(no subject)
Hey,
I had the most awesome fri-sat ever this week. It's ending now and my sunday will be spent at work, so I'm really revelling in the last day and a half a lot.
So Friday night, Owen and I were supposed to go see Happy Feet, only at dinner beforehand (at a delicious asian vegan restaurant) Owen mentioned that our mutual friends Pat and Cary were going to Joshua Tree and we were invited. Eventually, we figured out that we could go for just one night. So we ran home, gathered our sleeping gear, and headed over to Pat's house, from which we loaded up more gear, and headed for the national park.
We got there and could not find ANY camping lots available. Literally, every single one was full. What a disappointment since I had bought all the ingredients for delicious smores. After driving around for HOURS trying to figure out what to do, with distant hopes of magically finding an empty lot, we decided to just pull over and look at the stars and have some drinks (theirs were fat tires and red stripes, mine was a sobe lifewater...). We stood around for probably 45 minutes just chatting, having a moment together in a group hug for warmth and love, and watching shooting stars while howling back at the coyotes. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't juat a little scared.
Once we were all sufficiently cold, we jumped back in the cars and drove around some more, got a little turned around in the park, and eventually decided to just camp illegally since a motel seemed utterly unappealing after driving all that way. We drove a few miles down a road with no campsites, figuring it was sufficiently secluded and less likely for park rangers to catch us, and parked the cars off the side of the road. We grabbed our sleeping bags and headed out into the back country, with only one flashlight because pat is smart and the rest of us are not apparently clever enough to remember such a camping essential. We found a really cool little boulder formation that provided just a little shelter (mostly from being seen by any passers by). We rolled out our gear, and went to look at the sky some more. Out on the horizon there were a lot more boulders and at one point, one of them appeared to have a tent right on top of it. We even swore we saw people inside because of shadows and a little point of light. However, it was also nearing dawn, and it wound up that what we saw was actually the moon rising, but the shadow of it rose first, which is what we thought was the tent until the crescent came out. It was crazy. We all stayed laying on a big boulder, watching stars shoot by so brightly they left long green streaks behind.
In the morning, we were woken up by the heat of the desert sun, and thankfully not by an angry park ranger. We packed up our stuff and as we were loading it back into the cars, a ranger drove by. We had clearly just woken up, but the ranger simply drove by and said hello. It was wild. Since we couldn't find a campsite, we couldn't build a fire to cook, so we drove into town and Owen and I ordered breakfast to go so that I could get back in time for my play rehearsal. As we were waiting for our order, my phone rang (a miracle since there is NO reception in the park and we were only off for 10 minutes at that point); it was my director calling to cancel my rehearsal for the day which couldn't have been more perfect since I wanted nothing more than to stay with my friends and go hiking and climbing. After the four of us casually ate our lunch and celebrated our successful night and my director's phonecall, we went to the little tiny thrift store and got a few key items, and went back into the park to spend our day enjoying nature.
We went hiking to secret places since Cary knows the park really really well (he's a professional climber and knows the name of practically every boulder). We eventually found ourselves on the top of a huge formation behind the Playground, and sat up there just enjoying the sunset, the stillness, and the view. When we were getting close to losing light, we started back down so we could climb a few routes that looked really cool, and ended our beautiful trip with a mexican cantina off the park grounds a little ways.
That night, after we all headed home for a shower, we re-convened at Cary's downtown loft for a little bar stroll. We first found ourselves at the lovely Biltmore Hotel Gallery Bar. Everyone there was exactly as you'd imagine at a place like the Biltmore. Middle aged women in bright red satin, men in tudedos. A jazz quartet with a fabulous vocalist, and a coctail waitress with an adorable hair/wig-do who was happy to bring us our inflated check. When we were through there, we walked up-hill (and I in 3 inch heels) to the Omni Hotel's Noi bar, which has a pianist, although he was through playing for the evening. They had a well-stocked humidor, so Cary got a cigar (note: he quit smoking cigarettes 3 months ago, but still smokes a good amount of herb and this was his 4th cigar in the last 36 hours...). Both bars were quite nice, and it was such a classy, low-key way to end a wonderful weekend with those boys.
In conclusion, camping is the best thing ever, and I can't wait to rock climb more often, since I have hardly done it since highschool and I miss it.
