Farley, Platform 9 and 3/4, Jay kicks my ass at Acey Deucy (twice)

Let's see, I left off in Massachusetts having eaten much lobsta. It was hard to leave the Newburyport area again. The last time I was there it was 2000 and I thought it was purely the company I was in that kept me there and tugged me back. To a degree, it was, but I had a really hard time leaving this area again. There's something about those quaint towns along the New England coast that really draws me.

Jay and I headed to Gloucester to try to find some bouldering and also hang at the beach a bit before heading back to New York. We never found the bouldering, but did spend some time on the beach and then reluctantly headed west again. We actually took the turn north to go check out Maine, but then as we rethought things decided it was best to stay with the prior plan or we'd end up back at Ryan and Michelle's eating and drinking and invading their space for longer than we should. We stopped at a place called Farley Mass that Tim Toula gives four stars in his Rock'n'Road as the best lead climbing in Mass. Rock'n'Road and our atlas are the two guides that we have in the basket in between the front seats and we are allowing those to be our tools of navigation.

It was late afternoon by the time we got to Farley and the directions to the crag were sketchy at best, but Farley is a small town and we saw the cliff from the road and luckily navigated ourselves to it quickly. The local grassroots climbers coalition has acquired a parcel of land and even a house and therefore secured access at this little crag, which is great for them and for us. We did a few sport routes before the darkness fell. A local guy named Pete (who is actively involved in the climber's coalition and living in that house) invited us over after we were done, but we didn't find said house. I would have loved to have talked to him about how their organization is run and compare to the SSCA. I have really enjoyed my involvement in that organization since I moved to California, and I know that the SSCA would step up and do the same kind of thing if and when necessary in Cali. Local climbing organizations are important to keep healthy relations with landowners and government agencies, lessen the impact of climbing on the environment, and to form a cohesive voice among other things.

We ended up sleeping at a rest area that doesn't have bathrooms (or anything aside from a pull out for truckers). It was loud. As I let Brutus out to pee I noticed at least one trucker "checking the tires". Why do they make rest stops that don't have restrooms? I mean, I didn't get close enough to the ground to check, but I'm sure it smelled like urine all over. I could never be a trucker. It seems like a miserable and torturous life and I have a lot of respect, or maybe it's sympathy, for them.

On to platform nine and three quarters... We then made our way to Torrington to hit the Big Lots and stock up on CHEAP groceries. We are thrifty and have spent only $450 thus far on the trip. We are out of oatmeal, though, so grocery stop is a must. Big Lots is cool because they have a lot of non-perishables and even a good deal of organic stuff. It's all overstocked and sometimes old, but for what we're getting it doesn't usually matter. So, after spending $50 on food I took the shopping cart back and realized that there was a buffet that even had Sushi right next to Big Lots. It concerned me to think there was an all you can eat Sushi buffet next to a thrify overstock store, but Jay LOVES buffets and it was lunch time, so I went in to check it out mainly out of curiosity. IT WAS CLEAN AND THE FOOD LOOKED GREAT!!! I couldn't believe it. AND it was only $6.95. Most of the time I can't eat enough to get my money's worth at a buffet, but this place had a huge salad bar, tons of fresh fruit, and sushi. I can eat seven dollars worth of veggies right now. I went out and ran it by Jay and he was in. As we started eating it became more and more obvious that this place should not exist. There was so much food and it was one of the cleanest and most amazing buffets I've ever experienced. It really may have been a figment of our imaginations and it disappeared as soon as we left. There were 12 different kinds of hard ice cream at the end and 5 different kinds of shrimp dishes. I'll stop.

We got back to the gunks and met up with Michael's wife, Erica and climbed Shokley's roof (clothed). This climb is traditionally done naked in the moonlight. I think I turned the 5.6 roof move into a 5.10 and scared the shit out of Erica, but she pulled through it like a champ. She's a tough girl, and I like her more everytime I hang out with her. We went back to the DEC and I taught Jay to play Acey Duecy and he proceeded to whip my ass, twice. Damn that Ivanic. Sorry, Gramma and Grampa, we spent a lot of hours in training, but he still beat me twice.

Free Masons, Homeopathy, and thoughts of Pakistan...

My friend Ryan is joining the Free Masons. Yesterday I had clam chowder for lunch and then not one, but TWO lobsters for dinner. As he put it so eloquently in a text to me when I was on my way here "Last time you brought me a wife, I'll get you as much lobster as you can friggin' eat!". We have been immersed in two days of decadence and it is probably time to move on or you might have to roll us out of here.

