Not How I Planned

This is what actual snow looks like falling from the sky in Tucson. It actually happens from time to time. I was fortunate to be where it was falling. Well fortunate may not be the correct word for it, but I was where it was falling regardless.

This is what we woke to this morning. I had planned on going to the Summit Hut sidewalk sale. When I saw the mountains I almost changed plans right then and there, but I powered through the temptation and headed out to the sale.

Even though I went to the wrong location at first I was still early and found some deals. An OR down sweater for $35 (I know the previous owner), Marmot Precip jacket and pants for one of the kids for $50, a Sierra Designs Micro Light jacket and pants for Amy $5 (I know, big spender), an Osprey Talon pack $12, an MSR stainless steel .5 litre pot $5, and a silicone bowl and cup $4. I feel like I did OK.

When I got home I tried to ignore the cool weather outside, but kept getting up to look at the mountains. Finally I just couldn't maintain any more. I rushed out the door remembering most of the gear I would need, but forgetting any food(that's OK though I need to loose a few lbs any way). Most of the snow had melted so I chased it uphill. I got snowed on up top as you can see in the first picture if you look carefully.

Not something we see every day. In the end I stayed on top too long, made myself late for church, and dragged myself in with a big smile feeling like a dog that has been out roaming the neighborhood, knows he is in trouble, but had so much fun he doesn't care. The first picture was supposed to be the last, but I couldn't fix it in blogger. See nothing turned out how I planned.

Backyard Cuisine

Every once in a while we like to pretend we are camping and cook dinner outside in the backyard. It really is fun, and we have a few recipes we do in the dutch oven that are pretty tasty. Our yard may not be very scenic, what with the neighbor's shed peaking over the wall and all, but we are outside together. Last night we made chicken and dumplings. It is pretty good, and the fire was nice. We want to get a second dutch oven so we can make dinner and dessert too. I think the fire pit was one of the best ideas ever.

Smoothies

I was informed that I should not call my veggie drinks "shakes" anymore because it sounds like I am drinking milk shakes. So now I will call them "smoothies". Today I added some blueberries to my drink for their anti-inflammatory properties. I tweaked my shoulder yesterday climbing on Mt. Lemmon.

This is what orange juice, pineapple, Italian parsley, spinach, and blueberries look like if you blend it at about 10,000 rpm. I know it looks pretty bad, but I highly recommend it. It tastes acceptable, and is allegedly good for you. Best of all my shoulder is feeling a little better (thanks to the Advil).

Mean Mistreater Wall

Last Thursday Mike and I went up the mountain to climb Rich and Dave's route on the Mean Mistreater Wall. Since we were close Mike suggested that I lead the first pitch of Crab Corner. I am always leery when Mike suggests a route for me to lead. He is the one who got me onto Heart and Sole in J-Tree. I am never sorry when I finish these routes, but I swear I will never lead a route Mike suggests again while I am climbing it. After Crab Corner which was really cool, although a little heady we headed over to Rich and Dave's Route. Mike lead the first pitch. There was a super hard slab move at the first bolt (that is like 15 feet off the ground but at least there are plenty of large rocks to break your fall if you blow the first clip). Mike made the move, and then headed up to the anchors on much easier ground. When I made it to the anchors Mike was nice enough to let me lead the the second pitch. He was going to lead both pitches since I had lead Crab Corner. The second pitch is the reason to do this climb. Several hard moves above a ledge that really mess with your lead head. There is also a fairly good run out that makes you wonder "what if?" All in all one of my favorite routes on the mountain. I would love to go do it again (Ryan), but only on a day I am feeling strong with a good lead head. Rich and Dave's is the large chimney on the left side of the formation in the middle of the picture. Crab corner is the crack to the left of it.

La Jolla 1

Amy and I went to La Jolla for our anniversary trip. We have been going away every year for a long weekend for about five years now. We would start our days with a run along the beach and trail above the sea cliffs. It was a different kind of running than I am used to. We were sight seeing more than working out.

This is La Jolla beach. We did some serious miles on it. It was nice to listen to the ocean, and watch the shore birds.

Sunset on our running beach.

This is from the trail above the cliffs.

Seal beach. There was a mother with a new baby seal. It was born the day before. We got to see it swimming around with it's mother.

La Jolla 2

Here is the kayak tour we took of La Jola Cove. We were supposed to go into one of the caves, but the waves were breaking on the mouth of the cave. Our guide said if we went inside we might not be able to get out.

The tour company gave us a ticket so we could walk into one of the caves. It wasn't that exciting to walk into the cave, but would have been more fun if we could have paddled in.

That small dark V at the bottom of the frame is the tail fluke of a whale. Amy found an inexpensive whale watching trip for us to go on. It was fun, but I didn't get to see the whales as well as I would have liked.

Amy as we were about to dock in San Diego Harbour.

This was a hotel that was lit up in downtown San Diego.