Random Clips

I haven’t posted in a while and have a hadful of random things to talk about that have occurred the last month or so.

First is this video of my friend Tadd Maudlin, cruising on his sailboat off the coast of Belize, doing a dance that I used to do in college and most likely still do.  I’m very jealous of him – bought a boat and is cruising on it indefinitely with his girlfriend, they are now in the Carribbean off Belize – follow them on their blog at http://lastknownposition.blogspot.com 

 

Speaking of boats, mine was broken for two long weeks – the motor went out while we were sailing, so we had to sail her into the can with pretty much no wind – super fun and challenging.  Then I tried a zillion differnet things to fix her, all to no avail and making it worse over about ten days.  Called a boat mechanic named Doug Pietz recommended by my boat neighbor.  He met me out on the boat and proceeded to tear into the motor fearlessly – fixing three problems, each of which could have been a major issue on its own, all in the span of under two hours.  A true professional and it was really amazing to watch him work.  I was very impressed with his skill and his pricing and efficiency and fun attitude.  If you need boat engine work done certainly call him at 847 533 9030, he is spectacular.

This past weekend I went to another lake house, also in Michigan and on the shore of Lake Michigan and its spectacular giant sand beaches – they are truly stunning if you have a chance to check out the west coast of the lower peninsula definitely do, they seriously rival many of the great beaches around the world in my opinion in the summer, and also very cool to experience in the wintertime.  Stretches a couple hundred miles up the coast.  Here’s a view from the kitchen:

 

Took different crew sailing each day of the air and water show including Friday – very fun and gorgeous days.  Check the picture of the enormous American flag on a sailboat we saw. 

At the Air and Water Show in Chicago 2009

Went to Devil’s Lake one Sunday a couple weeks back to rock climb with some climbing friends, great time had by all.  Gorgeous, perfect day and terrific group of climbers.

This weekend we head to Lake Superior to kayak the Apostle Islands for five days, should be a great trip, sevn of us are going, really looking forward to it.

Went to a Purdue football game last Saturday, very fun to see all my old buddies and wander by my old apartment.   In college I managed to jump a car over the embankment shown below, they seem to have put up posts to stop this in the future.

Scene of trouble back in the day

At the Air and Water Show in Chicago 2009

Scene of trouble back in the day

Everybody Loves a Lake House – Coldwater Michigan

Went to a lake house in Michigan last weekend.  Michigan is a beautiful state and has lots of lakes and subsequently lots of lake houses, which I love.  It’s always so relaxing, such great food, fun for everybody.  Swimming, kayaking, waterskiing, tubing, wakeboarding, cruising around on a pontoon boat, partying…  grilling out, people show up and leave whenever, totally laid back and cool.  Ryan is the man!  Terrific place on Coldwater Lake and lots of cool people and fun activities, not too far from Chicago, and I was able to stop by my 94 year old Grandma’s place in South Bend on the way and take her grocery shopping with me for the supplies I was tasked with bringing.  Always fun to see her, still getting around just fine at 94, how great is that?  And still whipping up delicious zucchini bread and split pea soup for her grateful grandson.  Also got to see my cuz who’s about my age and my Aunt and Uncle in Elkhart on the way back Sunday.

On the porch grubbing down

One fun story to share is on the pontoon boat we cruised a few miles up lakes and canals one evening.  We came to a particularly low bridge and people encouraged Will and I to climb on it, run across the road and hop back in the boat – a flimsy sewer pipe and caution deterred us… however on the return trip I gathered some courage, grabbed the bridge and pulled myself out of the boat, scampered up and over the railing, and halfway into the road before looking for cars, then ran across, hopped onto the sewer pipe just as the beginning of the boat emerged under me.   A big fluffy-looking seat was wide open, and I knew behind it was the steering wheel, driver, more people and then no boat, so I had to jump NOW, which I did and shazam, it was over. 

In the video below Ryan cuts the power at the apex of the tubing pyramid… and hilarity ensues.

 

Sunday we anchored the pontoon boat on a sandbar and goofed around.

Standing up (briefly) while tubing - Will is number 1!