Ryan and his wife, my good friend, Michelle are doing well and about to have their first child. We went to the beach with Ryan yesterday (Plum Island) and forgot to bring the camera. We walked around Newburyport which brought back memories from my last visit 7 years ago when Ryan and Michelle first met. It'd be nice to have Erik here with us. This is a cool little area, and if you are ever close by I highly recommend checking it out. Lots of history, beauty, and charm.

Homeopathy has been a big topic of conversation and I am wishing I had brought more of my books. On that note-- if you are reading this and you know of anyone who might want homeopathic treatment, I am working a little from the Rialta! Anyone who might be interested can email me at torey.homeopath@gmail.com. I don't want this to be an infomercial blog, but there's one other thing...

The non-profit organization Girls Education International is trying to raise $14,000 by next spring to build a school for girls in Pakistan. Check out their website at http://www.girlsed.org/. And then, more importantly right now, please go to: http://www.changeeverything.ca/changesomething_finalists and vote for GEI so they can get $1000. That'd be great, thanks!!

On that note, we are thinking of changing Patagonia plans to another destination and now Pakistan has come into the picture. We're just beginning to think about it. Greenland and Peru are also on the potential hit list, so we're open to thoughts and Patagonia is still not ruled out.

We are LOVING this lifestyle. The last few days here have been pretty decadent (major lobster feast last night with champagne and oreo cake), but all in all good times with good friends. You know your friendship is true when you don't see each other for seven years and you get right back to the kind of comfort level where it's no big deal when you get back from the beach at midnight and brutus has brought lobster remains out of the trash and all over the kitchen and no one really even gets creased in the slightest. Michelle and Ryan are great. I can't wait to see how it goes with the little one that is soon going to be in this world!

Party On!!

It's Monday and we have retreated to Mass. I have a good friend that I met in Colorado who I haven't seen in seven years, so Jay and I made our way to the coast yesterday. Her husband (who I actually introduced her to that last time I was here) is from Wisconsin like Jay. They are good men, and they treat Michelle, who is very pregnant, and I like the princesses we are not. We appreciate it even though maybe we do not always deserve it.

So, the Gunks on the weekend is MADNESS. We had been staying at a free camping are called the "DEC" (department of environmental conservation) and decided to try it on Friday night rather than camping in the parking lot of the climbing area which we had been told was pretty easy to do. We got in early and made dinner and went to bed. The party started around 11 or 12 and went ALL NIGHT LONG. I can appreciate partying. I went to The Ohio State University. I've drank my share of beers and maybe a few more, but for god's sake, do it somewhere else if you're going to do it til 6 am!! Thankfully there was a pretty talented guitar player, and he sang well even when (I'm sure) completely wasted. However, when the whole gang would break into "Happy Birthday" every hour or so, it was enough to break glass. Jay was all ready to deflate their tires. He was up and down and going to go out and say something, but he never got up enough nerve to deal with the drunken youths. I was sleeping enough that it wasn't worth the negative energy, but it was enough of a pain to teach me to NEVER camp at the DEC on the weekend again. Guess I'm officially getting old. Several years ago I would have taken my jug of Carlo Rossi out there and joined them.

Saturday we climbed with my friend Michael. We did some 9's and toproped a 10. I'm feeling pretty confident on all that, so hopefully next week we'll jump on more 10's on lead. It tried to rain a bit (while I was on lead of course) but it kept the temp a little lower and it was a good day to climb. There were tons of people at the cliff though and we even got carded for our gunks passes and told that we couldn't ride our bikes on the carriage roads without helmets. The weekdays are the time to be at the Gunks! That evening we went back to the house where Michael and his wife were house sitting, showered, and then went to a quaint little town called Rosendale for dinner. The times that Michael came to visit me in Colorado and I hooked him up with free skiing paid off in a "payback" of a great dinner and some of the best ice cream I may have ever eaten. Killer chocolate. Erica and I have a few things in common, we are both (sometimes) crazy petite blonds who occasionally binge on ice cream. I've enjoyed our conversation and I relate to her well. I'm glad that Michael married a woman I like, it makes it much easier to maintain a friendship. Jay and Michael talk on and on about climbing and kayaking and Erica and I talk about anything and everything else. I love it.

I realize I'm starting to ramble again. Sorry. Let me just try to catch you up to today... We woke up Sunday morning and headed to see my friends Michelle and Ryan Hansen in Salisbury Massachusetts. We really didn't leave their porch after getting here at 4 pm. Talked and talked and drank beers and ate a lot of food. Party, party!! (we were in bed by 10:30) Michelle and I always talk about books (she was a lit major and I minored in it and we met right after we had graduated from undergrad) and we got right back to it. She's reading a lot about pregnancy and what to do and not to do with your newborn, which she should have in about two weeks or less! It's great to see them and hang out. I'll expand more on Mass tomorrow. They have internet, so I'll try to get this thing up to date.

