Saturday May 27th, 2006

So alas, we all "awoke" saturday morning, and I use the "awoke" lightly because it was more that we all stubled out of our respective sleeping locations and eventually got all of our gear together. A split board had to be dealt with (damn snowboarders - always slowing up the process) skiis quickly adjusted, the subaru was loaded up and we took off on a grey morning to Jackson Hole ski area. After a quick bite to eat (for the boys - seriously, I don't think I can fit a fourth of the food they eat on an hourly basis in an entire day) we headed off to the tram. Unfortunately we missed the first tram (due to a large troop of asian tourists... oh my. i just realized something, i will have to prep myself for the asian tourists in NZ again... oh boy... if any of you knew me when I lived there before you know precisely what I am talking about). So, we had to wait around a little bit longer, but finally we were on the tram headed up to some glorious (ok maybe not January at Alpental, pass closing, 12-18 inches of NW freshies) but hey, its memorial day and i was going skiing. Who is this girl to complain!

After getting to the top, gearing up, we headed out of bounds. For those of you who might be a little confused the actual ski resort is "closed" to skiiers at this time. You have to head out of bounds to be able to actually ski. So off we took passing a few skiiers who claimed it was all a sheet off ice, this attempted to damper our spirits, but hell - that's pretty damn hard to do to me! So we kept on keepin on and eventually made it to the snow hill. Where we then had to sk down to the location where we then put on the skins and went back up. Now let me stop here for a moment because I am sure there are many of you are thinking, lil, that just seems a little bit ridiculous, you have driven a car, taken a tram, hiked, skiied, skiined and then you finally get to take some real runs?! And all I can say is, well, yea.

[Caption to this photo- I think Colin was frusterated with me ;-)]

It's a whole lot of work and sometimes the rewards are only two one minute runs before you have to put the skins back on and head back up and out of the bowl, but that is the joy of the "activities" I do. Sometimes it takes a lot of work ;-) but the natural high you can get from it is just oh so amazing.

After hiking up we "rested" for a few moments, had some goodies from our sponsors and right when we clicked into the skis, the sun came out and a beautiful run was had. Still waiting on some photos from that run because Alex was in charge that time through. And I promise the video footage is in the works! Anyways, we were all feelin' pretty good (I swear it has nothing to do with the help from our sponsor, my friend, JackD.) and we decided to hit that run again. Amazingly the boot up seemed to go even faster, can't ever imagine why! This time around we only stayed at the top briefly - just enough time to realize things were turning and our sun was very being chased away but some dark clouds and strong winds. After another few great turns, we headed back towards the Tram. Put our skins back on and headed out. However, quickly there was a bit bigger of a problem. No, a hot guy didn't ski by and I didn't run into a tree or fall down (I swear, I've never done that before - KT I can hear you roaring with laughter we are both sharing the same vision right now). The problem was the winds kept picking up. At first it seemed like it would blow over, but it didn't and before we all knew this 125lb girl was blown over, again, and again, and again. And it only got worse when I was hiking with my skis on my pack. We all got a little nervous, wondering whether or not the TRAM would be open, but apparently Karma was on our side and a whole bunch of tourists were stuck up in the lodge. We only had to wait around about 45 minutes before the winds had died down enough (they got up to about 75mph). Finally we made it back car, back to the condo, showered had some great mexican, watched x3, had a few beers, and was umm in bed by 1130pm. (Yikes, I'm exhausted just writing this. ha!) Ok, some of us were in bed by that point a certain pair of boys who are brothers had another mission and let's just say I think there was quite a bit of bad ice in some of those drinks.

One final quote from Saturday, "Don't you know who I am... I 'm the juggernaut bi+ch!!!"

wow. that turned into a long post and it took quite a while due to certain distractions. but as we all know, lil loves to be distracted. So alas, I sign out for now!!!

ha ha ha...

Sometimes when you are right, you are right.

Friday May 26th,

So alas, we arrived in Jackson... To find Alex standing on his office's balcony laughing at the clown show that Ben and I had turned into. By the time we both bailed out of the car we were arguing like an old married couple...actually more like siblings. The bickering hadn't stopped in about 2 hours (prior to which Ben was asleep so wasn't really an issue). Anyways, after visiting Alex's abode, grabbing some lunch, and resting for a few Alex headed back to work. It is at this point that I should introduce you to Colin, Alex's roomate as he will be an integral part to this story. Colin is a nice chap, originally from Duxbury, MA. Went to Milton with Ben and Dartmouth with Alex.