Heading out for the afternoon on the pontoon boat

Me, also heading out for an afternoon on the water

Los Angeles Quick Trip – LAX

LAX at Los Angeles Airport

Went to LA last Thursday and Friday for a couple work meetings, one in Redondo Beach and then dinner with some others in the fancy shmancy, famed Beverly Hills.  Good meetings, good folks.  I used to live out in Orange County for a consulting project running around eight months, managed to get a hotel on the beach in Newport and learned to surf a little before and after work.  I was struck by the amount of materialism and the focus on how you look there.  Also the amount of highways and signs and the lifestyle and the obsession with celebrities.  I enjoyed my time but was happy to leave as well.  Same with this most recent trip – I find LA fascinating.  The huge homes up in the hills, the beach homes, the slums, gangs, hollywood, fame…  Met a girl on the plane who flew in from Chicago to go to Michael Jackson’s funeral, that’s a big trip for the event.

Major thought that struck me as I was back in Chicago driving home down 90/94 on three little lanes, fresh off a trip on the 405 (they precede their highways with “the” out there – the 5, the 405, the PCH) and all seven lanes or however many there are – the thought was that Chicago is really pretty small relative to LA.  Funny as I don’t usually think that living here.

LAX Long Beach, "the" 405 Highway

Rippin it up in So Ill on the Sandstone

Alan rapping off Cranial Implosion (12a) at Jackson Falls, So Ill

Went to Southern Illinois over the weekend to rock climb at Jackson Falls with my friend from the gym, Alan. We had a great time and got on some good routes including some 5.8s to warm up on the east side of the canyon and Cranial Implosion, a 5.12a I’d really like to get at some point. I worked out the crux sequence which I haven’t been able to do before, so that was encouraging. Also got on Lovely Arete again, but it was soaking wet so much more difficult and scarier to do as it was slippery, so no dice. It’s an 11a. It was hot and muggy and the rock was mostly wet so we climbed hard most of the day Saturday and came back to the city late Saturday night, getting in around 2am. I swam in the pool under the falls again to cool off, I was covered in sweat after each climb, soaking my shoes and slick with the stuff, what a relief to jump in a pond after. Here’s a good site showing how to get to the crags and some details on the climbing at Jackson Falls in Shawnee National forest if you’re interested.  And here’s an even better site showing a map of some of the climbs and grades and how to get there.  It’s a five-six hour road trip from Chicago.  We drove through a long, massive rainstorm on the way down – bonus was a full rainbow across the highway – so gorgeous!  Snapped a shot of it with my Blackberry.

June rainbow in Southern Illinois from the car

Canoeing “Le Diable” in Quebec, Mount Tremblant National Park

Went to Mount Tremblant National Park in Quebec over the weekend (mid June).  Very beautiful area, big stone cliffs on the two hour drive north from Montreal.  Many ski runs carved through the trees on the mountainsides as we drove north.  The trip was a fairly last minute deal with three buddies, all friends since age five or so.  One of us is a doctor, Spencer, and is in Montreal for the summer learning a new procedure.  Wayne and I flew in to meet him, I met with a couple guys I do some work with in the city, then we were off to the woods and streams and mountains north of the city.  We were late (for our 8pm shuttle to the wilderness) as always seems to be the case when travelling with Spencer, and also as usual things worked out great, we camped in a very nice spot Friday night and caught the shuttle the next morning, doing the exact same trip we would have done had we been more punctual.  20 miles or so down a river that periodically opened up into big lakes and then narrowed into rushing rapids, only one of which we portaged around, though several we should have as we nearly flipped in one and took on quite a bit of water and got very hung up on another, soaking my gear.  An interesting side note – on the first night, we had our cooler and gear strewn about the campsite and were hanging out by the fire.  We heard a noise that seemed close, like somebody rustling around in the woods.  We shined our lights and it turned out to be closer, nearer, by the cooler.  We got up and walked over and a big ol’ racoon had unzipped a pouch and made off with our powdered potatoes.  Spencer gave chase, crashing through the woods for ten minutes, hot on his trail, sucker didn’t even let go of the potatoes even under the duress of an angry Spencer on his heels. 

