Gorgeous sunset, Newport, RI.

Our new yacht we picked up while in Newport.

Lot's of good fresh stuff out of the ocean.

Many imbibings.

The End of Summer- more pics of Rochester and Rhode Island

One of my childhood, and still wonderful, friends, the lovely Maura. Are we still 13 years old, or what???

Good times always require a Party Bus with the Lipani's. Here we are riding another drunk bus in Providence; on our way to Federal Hill (the Little Italy of Providence).

The view from the Marriot in Newport, Rhode Island.

Wolf's Head Video

Wind Rivers - Great Success!

"I just want to be off this thing" -Trent about 8 pitches into the East Ridge of Wolf's Head

I went to the Wind Rivers in WY this last weekend and had a hell of a good time. The trailhead is only 4 hours from my front door. I don't know why I've never been there before. It's like a remote Yosemite with routes for mere mortals everywhere. Trent and I took one day to hike into the Cirque of the Towers and then climbed the East Ridge of Wolf's Head (it's in the center of the photo). Super classic butt-puckering alpine ridge. Unlike anything I've ever climbed before because you're basically traversing on every pitch. That means you fell like you're on lead whether you're leading or following, usually with 1000 feet of air below. It's a grow-hair-on-your-chest kind of route. But it will also make that hair turn grey from sheer stress.

New Stuff...Ikea of course

Got some more new great stuff at IKEA, as always, it's perfect for small houses. Some cheap new wall mounted reading lights, which are awesome, since really our room is too small for nightstands. Also, a futon that has storage built in, is comfortable, and opens in one click...perfect! We are still hoping to tackle the kitchen at some point in the future.

Summer Blues

Well, it's hot here. 100 degrees to be exact. All motivation to climb routes, or boulder has ceased since my last post, and I have basically not climbed at all in about a month, maybe longer. I am still training Capoeira though, usually 2-3 times a week, and I'm getting better, though that is relative, since I still suck. I am getting alot of my acrobatic skills back from my younger days as a gymnast. This is without a doubt my favorite part about Capoeira. I can walk 30-40 feet on my hands forwards and backwards, do two-handed handstand hops, do regular static handstands, handstand pirouettes (even a little on one hand!), do standing backflips (Salto Mortals), aerials (au, or no handed cartwhell basically), Macacao's (means "monkey")-kind of like a cross between a back walkover and a back handspring, but you start sitting on your butt, and many other cool tricks to impress people at parties. Adam will start taking more pics of me flying through the air. I plan to also start training more acrobatics at Hunt's gymnastics with my group so I can push myself a little harder, since all of the aforementioned tricks are done without padding!

Today I also plan to start climbing again...I hope. I am trying to motivate to go into the gym and get psyched for fall. We just finished the OR show madness, and saw lots of great climbing friends and also hosted a couple of visiting climbers, Sean and Jason McColl from Vancouver. It was a lot of fun, and also a very busy time for everyone.

What's Up

Adam and I have been busy enjoying our summer. We have been climbing routes a little bit here and there, mostly between American Fork and Maple Canyon. We also have had the chance to check out the bouldering high up in the Uinta's, about an hour from SLC. In addition to enjoying the climbing, we had the chance to hit the Farmer's Market, which we love, and also a few garage sales where Adam got some cool vintage shirts. We have enjoyed lots of good food, and drinks of course, with our many awesome friends. Life is good, no complaints!

Back in late May, Melissa began getting her ass kicked...er, training in Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art, with roots in dance and acrobatics developed by African slaves in Brazil 500 years ago. The slaves wanted to train in martial arts in order to protect and defend themselves, but had to make it look like a dance. What has evolved over the years is an amazing art form that is part dance, part acrobatics, and part martial art, all done to the rythmic instruments in the roda or circle, where people "play" with one another doing series of kicks, flips, aerials, and ground and handstand maneuvers. It is beautiful to watch, and extremely fun and addictive to learn. Even Adam knows some of the moves and songs now! Go to www.saltlakecapoeira.com for more photos and video's of Melissa's newest crazy obssesion.

The Next Black Diamond catalog cover and more Uinta's bouldering

Uinta's Bouldering RULES! shh, don't tell anyone...

A couple new IKEA things and a few left from Flag....

Here are some new pillow covers for the couch, we needed a summer update.

Our guest room/office has always posed a challenge in that the door leading to the living room was always in the way of the desk and futon. We removed the door alltogether, and replaced it with these sleek, modern, almost Japanese-style sliding panels. The back two panels are a rich brownish/gray grasscloth-like material, and the sheer white panel slides over the top to create a cool, textile art look.

When not in use, they then slide behind one another against the wall like a cool wall art hanging.

Lake Powell on the way home from Flagstaff.

Summer Vacation...so far...

Well, here is a massive picture posting of all the happenings of the occupants of 1864 Lake St. A summary of what's been going on:

• we got an ice cream maker in our neighboorhood garage sale, and Adam made a delicious homeade chocolate ice cream. There is a pic of Winnie sitting next to it.
• winnie decided to take herself on a walk, and got 2 of our shoes stuck in her leash, then as she exited the house via the dog door, got the shoes anchored in the flaps. this made her slightly crazy as she tugged the leash on the other side trying to pull the whole mess thru the door. in an annoyed frenzy, she stuck her head back thru the dog door and grabbed the shoes, pulling everything thru the hole and continuing on her journey- totally hilarious!
• during Memorial weekend, we went to Cedar Breaks national monument in southern utah, the really cool orangey looking rock formations, and explored nearby climbing. both dogs managed to get skunked, point blank...weekend immediately over.
• eric and leigh came to town from denver, and we went out to a nice dinner with their beautiful one year old daughter Blythe, and friends jon and ellie.
• we went on vacation to flagstaff, arizona to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary and check out the town and the climbing where we befriended a huge great dane named abe.
• we had a romantic dinner and even got a room in a "historic" or should i say "hysteric" hotel...here you can see the (no joke) Esther Williams suite. ha ha!
• in a day of sheer relaxation and boredome, we decided to take family portraits with graham crackers- we all had a lot of laughs posing for our self portraits

That's what's been going on. Good times. Hope you enjoy and get a laugh out of our adventures.

The Esther William's Suite- Monte Vista Hotel, Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff...

Tigg's Graham portait

Breakfast: banana with peanut butter, and cereal stuck to the top

Josephine's Bistro-our annivesary dinner in Flag

Late night cocktails at the Rendevouz in the lobby of the Monte Vista historic hotel

More Flag...

Adam on one of the classics at the Gloria boulders, Flagstaff

Winn's Graham portrait- the best!

melissa's graham portrait

Adam's graham portrait

More Flag...

Adam sending the classic Bat Roof at the Priest Draw

Adam on a nice boulder at the Gloria boulders

Tigg's- he has a goiter in this pic- he had a small seizure and had to go to the vet where he got some IV fluids- they squeezed a whole bag into him at once and he looked like a camel, until gravity pulled the fluidous hump off of his back and it dropped under his neck- here is the fluid at about 1/4 of it's original size. Tigg's is doing great now!

Abe "the BABE" is he a cow or a dog?!

Pre Flagstaff launch!

brother and sister ready to go!

Eric, Leigh, and Blythe visited the night before we left for Flag- we had a lot of fun

A great meal with friends Jon, Ellie, Eric, Leigh and Melissa at Trio

One of our first stops on the way to Flag...a bizarre boulder field with a rickety house-like structure that some people who owned the old gas station next door used to live in.