The St. Louis Life

So I've been in my new apartment in St. Louis for 2 whole weeks now and I am really liking it. It's soooo nice to be only 7ish minutes from work as opposed to 35! I no longer have to worry about falling asleep on the interstate while driving to work in the morning...so that's a plus. Also, now that school is done and I still don't have job #2, I am going into the office every day, but for shorter amounts of time. It has filled out my weeks pretty well, and works better with my schedule of going to sleep at 2 and getting up at 10! I know I promised some pictures of the furnished apartment, but it is still looking a bit depressing, so I'm going to wait on that until Nicole moves in and brings all the nice, big stuff that will really fill the place out. It was really bad until Ben and Nicole came down this past Tuesday and brought a couch! For a while, my downstairs consisted of a beautiful kitchen table (courtesy of my friend and co-worker Phil) and my ugly recliner. It was actually pretty creepy looking for awhile. They also brought a few other items: desk, bookshelf, TV stand, which helped as well. After moving stuff, we went to dinner at Ricardo's Italian Café, which is just a few blocks from our place. The food was really good (I had the penne in a vodka cream sauce), but the nicest part was the 1/2 portions you could order, which was a good amount with our appetizer of calamari. Ben really surprised me by ordering the pesce cannoli, which was chock full of mussels, lobster, and shrimp. We also got him to try the calamari by not telling him what it was until after he had a couple. He ended up liking it all. We then went to Square One for a beer. None of us liked the beers we had this time as much as the first time we went there, but they were still good. It was nice to have them come down and keep me company for the night, but it will be better when they are here to stay.

I'm actually heading up to Iowa City this (extended) weekend for the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Chris Potter, an incredible saxophonist, is playing in two groups at the festival, including my favorite jazz group: Chris Potter Underground. Check them out on YouTube....it's great stuff.

Two weekends ago I went with my friends Andrew and Adrianne to Jackson Falls in southern Illinois to do some rock climbing. We left St. Louis around 8 pm on Saturday, putting us at Jackson around 11 that night. After setting up the tent, we decided to go out for a little night bouldering session. In the planning stage of this trip, Andrew and I were really excited about this part, but it didn't turn out quite as planned. First of all, about 1/2 way into the hike to get to the boulder area we were heading to we realized I forgot my brand new bouldering guidebook in the car, so that was a bad start. To make things worse, it was still very hot out and even more humid, which made both us and the rocks sweat like crazy. It also meant that the bugs were out in full force. However, after a lot of chalk and brushing, we were able to get the rock dry enough to have a couple of goes on it. Andrew and I both sent (climbing from ground to top of boulder) a classic Jackson problem called The Ghetto Life, which is a V2. Now I know most people reading this have no idea what I am talking about, so I'll try to provide a brief explaination on climbing grades:

Bouldering grades range from V0 (very easy) to V15 (disgustingly hard). Generally, V0 problems are not usually very overhung and only have big, easy to grab and hold features, while the problem gets harder, the holds get smaller and the moves get more technical. The hardest thing I've climbed so far is a V6 called Chalk Wagon down at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas this past winter. However, even though I prefer bouldering to sport climbing (climbing with a rope and clipping in to pre-placed protection as you go up) I don't get to spend as much time doing it. My goal for the end of the year is to be climbing V6 fairly consistently and possibly one V7.

