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2008 wrapped up with a trip back to Boston to spend the holidays with family.When Emily and I moved out to California in 2005 after living in Germany and traveling Europe for a year, there were three big reasons behind our move.
First, we wanted to be closer to my brother and his family so we could spend more time with them and be Aunt and Uncle to their daughters more than once or twice a year.
Second, we wanted to get away from the SNOW. Both my wife and I grew up in the Boston area and I was looking forward to sunnier, warmer California.
Thirdly, I love Mexican food, and Boston can't hold a burrito to the delicious Mexican of California.
You can imagine our surprise when we landed in Boston hours before the storm started on December 19th and I got to spend the rest of the trip driving in snow, shoveling snow and dealing with other drivers in snow!
Needless to say, we had a relaxing holiday vacation and even had a baby shower for Emily's sister days after Christmas!
A few weeks after returning from the east coast, I had a trip down to
Joshua Tree National Park lined up with two of my climbing buddies,
Jeff and Nina.
We spent 4 days in the desert, chasing the sun during the day to keep the temperature in the 60s and staying warm in the windy and freezing nights with campfires and whisky.
It could literally be in the high 60s in the sun. One step into the shade and it's in the 50s, and at night it got down into the 30s or below. The trick was to dress in layers and all day long we were adding and removing layers as the temperature shifted.
The arid desert air was so dry that fresh bread literally toasted in front of our eyes in the night air in mere minutes.
The rock in Joshua Tree was the roughest I've seen and ate shoes for lunch. That didn't stop us from spending two days learning all about building anchors and two more days learning everything involved in multi-pitch lead climbs and belay transfers.
After a few days of fun and climbing in the desert, we drove the rental 'stang back to Palm Springs and flew back home to sunny and warmer California where we were greeted by sunny days in the high 70s and low 80s.
How I do love the warmer weather here in California... We're now entering our rainy season and for the next few months our normally yellow and brown foothills turn bright green until mid-spring when it dries up again. I'll be enjoying it while it lasts!
Until next month!
A few weeks after returning from the east coast, I had a trip down to
Joshua Tree National Park lined up with two of my climbing buddies,
Jeff and Nina.We spent 4 days in the desert, chasing the sun during the day to keep the temperature in the 60s and staying warm in the windy and freezing nights with campfires and whisky.
It could literally be in the high 60s in the sun. One step into the shade and it's in the 50s, and at night it got down into the 30s or below. The trick was to dress in layers and all day long we were adding and removing layers as the temperature shifted.
The arid desert air was so dry that fresh bread literally toasted in front of our eyes in the night air in mere minutes.The rock in Joshua Tree was the roughest I've seen and ate shoes for lunch. That didn't stop us from spending two days learning all about building anchors and two more days learning everything involved in multi-pitch lead climbs and belay transfers.
After a few days of fun and climbing in the desert, we drove the rental 'stang back to Palm Springs and flew back home to sunny and warmer California where we were greeted by sunny days in the high 70s and low 80s.
How I do love the warmer weather here in California... We're now entering our rainy season and for the next few months our normally yellow and brown foothills turn bright green until mid-spring when it dries up again. I'll be enjoying it while it lasts!
Until next month!
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