climb at New River with my friends Jen and Kevin. Definitely ranks as one of the best trips I've ever been on. The weather was great, the company was awesome and the climbing was superb. On my way down I stopped in Farmville to see Dr. Koesler and Dr. Morrison and to get my hair cut by Mack. He was so shocked that I drove 8 hours for a hair cut that he did it for free! I stayed with Jo and I got kind of a late start in the morning because the Tour de France was on, but I managed to get on the road by 11.


We got to Rogers around 5 on Saturday and almost as soon as we got our tents set up we were treated to a fantastic thunder storm. The next morning we were up early and climbed at Kaymoor for the day because we knew it would be dry. It turned out to be a great day for climbing and I even got up on a 5.11 and flailed around a bit. I got farther than I expected but I think its going to be at least another year before something like that will be possible.


Monday we did a bit more hiking than climbing. We got a warm up climb in when a big group showed up and set up on a few of the climbs we were looking to do, so we decided to head to the other end of Bubba City. It looked a lot shorter in the guide book than it actually was. We ended up hiking for two hours through the jungle, the valley of death and the evil den of teh satan spiders. We ended up getting so tired that we bailed on the climbing and decided to just go back and make hamburgers, but not before we took a well needed break at an overlook. I think this picture just about says it all.


Tuesday we headed to Summersville lake to take a swim/bath and finish on some climbing. Once again a big group of kids showed up but this time we decided to work around them rather than try and go somewhere else. The last day was definitely my best day as far as climbing was concerned. I had a bit of a foot problem that I think was caused by hiking in shoes that were just too small, but I managed to get it taped just right and so it didn't hold me back too much.

All in all it was an amazing trip, and it was definately depressing to have to leave. It was nice to climb with people a little closer to my skill level. The last two times I was at the New I was climbing with people who were much better than me and I always felt like I was holding them back. Hopefully we'll be able to get together for another trip sometime soon...I really need something to look forward to in order to survive work.

Item of Business #4

I'm 22. I spent my birthday driving about 11 hours back to New Jersey, but it wasn't a total waste. I was giving a ride to Dominik, a friend from Germany that I met at Rogers, so at least I didn't have to drive all by myself. I took him through DC on the way home because he was planning on heading there after New York and I wanted to help him get the lay of the land. It added a bit of time to our drive, especially since we hit it at the height of rush hour but Dominik bought me Chipotle so it was totally worth it. A 2 pound burrito definitely ranks right up there on the list of best birthday meals. To top it off my parents took me to the Bamboo house the next day, which is just about the best Japanese place you will ever eat at. I also got a box of cow tails, Orbit gum and some money to buy a climbing helmet. The cake wasn't bad either.