One thing-- for those of you reading with alpine/mountaineering experience... Jay and I had been planning on going to Patagonia for a few months. We're a little back and forth about it mostly due to my lack of experience and maybe wanting to go somewhere not so popular. Any suggestions? Jay is thinking about the Yukon or Iceland... I know nothing about these areas, so any suggestions/input from those who know me and my ability level would be helpful. Thanks!!

Gunks

Free camping. It's not very common in the east, but they have it at the gunks. I guess it's a good thing when they charge out the wazoo to climb here in this non-profit preserve. We have been fortunate enough to meet some of the local climbers who have been more than friendly with info and even tomatoes. Plus, my good friend Michael is teaching at West Point and he hooked us up with guide books, showers, and a night in a bed other than the Rialta's.

Life is good here. I seem to have strained my left lat, however, and am in need of a rest day. The climbing here is ideal for us little people.

Many many horizontal cracks to grab and pull on. Jugs. Lots of 'em. I got pretty worked on the first 5.9 we climbed yesterday though, appropriately named MF. We are somewhat in training for the Red, and I think this is a good place to do it. Add the trad component and it always makes things a little more interesting. I'm not feeling overly creative tonight, must get back to the last two chapters of Happy Potter and the Deathly Hallows... It's just SO GOOD.

Cash

Ok, I promise, this will be shorter. Yesterday we awoke to clear blue skies and what we thought was going to be a warm and sunny day at Lion's head. We sat on the beach and did some reading (I'm halfway through Harry Potter and can't put it down), and then headed out to the cliffs. We did a cold and windy 5.10b and then another chilly 10c and realized that maybe we really needed a solid rest day. So, we decided to hit the Lion's head pub for a burger (our first splurge at eating out since the budget sttarted) and then go (after one more psuedo shower in the marina bathroom). I now sit in New Paltz, New York at a coffee shop called the Muddycup. It's got free internet, ugly retro couches, some college kid playing the guitar, and really really decadent flavored hot chocolate. If I can't finish Harry Potter here, where can I?

The bad news is that it cost $15 per day per person to climb here at teh Gunks!! Those of you westerners know, this is insane. It throws me into a whole rant about why we are sending tanks, planes, helicopters, etc to Iraq, making government employees at National Parks overworked and overwhelmed, and not even including the Gunks in that National Park system! I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, however climbing here for a year costs more than a year long NATIONWIDE national parks pass. They are not a national or even state park, they are a non profit organization, so they charge climbers MORE (than hikers or bikers) to get in since we're the ones who make their insurace so high. Grrr.... I could rant and rant, but I won't. Not here, not now, I've got Potter to read. I'll fill you in more after I climb a few days. It is supposed to be some of the best in the US, so maybe I'll be willing to spend the cash, but that's a lot of mac and cheese.

"Wring it dry!"

Sep 14th, 2007.

I am sitting on the coast of the Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Lion’s Head, Ontario. The white limestone cliffs in the distance have been our playground the last two days. The waves crashing sound like the ocean and are with us the majority of the day. While climbing, the waves are a calming backdrop to the challenging limestone crag. It has been midweek since we have been here and therefore not at all crowded. We did run into one other climbing couple who were friendly enough to stop by the library to get our email addresses so they could send us pictures they had taken of us climbing the previous day. We also had a long conversation with a local woman named Ginny who lives just behind where I am sitting. She and her husband took a yearlong journey down the east coast in a boat when they were about our age. Her advice to us was to “wring it dry”.

This place is fantastic. The climbing is a little above us at this point in the journey, but so far we have been getting to the top (fairly gracefully most times). We came in last Tuesday evening in the rain after a day walking around Niagara Falls and attempting to boulder at Niagara Glenn. Jay had never been to the falls and I am always somewhat in awe of them, although the commercialism surrounding them leaves something to be desired. Niagara Glenn wasn’t really given a chance since we got there in the evening and it was difficult to see the holds by then, and when we awoke it was raining, so we moved on. From what we saw it seemed a little stiff though.