As for sport climbing, grades use a different scale and range from 5.6-5.15b. After 5.9, each number is divided into 4 parts: a, b, c, d. For example, the hardest I have successfully climbed from ground to anchors without falling is a 5.10a. The next hardest grade is a 5.10b, followed by 5.10c, 5.10d, and 5.11a, etc.... In relationship to bouldering grades, a 5.9 is equivalent to a V0, 5.10a=V1 and so on. If you haven't been keeping score, this means that since I've climbed a V6, I should be able to climb a 5.11b. However, lots of factors play a role in this inconsistency: lack of endurance, lack of time spent on real rock, and poor head game (a.k.a. me being scared). For some reason I feel perfectly comfortable making hard moves 10 feet off the ground while bouldering, but when I have a rope to catch my fall, I'm still scared of making moves I know I can do. Anyway, I'm explaining all of this because after our night of bouldering, we went out the next morning and after warming up, got on a route called Flingin' Hog 5.11a. Recently, I talked with Andrew and expressed my feelings about our lack of progress, grade-wise, and we decided to get on something we should both be able to climb, and project the hell out of it. Projecting a route is just like it sounds: working it enough to where you are comfortable with all the moves and have the strength and endurance to make a redpoint (climb the whole thing without falling). Flingin' Hog is what we decided to project. We ended up spending the whole day on that one route. I started off by getting 3 bolts (permanent eye bolts drilled into the rock that you clip a quickdraw into to put you're rope through) into the route before having to come down to rest up and let Andrew have a go. Andrew got up past the 4th bolt on his first go, but was pretty spent as well. His wife, Adrianne followed him and surprised both of use by making up to the same place as Andrew. After I had been off the rock for about 2 hours, I felt good and got back on. I started from where I had left off and ended up finishing the route, but not without taking my fair share of falls. Andrew and Adrianne both ended up finishing out the route on top rope (rope is clipped into anchors at the top of the route, like what you see at a climbing gym). All in all it was a good day of projecting and we are all excited to get back on it soon. Hopefully after a few more days of projecting, I will have a new personal best! We ended the day by taking a cool shower in the North Falls of Jackson, which couldn't have been a better end to the hot, muggy day. If you want some visual help with understanding what I'm talking about, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlcQ3mxlNfs&feature=fvst It is the world's best climber, Chris Sharma, climbing a crazy hard route called Dreamcatcher-5.14d. He talks a bit about projecting and you can easily see what sport climbing is. There are thousands more YouTube videos out there with climbing and bouldering if you want to know more!

So I know that wasn't the briefest of descriptions, but I hope to have more climbing to talk about on this blog, so I tried to take care of a big chunk of it here. Sorry about the length of the post in general....I know it's a long one, but it'll keep you busy until I can pump out SA Part 3...hopefully coming soon. I really need to get better about posting!!! I hope everyone is well and I'll talk to you soon!

Formatting

I started "SA Part Deux" post before the "A Quick Update" post, so i guess it posts in order. Anyway, scroll down to see the newest post!

A quick update

So of course I haven't had a chance to get Part 2 of the SA trip posted on here (although I did start to write it the day I said I would), but I thought I'd give a quick update on this past weekend. As you may or may not know, I am moving into St. Louis this Friday (June 12). Ben Travers is coming down from Iowa City with his girlfriend, Nicole, both of whom just graduated from U of Iowa, to live with me. I found a nice 2 floor apartment in a neighborhood called Lafayette Square and instantly knew I wanted it. Ben came down for my graduation and went to look at a few of the places on my list with me. Luckily, he liked the same one, and we got our applications taken care of before leaving for SA. Anyway, I found out in SA that we were approved, and this past weekend, Ben and Nicole came down to sign the lease. Nicole hadn't seen the place yet, so after signing, our agent let us go check out the place again. Thankfully, Nicole liked it as well, or so she said. We spent the afternoon in the neighborhood, walking through Lafayette Park, which is only one block away, checked out the outdoor antique sale going on, went to a little wine shop 1/2 a block away from our apartment (that could be trouble) and made friends with the owner and his girlfriend, and went to dinner at a little micro-brewery and grill about two blocks from our place. The day got me even more excited about my move-in date. The neighborhood is beautiful and reminds me of San Francisco and there is plenty to do within just a few blocks. Here are some pictures of our place:Our place is the 2nd and 3rd floor, but this is our own private door.

Yes, we do have a purple kitchen, and yes, that is the only reason I chose this place...I like purple...

Our living/dining room area.

The stairs to our 2nd floor (the 3rd floor)

The awesome view from our living room...notice the arch off in the distance...jealous?

I get to start packing tonight (lucky me!) and will hopefully be completely moved in by this coming Sunday. After that, I'll try to get some pictures up of my room and the area a bit.

Check back soon....but not too soon....I'm a busy man.