Saturday morning we managed to get all our gear onto a trailer behind a bus, and somehow figured out which bus and which canoe and kayak to pull off the racks and load up even though everybody was speaking french and the folks in charge barely knew english, we were a pretty lost but managed.  They drove us about 90 minutes north to the put-in, where we loaded up the canoe and launched it and the kayak and we were off, paddling into the glorious weather and sunshine.  We had brought gear for rain and forty degree weather but were greeted with smiling sun and wispy clouds, 70+ degrees during the days.  We paddled our way through the lakes and rivers

La Diable River, Tremblant National Park

then lakes then rapids, passing a number of well marked campsites and crosschecking them with our map.  Stopped at one for a lunch of PB&J on mini-pitas.  The place was jammed with insects, all wanting a piece of me so we would all walk and eat to try and get some peace.  I noticed a few droplets of bright red blood on my arm and then legs.  That was my introduction to the little buggers about 1/3 the size of mosquitoes that you cannot feel bite but who draw blood when they do.  It’s crazy – bites on your face, blood on your forehead, welts all over my arms and legs.  Red

Bug Bites From the Diable River

dots in the middle of a large round red welt.  Even now two days later I itch like crazy and have these all over my legs, arms, and waist.   Looks like chicken pox and itches about as bad.  That was only our intro to them, they would pester us the entirety of the next two days and then in our minds the third day even after leaving the woods.  They eased up only after the sun was well down or we were in the middle of a lake, or swimming, or with a stiff breeze.

We made it to our campsite, unloaded gear, and Spence and I paddled upstream to fish while Wayne suffered the torment of the bugs, eventually escaping into the kayak and paddling in circles to maintain sanity.  Repellant really didn’t do much after maybe thirty minutes or so, and we ran out before night fell.  Fifteen or so Quebecois and French folks joined us, mostly work friends we were told.  We had a great time around the campfire, communicating mostly with the better english-speakers, though I enjoyed pulling out my rusty french and using it.  Wayne and Spencer got quite inebriated, Wayne polishing off a bottle of Jaeger with some help from his new Canadian friends.  They were very entertaining, Wayne making fun of Spencer’s profession and it’s requirement of sticking scopes and fingers up peoples’ butts and getting the Canadians on board to joke about it, Spencer joking right along with us – “be careful or you’ll get the finger” he’d warn, waggling his index finger around.  The whole crowd would crack up periodically at something Wayne or Spencer would say.  At one point somebody said something in french that sounded like “fermez la bouche” which means shut your mouth in French.  Wayne loudly started yelling “fermez la bouche! Fermez la bouche!” to the frenchy speakers’ dismay as that’s not what was said, and they tried hopelessly to explain they actually said something that meant “move that log” or whatever.  Wayne wasn’t swayed.  All had a blast.  One fellow commented to me with a laugh “your friends are really putting on a show!”  Lots of talk about Canada and the USA – international relations were probably strengthened that evening.

Next day we straggled out of our tents to a fresh onslaught of bugs and gorgeous weather, cooked up a round of pancakes and were back on the water.  Managed to botch the last set of rapids, getting ricocheted off an underwater boulder straight into three rocks where we were wedged tightly with water flowing into the canoe for a good ten minutes before Wayne and I managed to get us free and bailed her out, then off we went down the remaining stretch of rapids.  We waited at the bottom hoping for a good show as some random gear from other canoes floated down, but overall the others seemed to not have the problems we had navigating.

Caught the shuttle back to our car early, Rollo McFlurrys for everybody on the way back to Montreal, and caught our plane with no problem.  Great weekend!