Tuesday, we made a brief stop in Toronto and bought a guidebook for this area at MEC. As we continued north, the clouds grew darker and the rain and even hail started. Sometimes rain has a good way of justifying long days sitting in the Rialta, though, so I enjoyed it. When we got to town we found the small campground that was listed in the guidebook as being $6/night. It was very much an RV park now (the guidebook was written in 1997) and there was no one at the marina to talk to about prices. I was tired of staying in places where we were not technically supposed to be, and was hoping to find a place to call home here, but we were both sure that the campground was going to be over our budget. By this time, it was evening and all we really needed was a place to park, so we tried finding one more campground and in the process discovered what we have come to refer to as “the hole”. It is on Cemetary road, and if you turn east from Rt 9, it is on the left and you don’t have to pass any houses to get to it. It is a simple pull out where it appears that some firewood has been collected by some of the local residents. We have spent three uneventful (FREE) nights there so far! We have also discovered the free public washrooms at the marina, which have proven useful, and that there is a decent wireless internet connection outside the library even though they charge two dollars an hour inside.

International postcard stamps are expensive. You all will be getting postcards written weeks or months before they are sent for the times we are not in the states for the rest of the trip. Since leaving Ohio on Monday we have only spent $125. That includes gas. We are pretty proud of that and being very careful about how and when we spend money. We did find out that the crappy little RV campground in town charges $23.66/night. That doesn’t include hookups to water or electricity. IN other words, the hole is really a score.

I have finally come to be totally and completely enjoying this trip. The first two days we sat in the Rialta too much and I felt the normal stresses of travel. We got a bit off course, we couldn’t find anything nice on the US side of the Falls aside from the park itself (I think now that is because there really isn’t anything nice on the US side), we slept in a parking lot of a Perkins and Best Western (and I am always a little nervous about places like that), and we weren’t getting any exercise. We’ve had a lot of mini starts to this trip, but after Shannon and Paul’s (unbelievably fairytale) wedding was over and we left Ohio, I was ready for the feeling I had when we had left Jay’s parents a month prior.

The east doesn’t have as much large scale splendor as the west, though, and sometimes it takes a little time and patience to see the beauty. As I write this, and feel the cool breeze and listen to the waves and occasionally look out at those cliffs across the bay, I see it very clearly. The water is a clear turquoise blue and from the top of the bluff it looks as if you could be in the Bahamas. I’m sure in the summer it might even feel that way until you jump in the water. The hike in is a short 15 minute jaunt through evergreens that were planted in neat post logging lines and then into birch trees lining moss covered limestone. The stone is pocketed and gnarly and reminds me of brains and something out of Lord of the Rings. You have to rap down to the climbs and a lot of the cliffs are so overhung underneath the climb itself that you have to use a hanging belay. My legs go numb; I don’t like that, and I wonder how I’d do on a big wall when I can’t feel my feet after Jay does a quick single pitch of sport. We have done the majority of the easiest climbs here in the first two days. There are only a very small handful of climbs below 5.10 and the 5.10’s are not very technical, but definitely strong. Jay and I have been doing a lot of eating and drinking and other general merriment type activities for the past few weeks and we feel we have a ways to go to get ready for the Red River Gorge by October. Why, you ask, am I sitting here typing instead of working on getting stronger on those cliffs right now? It rained all morning, it’s cold, and we think it might be best to take this as our rest day. Jay has twelve more routes he wants to do before we leave here. I think we can knock ‘em off in two days, he thinks three.

The sun doesn’t hit the cliffs ‘til about 3 pm, so we have luxurious mornings drinking tea, reading our books, and hanging out on the beach or by the lake. Yesterday I did yoga on the beach in the morning, and this morning Jay and I went for a bike ride on the west side of the peninsula. It feels good to get exercise everyday. It feels good to live very simply. It feels good to dictate what we do by the weather. It feels good to be unemployed!

I’m definitely writing this in a stream of conscious style, and if it is annoying to you, I’m sorry. I would like feedback from people, but at the same time, I guess this is kind of my journal, so I don’t care what you all think. The only thing that I want to add at this point is the fact that I have to go back to Ohio and testify in court on Oct 2nd, which changes our plans a bit. Some of you who know me well, know all about why. Some of you might not know anything, and that’s ok too. I just found out on Wednesday that we will have to testify and it has been very much on my mind since. I am thankful to be in a calming and peaceful place to think these thoughts and “prepare” myself for whatever that entails. All in all, I know it will bring more closure to the situation because we know we did everything we could do to protect others, and we faced it all honestly and openly ourselves.

Oh how I love Ohio State...

We are in Canfield now and about to head out to the largest county fair in either the country or this side of the Mississippi. That was a subject of a bit of debate last night around the campfire. It is the 161st Canfield fair. We are looking forward to elephant ears, fried twinkies, cotton candy, lemon shake ups, and corn dogs.

