Spring Break Post 2

Here is the second installment of my Spring Break adventure this past March. I hope that the lag time between these posts and the actually date of the trip will not affect your interest.

Marc "hangin' out" at the Summit Climbing Gym in Grapevine, TX while Nathan belays. (See that blur in the bottom right-hand corner? That's a black belt ninja, aka Nick, Marc's younger brother, who also happens to be a heck of a climber.)

Nathan and I left Abilene on a drizzly dreary Tuesday morning and headed out East to meet up with our roommate Marc, his girlfriend, and some of their family at a climbing gym. We had a great time! Everyone in our group climbed to his or her heart's content (at the expense of finger tip skin!). For me, the true pleasure came from seeing my friends have fun doing something that I am so passionate about. Sometimes when you do something so much there is a sense of novelty or a feeling of excitement that gets lost. But when you are around other people for which it is a unique experience, you get to catch a glimpse of that thrill again through their eyes. Thank you Marc and Bonni for sharing that with me.

Look at that enthusiasm! Go Bonni!

With stomachs rumbling, Nathan and I headed over to Richardson to have dinner at Grandy and Grammy Pickle's house. It happened to be their wedding anniversary, so we lucked out and got to spend a wonderful evening celebrating the occasion with some of Nathan's family. And boy, does Grammy know how to host people! Their house is immaculate and well prepared and the food was outstanding.

The next morning was crisp, people were showing their St. Patrick's color, and Spring felt like is was in the air: a good day to be outside. Unfortunately we faced a long drive. To combat the boredom, we made sure and take a morning walk with Grandy and the mandatory stop at the REI store before we left town. Thankfully the roads were dry and the weather nice and we just rolled along without any trouble out of Texas, straight through the "Natural State" of Arkansas, and over the Mississippi River into Memphis, Tennessee on route to meet up with friends Nick and Sarah Moore.

That first evening we took a walk along the River (Nick and Sarah live really close to a riverside park) catching up on each others' lives. It was very cool to visit with them about their lives outside of undergraduate college life especially since I'm facing the same transition in the near future. The rest of the evening held more conversation over some good food ("Mighty Migas") and a climbing flick called "Progression."

Me standing in the river-side park in front of the mighty Mississippi River. Note well the Outdoor Club shirt. Long live the OC!

On Thursday, upon Sarah's recommendation Nathan and I spent the day in Otherlands, a very eclectic coffee shop with an extreme "hippy" vibe. Very fun. I guess if you call sitting at a table working on homework all day fun. That evening we decided to change plans a little bit and head further east into Tennessee for our climbing adventures, avoiding some bad weather projected for Arkansas. Before trucking off to Nashville to stay at Sarah's aunt's house that night, our friends took us out to eat at Porky's BBQ where I gorged myself on some outstanding dry-rub ribs.

I'm becoming convinced that friends make the world go 'round.

Friday began our actual climbing adventures. Stay tuned...