South Africa Part Deux

After a solid day of bungy jumping, we moved on to a nice little tourist town called Knysna. We got in late, so we just made ourselves a fire and played a friendly game of Yahtzee. I had a solid showing, garnering a 3rd place finish! (keep in mind Yahtzee is a 4 player game....) In the morning, we got up and did a little bit of shopping before heading up to a look-out point along the coast. There were some beautiful views from up top, but down below, I noticed an abundance of rock on the beach...perfect for some beach bouldering and soft landings! I was able to convince everyone to go down to the beach with me, and we all ended up having a great time. There was plenty to do and explore down there. I only found a couple of quality rocks to climb, but it was a fun little outing.

so much for soft landings....

Our next stop was at Mossel Bay. For some reason, we thought it would be a great idea to stay in a backpacker lodge. We ended up in the "dormitory" style room, which consisted of 4 sets of bunk beds and two bathrooms at the end of the hallway that everyone in the lodge shared. We saved a bit of money that night, but decided that one backpacker lodge was enough of an experience for us. The next morning, I skipped the public shower and we made our way to Fish Hoek (a small bay town just south of Cape Town). As we near Fish Hoek, we can feel the excitement building. Mostly excitement to get out of the car, but also to see the wonderful B&B Jacinda and Matt booked for us just off the bay. In our excitement, we almost miss a sign reading: Beware of Potholes. Disregarding the sign, mom decides to put the pedal on the floor to see if we can just glide over the top of the potholes. Unfortunately, this technique didn't work. However, our wish of getting out of the car came true, as well pulled off the road next to the beach to change our completely flat tire. I must say, though, you couldn't have planned a better view for changing your tire.unpacking the whole trunk to get to the spare was the best part....

We eventually made it to Fish Hoek and got settled in to our B&B. Jacinda and Matt did a wonderful job in booking this place. They spent a few days at the same place a few months prior with their mission group and apparently made good friends with the owners, because we got a great deal on the best room in the whole place. We actually had two rooms on the first night because there wasn't a bed for me in the one, and we had to move the next night anyway. To sum up, our first night in Fish Hoek we had an ocean view, two bedroom suite AND another two bedroom for under $90. Happy Birthday to me! (it really was my birthday that night).
After we got settled in, we went to a little restraunt called Harborview (?) for birthday dinner...only to find out that all the food was 1/2 price because it was off-season! Needless to say, we splurged a bit, ordering a cheese tray, entrees, a couple bottles of wine and dessert. Not a bad day. The next day we decided we were going to head to the Cape of Good Hope, the most Southwestern tip of Africa. On our way, we stopped at Boulder Beach to see the penguins. It was a fun little stop. There were a ton of them out and about, including a few baby penguins. As we were leaving, the penguin guarding the gate (literally) tried to bite dad's foot off. Luckily, his feet are huge and the penguin couldn't fit the size 13 Reebok Classic into his beak. After the penguins though, we decided the weather wasn't nice enough to go to the Cape of Good Hope, so instead we drove to Cape Town for a little shopping. Most of the places were fine, but the shops that sell the hand-made stuff with the makers sitting by their work was a little too much for me. The stuff was interesting, but it's so hard to just look around and find something you actually want to buy when the people work so hard to sell you stuff. I understand they have to make a living, but when they pick a random item off the shelf, hand it to you, and say "I give you good price," I get a little annoyed. Enough about that though. After shopping, we stopped at a chain restraunt called Ocean Basket. Everyone enjoyed their meal, but about 30 seconds after stepping inside, I decided I was done with seafood for the rest of the trip.

Normally I would wrap this up in a more cohesive way, but I've got to get going and I want to give my loyal readers something to quell their appetites! Next up we will be visiting the Cape of Good Hope, Table Montain, Montague, and Oudtshoorn.

Also, I am moved in to my new place in St. Louis. I still have some organizing to do, but I will soon put up some pictures of the place with stuff in it!

I hope everyone is well!!!