A quick update from the past couple of weeks. Saturday the 25th I flew from Fresno to Cleveland with a stop for lunch in Phoenix with my high school buddy, Don Ohle. I landed in Cleveland around 11 pm and took the MEGABUS to Chicago at 2:30 am. I slept most of the way and I highly recommend the megabus if you need transport in the midwest. I ate breakfast at this amazing cafe called Lou Mitchell's right near union station where they give you a donut hole as you walk in. I then got on another bus to Milwaukee where I was meeting up with Jay. He picked me up from the bus station, we went to lunch and then went sailing with his Kathy and "Scuba" Smith and their son Kevin as well as Jay's sister, Brittanni, and her husband, Erik. It was a beautiful day and the lake was fantastic. The next day we drove to Devil's Lake State Park by way of Madison, WI. I had always heard that Madison was a cool place, and I would agree completely. It was raining a bit and we weren't sure we'd be able to climb, but we headed to Devil's Lake anyway. By the time we got there the weather had cleared and we got a few pitches of climbing in. The rock is somewhat smooth and it felt a little greasy to me, but maybe it was just the humidity and the fact that we haven't been climbing much at all. We drove down Burma road (from the advice of the local Madison climbing shop guy) and ended up camping (illegally) there. It was quiet but it rained a bit. As we were driving out we came upon a downed tree, so we were stuck down Burma road. We biked down to the park and told someone about the tree. Jay ties Brutus to the front of his bike and it is absolutely HILARIOUS watching them bike together. Brutus ran ahead the whole time even on the several miles of down hill. We climbed at the East bluff again and then swam in the lake for a bit before one of us biked back up the hill to retrieve the Rialta. We stole showers from the campground just across from the east bluff parking lots. Hot water and flush toilets are always a luxury and after paying $10 per day for entrance we felt justified in using their facilities. That night there was a fantastic thunder and lightning storm and we decided not to risk Burma road again, so slept in our first Wal-mart parking lot. The sunroof has a leak and we tried to rectify that before the rain started with some Goo, but the leak persisted.

The next day we headed toward Chicago. Jay's two grandmothers as well as some aunts and uncles live in Chicago, so we made a family stop at Gramma Irene's and Uncle Barry, Auntie D, and Gramma Emily all came over for Pizza. It was good to hang out and they all liked Brutus. Gramma Irene was feeding him saltines on the sly. We then headed to Blake's place in Logan Square. Blake's girlfriend, Emily, was there and we just stayed in and hung out with the two of them for the evening. The next day, Thursday the 30th, we went down town with Blake and Bill Spaulding and walked along the coast of Lake Michigan enjoying a sunny and warm day in the windy city. We went to Millenium Park, the Hancock building, Castaways (where we drank long islands and played Uno), and then grilled out at Blake's. Jay and I then went to Kristen and Bridget's rehearsal dinner and then walked around the big city for a bit before crashing for the night.

August 31, 2007 Jay and I took the blue line into the city to Grant park to check out the beginnings of Jazz fest and then jogged back to Blake's along the water. It was a long, hot run, but we needed the exercise for sure. We then headed out to Kristen and Bridet's wedding. It took us a lot longer to get there than we would have liked, but we made it for the majority of the ceremony. The wedding was beautiful outside in the botanical gardens. the reception was fun and there was more dancing than I had ever seen. The whole party cleared the tables and were on the dance floor. Jay was a trooper and drove all night from Chicago to Columbus so that we could go to the Ohio Sate versus YSU game with Shannon and Paul. It was fun to be back on campus and we drank a few beers at the VC before the game with Seth and Mary K and Kevin and Andrea. The Bucks won and then we did the campus walk and ate some Adriatico's pizza. We then ran into the Ansevin brothers (some friends from back home that Shannon and I had done gymnastics with years ago) and joined them at Tommy's Pizza. I drove back to Canfield so Jay could sleep.

September 2, 2007 we hung out at home with Susie and Bob and then went to a picnic at some close friends' of the family's house. They have an amazing old Ohio farmhouse built in 1906 or so with three acres of land and a pond that Brutus and Carrie both swam in. We stayed until the campfire hours.

September 3, 2007 we attended the traditional Salem Country Club labor day breakfast with the Votaw family. Then we headed home, I started typing this blog, then got sidetracked by the Canfield fair and ridiculous caloric intake. I think the total food consumed between Jay and I was the following: one corn dog, one lemon shake up, one fried cheese, two bottles of water, one crazy cone, one half bag cotton candy, one fried broccoli, one fried twinkie, one fried oreo, one pepperoni calzone, three french fries, two bites of cavetelli, and one elephant ear. We biked home and mom had some fresh corn made, so we ate that too. I am now about to burst and going to bed.