So Ben, Colin, and I headed off to the liquor, no... I did not have that great of an influence on everyone (hell it was only 2pm, that's early even for me!) Anyways, we headed off to the liqour store to pick up the necessary tickets for the evenings activities - Jackson Hole Wine Tasting. After which we had a relaxing hike (for some - a bit rough on someone else *coughbencough* though I won't mention any names here) that included discussions on everything from biodisel, tuna fishing (yes, dad, I even talked about tuna fishing) amongst many other things. Our short hike (that should have had us back around 5) ended up taking a bit longer and we were all pleasantly suprised to see Alex pull up in the subie in the parking lot :-). After a couple quick showers and clean clothes we were all ready to head to the Jackson Hole wine tasting. A pleasantly suprising event! Picture this: me, lilwaldo - miss east coast (just to give you a mental pic (don't have any real ones) in a pink and green polo, pink belt, jeans, and flip-flops, with three nicely dressed gentlemen arriving in what seemed to be the gathering of the entire town. And I have to admit, while it was nice at first to see how many people Alex and Colin knew, I quickly realized & remembered why I now live in a "big" city and haven't lived in a super small town since I was 18. everyone knew everyone. And everyone knows everything about all the others. Now you may say, lil, what's the big deal with that - your life is an open book, you should practice what you preach. And while this is 100% true, sometimes it's nice not to have to think, am I going to run into my ex? Sometimes, its just really hard to keep up appearances, just to keep everyone happy. Yes, I love it when people get along and yes, I am quite good at getting over crappy things in my life. But the problem is, I can't control anyone else and if they are still hung up on things, try as you may, it can really get in the way of you trying to move on with your life if no one else is moving on.

Also. I once again realized something that I have been thinking about for quite a while. The effect of drama on people's lives. For some reason while at this event, my intuition was telling me that something wasn't quite right with this group of "friends." Later on I would learn the long and tangled story of what was going on, which is completely unimportant to this post. What I realized is how perfectly sane and normal people when paired up with certain other people will just cause drama. This actually was a huge realization for me as it has caused me to reflect on my own life. Why is that when I am around a particular ex of mine there is all this unnecessary drama? I know I have a dramatic streak to me, but what goes on between us is like a catastrophic explosion. And what I see now, is sometimes people, without meaning to do so, end up constantly having friction for whatever reason. And there isn't much you can do it. Personalities clash and while you may really like the person, hell you may even love them, you life, just isn't better with them as your signficant other because there is all this unnecessary stress. And as sad as it is, maybe it is just time to move on and start over fresh. If a relationship is born out of chaos it is very hard to pull it back to some semblance of normalcy.

Anyways, all in all the wine tasting was quite fun. Colin and I found some good Kiwi wine (which obviously I would have loved regardless if it was any good) and also had some amazing champagne. Too bad Colin threw out the tasting book (just kidding - I threw it out). After the wine tasting we grabbed a bite to eat - consisting of elk sausages which were quite yummy! Anywho, after grabbing a beer we entered in to the "upper stage" of the venue where the improv comedy show was taking place. And let me tell you, Improv comedy in Jackson, WY is not all that bad, quite funny actually. I know, that totally sounds like a snobby city girl thing to say, but when you come from the city of endless entertainment (with great shows most nights) its hard to live up to that. But these guys (one of whom was a friend of Alex's) were really good. Some of the jokes most certainly flew over my head but oh well.

After a quick stop at Wendy's we all headed home to bed for a good nights rest. Knowing that before us, on Saturday, lay the next big adventure. The TRAM at Jackson Hole was going to be opening back up again and skiing was to be done!

-lilwaldo

Thursday May 25th 2006

So. I have finally made it back to seattle, but before I get to that bit of the journey I should probably back step about 5 days. back to where it began. On Thursday evening, around 7pm, Ben and I finally made it out of Seattle. After fighting city traffic, a pitstop at bens house and few other random things, we were on our way and saying adious to this fair city.

This first evening was not all that exciting. Other than the fact that we picked up "new friend." Everyone, meet JC - or Jesus Coconut, our coconut travelling buddy that we found in the Safeway in Cle Elum. While he is not the most talkative individual he most certianly has a mean stare. Anyways, that first evening we drove all they way through UMATILLA and into central/eastern oregon. At about 1:45am we could not drive an longer and slept in a rest stop. I however, was awake at a lovely 5am and couldn't stand it any longer. Told ben to get ready cause we were hitting the road, again.

The views were pretty incredible during the day. The mountains were looming in the distance every where you looked. Nevanda and Utah to the south, Idaho to the north and then, eventually, of course the amazing tetons to the east. If you have never seen the Tetons, I can certainly tell you, you are missing out on something pretty amazing. While they resemble the north cascades there is something unique about them that made me strangely feel very distant from my home mountains, the cascades.

Around 12:30pm mountain time we arrived in "downtown" jackson, called up alex and gave him very chipper "we're here." And alas, we had arrived in Jackson, Wyoming.