South Africa Part I

The trip to SA kicked off with a tap of the snooze button at quarter to REM cycle in the morning on Tuesday, May 12. Before I knew it, we were out the door and on a shuttle to Chicago, anxiously awaiting our 4 flights and 3 hour layovers. The flight between Chicago and D.C. set a good tone for the trip with an in-flight episode of "The Office." Unfortunately, my luck did not hold, for when we boarded our international flight, I was lucky enough to have the window seat next to 'that fat guy that travels by himself with the tour groups and doesn't bring anything to do on the flight and instead talks to the person sitting next to him even when that person is wearing headphones and in the middle of a movie'.....if you don't know what I mean, think John Candy in PT&A. He was a nice enough guy, but I did switch with my mom (so I could have an aisle seat) after the first 8 hours at our layover in Senegal. The next 8 hours and the flight to Port Elizabeth were painless enough, but the 31 hours of traveling did get to me a bit. Mom was a wreck when Jacinda and Matt met us at the airport, even though dad and I told her they would.
In the morning, we had to fight the horrible jetlag and get up nice and early for a braai (cookout) at their pastor's house. The food was excellent and we met a lot of the people that have been involved in Jacinda and Matt's lives in SA. Later that afternoon we went down to the waterfront and enjoyed a little time on the beach. The whole day was quite an experience, mainly because of the driving. We picked up our Mercedes rental car in the morning before the braai and dad drove for the day. SA is one of the countries that drives on the left side of the road, so it made for an interesting first day. Mom was yelling at dad, I was yelling at mom for yelling at dad, dad was trying to keep from yelling at both of us for yelling.....and we then decided mom would be driving for the rest of the trip.

The next morning, we went to the creche (daycare/pre-school type of thing) that Jacinda and Matt work at. It was an interesting experience, but after an hour of screaming kids and the annoying warden lady that kept trying to give us bad directions and plan our trip for us, I was ready to go. After the creche, we left Port Elizabeth and got on The Garden Route on our way to Cape Town. After about an hour and a half, we came to one of the highlights of the trip: The Bloukrans Bridge and the World's Tallest Bungy Jump! 216 meters of pure adrenaline...that's almost a 70 story building!


We got to the bridge and got all signed up for the bungy jump, but then had to wait about an hour before we went out onto the bridge. We did get to see a few jumpers go from the overlook area, so this helped build the excitement. When it was finally our time to go to the middle of the bridge, we were pumped! Unfortunately, we had to walk a little catwalk cage underneath the bridge which was basically the equivalent of walking on chicken wire. I was ready to piss myself and we weren't even to the jump zone yet. After what felt like 10 miles, we made it out to the middle of the bridge and started jumping. Matt was the first to go, braving the unknown and plummetting to his imminent death. Luckily, he was able to avoid the jagged rocks and shallow water awaiting him at the bottom of the ravine and gave the rest of us a boost of courage. After watching a few strangers go, dad stepped up to the edge. He had the most awe-inspiring leap off of that bridge and would have fit in perfectly had a flock of eagles soared past at the same moment.

Unfortunately, I had to follow up dad's stellar bungy jumping performance. After watching a few of the strangers "jump" (basically fall) off of the bridge I had decided that I would have a jump that rivaled my father's. As I got strapped in and helped to the edge, I was surprisingly calm, focused on what would undoubtedly be the greatest minute or two of my life. Not even when I curled my toes over the edge and looked down to see where I would soon be falling to my death, did I get scared. I was prepared for an epic jump and a huge rush of adrenaline. They take my arms off of their shoulders and start to count down: FIVE FOUR THREE TWO ONE JUMP!!!!! I bend my knees and spring forward and up 15 feet away from the bridge....or so it felt. Turns out I did bend my knees, but somewhere in the split second that motion took, my body realized what I was about to make it do, and it fought back. I ended up crumpling off the bridge just like a swore I wouldn't. Nevertheless, I was still falling...and fast. As soon as my body began to turn over and the wind caught my cheeks, I realized that this was the biggest mistake of my life and that I would soon be dead. I distinctly remember wanting to yell "OH SH*T" but I don't think I was able to get the sound out. Lucky for me (and you!), the cord caught and I was safe.


Jacinda was up next and had a solid jump with the best scream I heard all day. Although it was a lot different than I had expected, it was a wonderful experience and I'm definitely glad I did it...even if my life did flash before my eyes.

I know I only got through the first few days of the trip, but I'll post again tomorrow and try to get a larger chunk of the trip up. Hopefully I can do the rest in only two more segments. Thanks for reading and sorry for taking so long to get this stuff up here. As I told Julie, my college days are over, but that doesn't mean I can't still procrastinate!

p.s. check facebook soon for more pictures!