Climbing Panic Story and Barn Bluff, Red Wing Again

We were going to go climbing in Southern Illinois from Chicago but again it was predicted to rain and the weather looked perfect in Minnesota, so off we went to Barn Bluff.  Six of us this time, mostly friends and friends of friends from the gym, all climbers and into it, but mostly indoors climbers looking to get outside.  They were all really pumped, some of them their first time climbing outdoors, ever.  Two of them had never lead before, which in rock climbing is a major deal, really taking you to the next level mentally, physically, and I’d say emotionally.  It can be really scary when you are ten feet above your last bolt and your arms are burning and the fall isn’t clean and you’re having a hard time hanging on to the rock, desperately trying to clip in to the next protection that’s just out of your reach so you put the draw back on your harness quickly, fumbling a little in your haste.  You start to breathe faster, your leg begins to go into minor spasms as the fear grips it.  Feeling around blindly on the rock over your head, running your hand back and forth across the rock feeling for a good hold.  Finally you feel a tiny crimper that MUST hold, you crank down on it with your right fingers, and ahhhh – it’s a little better than it felt.  The bolt is off to your right though so you grab a draw with your left hand and awkwardly reach over your head as you feel your right arm burning from the exertion, you swear you can only hold on another second…. barely get the draw clipped to the bolt, and brief relief.  You then reach down and grab the rope, panic rising in your chest and taking over your brain, pull the rope up, your belayer pays you out a bunch of slack and your hand is right by the carabiener, about to get it to go in YOUR RIGHT HAND SLIPS AND YOU FALL!  “FALLING!!!!” you yell and then the rock quickly becomes a blur in front of you and your mind goes blank, and you’re falling, then you feel the rope rapidly come tight, twenty feet later you swing into the wall hard but not painfully, heart pounding in your chest.  Breathing hard and deep for the first time in three minutes.   Look down at your belayer thirty feet below, say “Whoa!” with a grin slowly lighting up your face and then you begin to laugh, relief and joy washing over you as you feel the adrenaline begin to drain out of you.  After a moment you grab the rope and say – “I’m batmanning back up!” and horse yourself back up the rope to the last clip you had bolted to give it another go.

Good stuff! 

Below are some pics – three great guys and three great girls, was a really fun trip with a great vibe amongst us and a high level of excitement as we were all pumped to be on real rock, outside the plastic of the gym.

Intense Focus at Barn Bluff

Drove up 380 miles from Chicago Friday night, stayed at the Best Western in town, then in the morning had the free continental breakfast there and headed to the crag, only five minutes from the hotel.  There we proceeded to get shut down by a 5.8 which was crazy as we were easily able to do 5.10s and gave an 11 a solid shot.  I swear the 8’s and 9’s were sometimes harder, maybe it was just me.  Got on probably 7 or 8 great climbs, got the girls leading for the first time, and generally had a blast as the weather was perfect for climbing, cool yet warm.  Then headed back that night, home at around 2 am after a nice dinner at a ratty bar – nice in terms of time together, not nice in terms of fancy food.

One minor yet major plus about Barn Bluff is there are carabieners or clips at the top of every climb – so at the top, you simply clip the rope in and zip down, it’s so convenient and saves so much time from clipping in at the top, going in direct with two draws, untying the rope, feeding it through, retying, and then belaying or even rapelling down.

Meredith heading up the rock on her first lead. Barn Bluff, Red Wing, MN

 

Alan and I climbing near "Into the Sun" at Barn Bluff

Fishing and the Beach in Wilmington, NC

Drove out onto the Beach in Wilmington NC

We went to Wilmington North Carolina a couple weekends ago to visit my old buddy from age five and his family.  We had a blast and they were stellar hosts as always.  Did a bunch of fishing, one day hired a guide and fished up and down the Cape Fear River.  We caught three or four fish at the very first spot in the morning, but then managed to get skunked the whole rest of the day.  Still fun.  Next day we got up early and went fishing in the ocean with Spencer’s neighbor, very kind of him to take us.  Caught a bunch of Spanish Mackerel.  It was an interesting scene with tons of boats cruising around back and forth over this big man-made reef formed from old train cars and boats and such intentionally sunk there.   We learned the trick of holding the fish away from you at arms length towards the camera so they look much larger.

Spence and an enormous Mackerel

Went out to some very nice meals, explored the town, hung out on some riverside patios drinking beer and eating oysters.  

I was shocked by the general lack of sailboats – everybody had powerboats and few people had sailboats, and the ones we did see weren’t in use.  Very curious as just an hour or so

Lisa loves sushi

 north is Beaufort which is a huge sailing community.  Interesting.  My buddy who I grew up sailing with is getting a powerboat – very distressing!

We rented a boat another day and tooled up and down the ICW – was reminiscent of the trip my father and I took last summer for five days, from Virginia stopping in Beaufort.   It was fun to take the powerboat out to an uninhabited barrier island and picnic and play in the surf.  Big surfing community I discovered as well.

Sue on the barrier island

Me and Daley

Another day we drove out onto a beach nearby.  Was very fun – bouncing through the sand in the truck.  Hundreds of other cars were lined up all up and down the beach.  Cool scene if not a bit red-neckish.