If you had pulled me aside right then and there and told me the adventures that were forthcoming, I honestly don't know what my thoughts would have been. As I've stated before, on of my favorite things in life is the anticipation of the unexpected. And well, this weekend was full of excactly that. Completely unexpected events that have left me in an amazingly good mood, confident with some of my recent life choices, and even more self aware and self understanding than before. All that in only four days, I can only imagine what is going to come out of the two weeks in NZ.

So for now, it is very late, I have driven a ton today, and I'd like to get some sleep. So I will sign out, but know, there is a whole lot more coming at you!

lilwaldo

we should all...

Take a moment and think about how lucky we are. Most of you who read this blog are much like myself, though we don't think its true, many people see us as outdoor extremists. Even my own family thinks I'm a bit insane at time (they are probably true). Another climber has passed on while trying to attempt to summit Mt. Everest, a challenge that is no joke. In the same light, a friend of mine from the climbing gym, Brenda Walsh, summitted and says she didn't think it was all that hard. She, however, is one of RMI's most accomplished guides and is borderline superhuman with her abilties. So what is my point? In regards to the climber who died just a mere 1,000 feet from the summit of everest, Sir Edmund Hilary (my hero) says, "I think the whole attitude toward climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top," he told a Kiwi newspaper. And it is true. If you set out to do some of the things that "we" the outdoor community do, just to conquer a mountain or feel more superior then you are not doing it for the right reasons. The mountains, ocean, and mother earth are always going to be more powerful. Now I'm not saying that we don't get satisfaction from skinning up a new route, or sending that 5.11 we've been working on for so long, but there has to be a sense of humilty that goes along with it. I have seen enough crazy things in my 24 short years to know that none of us are invincible. There are always factors that we can never account for, situations that even in our wildest dreams or scariest nightmares could we scheme up. And the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, the mountain/ocean/rock/trail/piste/couloir will be there. However, if we don't take care of our brothers and sisters, they might not. And is summiting a mountain really worth a human beings life? I honestly do not believe so.

Sorry for the somber commentary, but I had to share.

lilwaldo

Oh crap.

Every time I leave for a trip I swear that next time I am going to be more prepared earlier on. I really tried this time, honestly I did. But, alas, I failed. I still have laundry going at home (that has to be packed) still haven't finished cleaning up the apartment (those dishes really can't stay in the sink all weekend, yuck) but its time to just realize and accept, while I am always ready and raring to go, right on time, I love pushing things till the last minute. I'm always throwing one last thing into my bag before I head out the door, just in case. So why should this time be any different? And its not like next weeks trip to Idaho is going to be any different. I'm sure at 545 Samantha will be waiting at my door and I will be throwing that last item into my bag. :-). It's just the joys of being someone who likes to live her life at 5,000 miles per hour and never wants to slow down. Sorry, I just can't, I get way too bored way to easily. I like to have packed weekend because I love doing stuff. Just "sitting tight" has always been my arch nemesis. Go ahead, ask my mom. Asking me to sit still as a little child was probably the hardest thing to do. While my older sister could sit contently and quietly, I would be itching and raring to go at any moment. Funny how that has had such a great affect on my life. Anyways, this post has taken a completely different turn than it started off as. Sorry!. So, I will be leaving in 5.5, oh wait, no, make that 4.5 hours. So much to do, to do!!!!

-lilwaldo

T - 36 hours.

Road trip begins in less than 36 hours. Still need to:

• pack
  
• get a new back pack - INCOMPLETE - everything is sold out.
  
• climb at the gym (ok this is for my own sanity)
  
• work today and tomorrow - 1/2 way done.
  
• laundry
  
• find someone to check up on boston
  
• make brownies (because i have never been on a road trip with out them)
  
• clean my apartment (this one is falling lower on the list)
  
• find all my ski gear
  
• burn loads of road trip cds
  

I think that's about it. :)

Photo.

Sam and TT (aka lilwaldo).

Deal has been made.

Deal has been made. I conceeded to taking Ben's car if and only if we leave on Thursday night. Contest is no longer necessary and the Golf's reputation is still upheld. All is well!

Check this out: Alex's approach in a canoe.

Alex has definitely taken life to a new high.

Super excited to be heading there in just 48 hours - then the games will truly begin. Ultimate road trip songs are highly welcomed. Am composing cds for our adventures!

-lilwaldo

Check out

Check out this band: Silversun Pickups.

Travelin spirit callin me back...

So, J.Hole is on thursday and I can't wait. However, I have just added another trip to the roster. Samantha and I will be heading over to Idaho for some camping and chick time the following weekend. The theme of that weekend, "sorry boys.... you're not allowed." The problem being - we spend too much time doing what the dudes want to do and never have time for what we want to do. Why is that all my girls (and myself included) end up feeling like we sacrifice our selves for these relationships, but don't get what we need in return? The problem is when we ask for it - we feel guilty. Because we, being the "cool girls" don't want to force anyone to do what they really dont want to, but yet we will just go along with it and do what we really don't want to.

