Change is inevitable and I choose to embrace it! My life has changed a bit since my last entry. As most of you already know I’ve moved down to Alabama, a state where Chiggers out number people 10:1! OK, I may have made that up, but it’s a good guess! Mike and I packed up our belongings, plus some, and began our drive south on the 17th of May. We made it all the way to Maryland before we had to stop, which to me, is quite the feat considering we were driving in separate vehicles, one of which could barely handle 50mph. Oooohhh that U-Haul, how I DON’T miss thee. Our first night we spent in a Walmart parking lot. It was reminiscent of our trip across country almost two years ago. We, or better yet, I, got about 5 hours of sleep that night. You see, when Mike’s head hits the pillow instant snoring occurs (not the annoying kind of snoring, just the kind that says, “I’m happily sleeping while you’re still awake”), whilst I lay awake, in insane jealousy, for at least 30 minutes before finally drifting off to dreamland… So where was… Ahh yes, we awoke around 5am and continued our drive south. OH! I almost forgot to mention the nearly $100 we spent on tolls ALONE passing through New York, New Jersey and Delaware!! SERIOUSLY people?!?!? Breathing… I’m breathing… OK, I’ve calmed down, let’s continue… The next day we drove, oohhh I want to say about 15 hours or so… YIKES! We made it all the way down to Georgia and stayed the night in a hotel (I HAD to shower before meeting up with the realtor, that would just be rude not to). The next morning we leisurely awoke around 8 and we were meeting with the realtor to sign some papers and get our keys by 2pm, or should I say 1400 hours? Military time… I have to get used to it if I want to stick around. We were able to unload the truck and put almost everything in it’s appropriate room by the end of the night! Amazing, considering we had spent the last two days driving! I’m pretty sure I did fall asleep when my head hit the pillow that night!
We’ve now been moved in for almost two months and I’ve already been back home twice! I was back home at the very end of May due to my father’s illness and then again for Mike’s best friend’s wedding, just two weeks ago. I’m also traveling to Vegas at the end of next week for work. I’ve flown more in the beginning half of this year than I did in all my years leading up to 2010. It’s craziness I tell ya!
Since we’ve been here we’ve done some exploring. We’ve driven five hours north (we’re in the southeastern corner of the state) three times now for climbing. It’s the closest decent climbing to us. It’s a beautiful little area called Sand Rock and there are many sport routes set up there, along with a few trad routes. I was absolutely thrilled when I first laid eyes upon this place! Climbing… in Alabama, who would have thought?!?!? The first time we had gone up, we met some folks from GA who were nice enough to show us another climbing area near by. It was in a place called Little River Gorge. WAIT! I’m sorry, did you just say gorge?!?? WOW! Alabama has gorges too?!?! Hmmm… maybe this state isn’t as bad as a thought! 😉 The second time we headed up there we met up with one of the guys who was in the first group we met, but with other friends of his. They were nice enough to let us tag along with them on a short hike down Little River. What an amazing place!! There’s all kinds of swimming holes and places to jump off of, and a beautiful waterfall to stand under! I wish it was a little closer!!
Hills, rocks and rivers aside, we’ve also done some exploring south of us. About a month ago we drove down the Panama City Beach. Despite it being fairly crowded down there, it’s a beautiful place. We spent most of the day in St. Andrews State Park. I saw my first Alligator in the wild!! OoooooOoooo… scary!! I also had my first swim in the Gulf, sans oil! I must admit though, I do miss the frigid temperatures of the northeast ocean! I could barely tell the difference in temperature between the parts of my body that were in the water and those parts that were out. It was not very refreshing. Nonetheless, I enjoyed our trip to the Gulf Coast and will most likely return at some point.
Boom!… BOOM!!… Happy Fourth of July everyone!!! What did you do for the 4th? Oh me, well Phil, Sarah, Mike and I drove five hours north, to our favorite place… Sand Rock!! We had the perfect site atop the “mountain” (it’s only 1600’, not sure if I consider that a mountain), who’s rocky terrain leads to a wide open vista of the towns below. We left on Friday morning around 6:30, stopped at one of the few Whole Foods in Bama and stocked up. We stopped again at Mountain High Outfitters where Mike purchased a new pair of climbing shoes! We arrived at our site around noon time, had some lunch and got a few climbs in! That night we had the BEST steak dinner EVER (OK, so it wasn’t Ruth’s Chris, but it was pretty damn close, especially for camping)!! Thanks Phil for awesome grill-skills! The next two days we’d spend some time in the morning climbing and then chill out, river-side, for the afternoon/evening hours! OH! And of course, what kind of Fourth of July would it be without our own mini cannon?!?!?!?!? Yes folks, that’s right! Phil brought along his totally radical mini cannon, which we proudly fired off into the night sky and smiled as it loudly echoed across the valley below! Oohhhh I just love explosions! We were also able to perch ourselves up on the rocks that over looked the fireworks of three or so towns! All in all, I’ve a some good times down here so far. Thing are a little different than I’m used to, but as I mentioned before, I embrace change! I hope you all are well! 🙂
