happy anniversary

i was so happy to watch the full moon rise on this, the two month anniversary of my roadtrip. two months has really flown by and i think i can put in another two months no problem.

i woke up with the sunrise, excited to celebrate my anniversary, and then also scored a reservation so i could get into the park without lining up. i then talked to a few people and got an invitation to climb in an area i've never been before. i drove to the park by myself, but feeling pretty great. i signed in, and then as part of my continuing celebration, loaded my chalk pot with an entire brick of chalk. it was then that i realized i had forgotten my lunch, so i tossed everything back in the car and drove all the way back out of the park and to camp to retrieve my pre-packed lunch.

after all that, i wasn't going to allow myself to have a bad day. yesterday was as stressful as a day off on the road as a completely free spirit could be. betsy's been having trouble starting lately - for some reason the battery wasn't keeping a charge. i bought a new alternator and got some "help" from a passer-by to swap it out. but then the old alternator tested okay, so i ended up returning it and calling CAA to come and put betsy back together. she started like a charm, after three hours of being taken apart. still no idea what could be the problem.

i also got to go out for dinner with a crew of nice folks from the campground. there's such a ridiculous hierarchy here, and i'm up a step for having been here over a week. bottom feeder no more!

so anyway, after such a stressful dirtbag day yesterday, today was bound to be good. when i woke up the birds were singing and they tied my hair back with ribbons as i brewed my coffee. i was ready to climb.

i had a nice relaxing warmup and followed my new group of people to follow to the new meadows, where i got on lobster claw, a problem i have heard so much about. i had some trouble grabbing the crux hold in the proper manner - i kept pinching it instead of crimping it - and finally got the send. it felt great! after that i hung out in the sun, just happy to be here, and then worked on a few other problems that were also a lot of fun.

all in all it's great to be on the road. i realized this week that this is the first time in my roadtrip that i have no where to be at anytime, and no set time to leave. in the past i 've had people to pick up or drop off at airports that really controlled my agenda. if i feel like packing up tomorrow i can. if i want to stay a month, i can do that too. hueco tanks is a great place to be, and as long as betsy behaves, i can afford to stay here for a while.

*** the signal here is good, but the bandwidth is not so great. pictures to be added to this later.