1) You haven't showered in days
2) Your car is packed to the roof with crash pads, clothing, gear, and it has an odd smell to it
3) There is no skin on your finger tips
4) You consider your tent home, your therma rest a bed and your sleeping bag blankets
5) You meet people from around the world who you have mutual acquaintances with
6) Figuring out where you want to climb is the hardest part of your day
7) Rice and beans in a delicacy
8) You are excited for two dollar movies in Lexington, KY
9) You go to bed early and wake with the sun (especially after a few beers)
10) Your hair and beard grow long and you start to smell!
The drive down went very well. The 17 hours seemed to fly by. Chad and I left Plymouth, NH at 930pm, and drove down to Massachusetts. We picked up Alexa, a friend of Chad's who is joining us in the RED RIVER GORGE! We left Alexa's around 1130pm and drove through the night. Mutilated deer carcases lined the highway in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, luckily no deer darted out in front of us. The Maryland sun rise was long and sweet. The sun draped astonishing streaks of red, orange and yellow on the horizon as the sun gave light to the day. We arrived at Miguel's around 300 in the afternoon.
The soup-can aka, the Subaru made the drive well. A few days prior to leaving, my car began to leak coolant. It got worse so I decided to take it to a shop. Deep down I knew it was a bad head gasket, but I was hoping that it would be something else. No more then an hour after dropping the Outback off at Currier and Sons Garage, I got the phone call I was dreading. The head gasket was bad and had a pencil sized hole in it. I commissioned the work. 3 days and 987.00 dollars later She was fixed! They did a great job. New head gasket, they re-sealed my valve covers, new spark plugs, air filer, and a few other things I am forgetting; the Subaru was ready for launch. I literally picked the car up at 700 pm Monday, two and a half hours later Chad and I were on the road. An instantaneous 1000 mile test! With fingers crossed; no more mechanical problems! However, the other night one of the trunk actuators broke! It snapped off where it connects to the car frame! We found the perfect stick to take its place, but the gate is still heavy to lift and it comes down fast! We hope to find a replacement actuator today, a rest day.
TRAGEDY TODAY!!!! We are out of coffee! Chad and I are forced to pay for coffee at Miguel's! It isn't the end of the world but it isn't the best coffee!
We have climbed for three days. We are planning on a 3 and 1 schedule. 3 days of climbing, 1 of rest. It may change depending on weather and how we feel.
So far I haven't sent anything. I am stepping up my game this year. We are going to be here for a while and I really want to send some 5.13's. It may prove to be futile, the past few days I haven't felt that strong on the steep climbs. It is to be expected since I don't climb or train for this style. I still love it, although it is frustrating to get shut down on 13a. I feel as though I should be able to do a 13a in half a dozen tries! Time and rest will tell! If I keep getting shut down, then it's back to 5.12. Chad and Alexa are climbing very well. I am excited for them!
Sorry I have no pictures to share, hopefully that will change. As freeing as it is to be on the road I am still burdened with the future. I'm not sure what I want to do after the road trip. I am excited as always for climbing but still frustrated with the future. Sometimes I wonder about the other people at Miguels. Are they as lost as me? Do they not care? Or is this it for them?
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