"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
I don't think I spent a single weekend inside through the first half of October.
I had a very chilly adventure up at Palisade...
where the wind kept trying to dampen our spirits, but we simply laughed and kept climbing. I had a weekend climbing at our local Ely's Peak after a nasty bout with the flu, enjoying the incredible color show that MN is so good at.
Even on weekday mornings that were full of grading, I had the windows open just to feel the breeze and enjoy being chilly.
Just this last weekend was MEA, which means MN schools have Thursday and Friday off. For the third year in a row, I wrangled a group of fellow lady climbers to head down to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to climb. It was all sorts of magical, with a great group of friends.
Emily has done the trip three years in a row with me, and I love having her energy every year. Oh- and can you see the shirt that I had made for all the ladies that went this year? :)
Zay enjoyed taking a multitude of selfies while I was up climbing, and it was a fantastic surprise when I finally went through my phone. Her excitement to get on everything was contagious!
Jamie was new to the group this year, and she rocked it. Like, rocked it. She was leading and having a blast, and won the snarky and sarcastic award for the trip.
I jumped on a lot, including a 5.12d called "Triple Sec" that was really fun to try! Every time I come down to the Gorge, I always come back with a renewed energy to train even harder. Once you start enjoying those fantastic and hard lines, you never want to stop! Next year- go go go and send send send!
We had the obligatory night of pizza at Miguel's, where we inhaled an entire pizza in about 7 minutes and ended up buying an entire second pizza, which we also inhaled. Apparently climbing makes you hungry...
I visited the Shire. Bilbo says hi.
Oh- see that hat on my head? That's my newly finished Winter Winds hat- I'm going to knit the cowl next, and have a complete winter set soon! I'm also finishing up a pair of mittens to match, since le petite Godzilla cat ruined my old pair.
I made sure to rock some super awesome Halloween tights to show my love for my favorite holiday. They also helped keep back the chill, besides just making my large calves look fantastic and festive. ;)
Other knits were abound, which made my little knitter heart happy! Both Zay and Emily brought and wore their Venga Las Chicas hats that I knit for them over the summer. Huzzah for seeing people actually wearing things I made! :)
Overall it was an amazing trip with some incredible ladies, and I came home rejuvenated spiritually and emotionally (physically I was pretty spent!). It's a good thing, too- I have a lot of grading to do this week, a lot of lesson planning, a lot of choreographing, and a lot of catching up to do in general "life" things.
Though sneaking in a hike and an outdoor climbing day here and there might definitely happen, especially this weekend... :)
