OK everybody. You can stop freaking out now. I’m back. I just took a little vacation from blogging. Well, maybe a sabbatical. 

Since I got back from Europe, aside from a couple short trips, I’ve mostly been hanging out in the city, surfing as much as I can, and climbing in the gym some. It was nice to see friends that I had been thinking about during my three-and-a-half month stay in Europe and spend time with my family. 

During a weeklong trip to Vegas I climbed at Red Rocks and Mt. Clark. The temperatures were perfect up at Clark, and I was having a blast climbing on the Mega-project that Chris and I have given the name in progress Jumbo Pumping Love. I was making quick progress on it, and linked past the first crux, all the way up to the RP crux, one move from Chris’ high point. The next day I was feeling really strong and doing well on the route but it was oddly humid, which you really notice in the high desert. I was using the not-so ideal conditions to try to figure out some better beta for the upper cruxes, when I broke a hold that I hadn’t used before, and tore a giant flapper on my finger tip that stung like an S.O.B. and sprayed blood like I hit an artery. Not only did it end my trip and progress on the route for the season, it was the second time this had happened this year while making progress on a project I was really psyched on. So I vowed to come back in the spring when the weather warmed back up, and went home to lick my wounds. 

I also had a couple fun weekends bouldering in the valley. Even though I thought I would rather be going route climbing while driving up to the valley, I was still very glad to be on the boulders. 

So right now we're chilling’ at a place some people call the Virgin River Hotel and Casino (VRC) on the Nevada/Arizona border, but we call it paradise. "I got, two tickets to paradise..."