Hmmm.

Once again....

Once again, it really is time for me to start listening to my horoscope:

This tug-of-war is getting the two of you exactly nowhere. Can you even remember just what it is you were tussling over? Chances are you can't. Go ahead and drop this rope. It's time to walk away.

Time to walk away is right. Also, I just realized that I never explained the "anticipation of the unexpected" that is the title to my last post. That line has come from something that I am very rapidly learning about myself. I am not someone who likes to plan just because they freak out about the future and have to have everythign lined up and ready to go. It's actually quite the opposite. I plan so that I have something to be excited about in the future. 99.9% of the time what I plan isn't even what takes place, and that is perfectly wonderful with me. It just i love that feeling when you are anticipating that something new and exciting is going to happen - though you don't quite know what it is yet. I'm sure to most of you this is very confusing. Howeve, to me, it makes 110% perfect sense! For example, I am very very excited about my upcoming trip to NZ (which I've been planning for a few months now). However, I don't have every moment of the trip planned. Not even close. I have a few places I will be staying booked and know that I want to ski. But what REALLY is exciting to me, is all the adventures (that I can dream about) that I really don't have any clue will happen. Maybe I will meet a future business partner or find a new friend to add to my amazing network of people I care for. Who knows, but what's the fun if you can't dream and hope about it?

lilwaldo

Alternative energy & the anticipation of the unexpected.

Check out this site: www.novisenergy.com. Some of you may recognize a familiar name on there, xan. Yes, this is the same xan as my best friends xan and the part i find extremely funny (sorry hon im not laughing at you) is how is the chief technology officer - when did my friends grow up!? Ah the joys of being a 20 something. At least most of us are still living it up. :)

Hmmmmm.

So I, like many people, get my horoscope sent to me every day. Normally I think its a whole load of garbage, but today it was so frighteningly dead on I had to share it here to remind myself. No I know this could apply to a lot of people but right now it 100% speaks to a situation in my life, so here it is:

You must have respect, you must have freedom and you must have affection.

It's really quite funny. And slightly suprising how much of a challenge it is for me to get all three of those things.

Happy Friday!

-lilwaldo

Dating outside your sport.

There are many different theories on dating.... Opposites attract, birds of a feather flock together, etc etc etc... Today, while boulding at VW (the climbing gym - not in my car, silly people) I was reading urban climber and came across an interesting "ask the editor" article. This dude was complaining because his chick wasn't into climbing so he was seeking advice on how to get her into it. The editor gave some good tips, but also noted that if she really isn't into it, well it could be a great cause of strife. Which got me thinking - should we date outside our sports? My friend Samantha commented the other day how as we grow up sports become more of your lifestyle, rather than just something you do for fun. For example, most of my close friends are pretty hardcore climbers and skiiers - not only is it what we do for fun - but it is more that this. It is the passion in our life. It is what we do with our vacation. It is what we do after work, on the weekends, any free moment we have is dedicated to it. So what happens when we date outside our sports. What happens if you date someone who isnt into the same sport as you.... And what if they have no interest in joining the sport you love? Now I'm not saying you have to do everything together, everyone needs their own space, but as I am involved in more relationships I am starting to realize how important it is to have someone who shares some of the same interests as you. Someone who, if you want to go away for the weekend will be just as jazzed as you to get on a new sport route, or do some spring skinning to get that last bit of pow before its gone for good. The sport itself isn't what is truly important, but rather having someone who enjoys getting out there and being a part of what you love.

just testing

Look, it's me!

J.Hole here I come!

So! New development have decided to bail on Sasquatch for memorial day and am going to Jackson Hole instead. Why J. hole, may you ask? (Which really is a silly question in of itself, but alas I digress) J.Hole provides a couple of things for me. One - to try out my new digital camera/ video recorder - so that I am well acquainted with it before the big trip across the pond, two - am in desperate need of a road trip, and three - to visit someone who has known me all too long and even though we didn't see eachother for ten years (yes, Beth I am old enough to have been very close with someone and not have seen them for that long) he still knows how to push my buttons. Oh and his little bro is driving out there with me - which will be an adventure itself. --> Here's an example of why this trip is going to be oh so very entertaining. Ben and I got into a discussion as to who's car should be taken - and the only qualifying characteristic is (not gas mileage, not comfort, not room) but coolness. OBVIOUSLY my vw golf is cooler than his mom-mobile, I mean volvo. However, the only true way to solve this is by competition. Now you might think we would race our cars or something normal like that. But no - the only true way to decide who's car is cooler is by having a three-legged race (we each have to bring a partner) around Queen Anne. Oh yea, both ben and I have to balance an egg on a spoon with one hand the entire time. How this competition will decide which car is cooler I have no clue. But the fact is , it goes to show how absolutely asinine our trip is going to be. And I, for one, cannot wait for the adventures to begin.

libby