 

And the last day we got to go visit a WWII battleship they have docked there.  Incredible to be able to explore it and read about and see and experience life on the enormous ship.

 

In Front of the USS North Carolina

Rock Climbing at Red Wing Minnesota II

Me in front of a climb at Red Wing Minnesota

Went rock climbing up in Red Wing Minnesota last weekend – I was very impressed.  Being a Chicago local we don’t have too many climbing options nearby, it’s nice to add another one to the list.  I’m guessing maybe 50 climbs or so.  Steep but not overhanging limestone.  Routes ranging from 5.8 to 5.14, so something for everybody.  Some great cracks to for trad climbers.  Half of it’s in the sun, half is north facing, so depending the time of day or the time of the year you can choose where to climb.  Some polished holds on the easier climbs but I didnt find it too egregious.  We camped at Frontenac State Park about ten minutes from the crag.  The town of Red Wing is pretty cool, lots of bikers and a number of cool restaurants, minutes from the climbing.  Very enjoyable trip.  Another item of note – at the tops of all the climbs there wer carabieners attached to the chains!  It made for much faster climbing as when you topped out you just clipped the rope in to both bieners and down you came, no laborious and dangerous time wasted cleaning the route, and not wear and tear on the chains/cold shuts and makes it more efficient and safer for all.  Would be great to have that setup at the Red and Jackson Falls too.

Sandra on trad lead

Rock Climbing in Red Wing Minnesota

I’m heading up to Red Wing Minnesota this weekend for a rock climbing trip from Chicago, so looking forward to getting outside and on some real rock.   Was going to head to southern Illinois or the Red River Gorge in Kentucky but both looked rainy.  I’ve never been to Red Wing and actually haven’t even heard of it.  I’m pretty excited, hear from the person taking me that it’s great rock and cool routes and about the same drive.  We’ll see!  Been climbing hard at the gym to get ready, looking forward to the season.

This sounds pretty good:

About Barn Bluff:

An old limestone quarry on the bluff overlooking the city of Red Wing and the Missippi River. Some of the routes are dirty, but the lions share are quality. All established routes are bolted (in order to prevent erosion of the top soil cover in the cliff), with the exception of a few crack climbs and some “open projects”. There are many routes of all dificulty levels, including many good routes for beggining leaders. The area is owned by the City of Red Wing and continued access depends on appropriate behavior/climbing practices. Please remove all trash and consumables that you bring in. There are no restrooms; use facilities in town. Also, be aware that holds come off from time to time. Sometimes they take very large chunks of rock with them. A helmet is advised for the belayer. Be careful in the spring after the freeze/thaw. Also be wary of any of the harder routes that recieve less traffic.

Climbing in Red Wing - 12b

Traffic Enforcement in Costa Rica

We were in Costa Rica and had rented a car in Manuel Antonio and were headed back to the airport through the beautiful, winding countryside in a rented car, when I was pulled over by a motorcycle cop standing on the side of the road pointing what looked like an old hair dryer at me.  With no license with me and in a rental car in a foreign Central American country, this wasn’t a good situation.

The trip had been terrific to that point, staying with a good friend who owns a resort there, we had been surfing, on a jungle safari, and adventuring way back on some unknown two-track in a Land Rover with some Ticos, generally enjoyed the tropics.  One item that stood out to me, after visiting many countries around the world, was the lack of the Ticos’ willingness to bargain.  The rental car agencies refused, all four of them we visited were firm on their first prices, not budging a single dollar.  A beachside coconut salesman was firm at 500 colones, even after we walked away, I was sure he’d come down to 450 at the least, but nope, firm at 500, and no sale.

So I pull over and the cop comes to the car, very upset.  He tells me in a series of gestures and broken english that he is going to write me a huge ticket for speeding and lack of a license and will probably have to take me to the police station if things don’t go well.  I was in a bad way as I didn’t have a license, and Lisa couldn’t drive a stickshift.  After a brief and intense tirade, he offered another option – “Forty dollars, all ok”.  In my cheapness I asked him “How about twenty?”  He said great, I pulled out twenty bucks and handed it to him.  His demeanor immediately changed as a smile lit up his face.   He vigorously shook my hand and reached across to shake Lisa’s as well, asking our names and wishing us a good trip, striding away with a bit of a bounce in his step.  Good times in Costa Rica.