I had the most awesome fri-sat ever this week. It's ending now and my sunday will be spent at work, so I'm really revelling in the last day and a half a lot.
So Friday night, Owen and I were supposed to go see Happy Feet, only at dinner beforehand (at a delicious asian vegan restaurant) Owen mentioned that our mutual friends Pat and Cary were going to Joshua Tree and we were invited. Eventually, we figured out that we could go for just one night. So we ran home, gathered our sleeping gear, and headed over to Pat's house, from which we loaded up more gear, and headed for the national park.
We got there and could not find ANY camping lots available. Literally, every single one was full. What a disappointment since I had bought all the ingredients for delicious smores. After driving around for HOURS trying to figure out what to do, with distant hopes of magically finding an empty lot, we decided to just pull over and look at the stars and have some drinks (theirs were fat tires and red stripes, mine was a sobe lifewater...). We stood around for probably 45 minutes just chatting, having a moment together in a group hug for warmth and love, and watching shooting stars while howling back at the coyotes. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't juat a little scared.
Once we were all sufficiently cold, we jumped back in the cars and drove around some more, got a little turned around in the park, and eventually decided to just camp illegally since a motel seemed utterly unappealing after driving all that way. We drove a few miles down a road with no campsites, figuring it was sufficiently secluded and less likely for park rangers to catch us, and parked the cars off the side of the road. We grabbed our sleeping bags and headed out into the back country, with only one flashlight because pat is smart and the rest of us are not apparently clever enough to remember such a camping essential. We found a really cool little boulder formation that provided just a little shelter (mostly from being seen by any passers by). We rolled out our gear, and went to look at the sky some more. Out on the horizon there were a lot more boulders and at one point, one of them appeared to have a tent right on top of it. We even swore we saw people inside because of shadows and a little point of light. However, it was also nearing dawn, and it wound up that what we saw was actually the moon rising, but the shadow of it rose first, which is what we thought was the tent until the crescent came out. It was crazy. We all stayed laying on a big boulder, watching stars shoot by so brightly they left long green streaks behind.
In the morning, we were woken up by the heat of the desert sun, and thankfully not by an angry park ranger. We packed up our stuff and as we were loading it back into the cars, a ranger drove by. We had clearly just woken up, but the ranger simply drove by and said hello. It was wild. Since we couldn't find a campsite, we couldn't build a fire to cook, so we drove into town and Owen and I ordered breakfast to go so that I could get back in time for my play rehearsal. As we were waiting for our order, my phone rang (a miracle since there is NO reception in the park and we were only off for 10 minutes at that point); it was my director calling to cancel my rehearsal for the day which couldn't have been more perfect since I wanted nothing more than to stay with my friends and go hiking and climbing. After the four of us casually ate our lunch and celebrated our successful night and my director's phonecall, we went to the little tiny thrift store and got a few key items, and went back into the park to spend our day enjoying nature.
We went hiking to secret places since Cary knows the park really really well (he's a professional climber and knows the name of practically every boulder). We eventually found ourselves on the top of a huge formation behind the Playground, and sat up there just enjoying the sunset, the stillness, and the view. When we were getting close to losing light, we started back down so we could climb a few routes that looked really cool, and ended our beautiful trip with a mexican cantina off the park grounds a little ways.
That night, after we all headed home for a shower, we re-convened at Cary's downtown loft for a little bar stroll. We first found ourselves at the lovely Biltmore Hotel Gallery Bar. Everyone there was exactly as you'd imagine at a place like the Biltmore. Middle aged women in bright red satin, men in tudedos. A jazz quartet with a fabulous vocalist, and a coctail waitress with an adorable hair/wig-do who was happy to bring us our inflated check. When we were through there, we walked up-hill (and I in 3 inch heels) to the Omni Hotel's Noi bar, which has a pianist, although he was through playing for the evening. They had a well-stocked humidor, so Cary got a cigar (note: he quit smoking cigarettes 3 months ago, but still smokes a good amount of herb and this was his 4th cigar in the last 36 hours...). Both bars were quite nice, and it was such a classy, low-key way to end a wonderful weekend with those boys.
In conclusion, camping is the best thing ever, and I can't wait to rock climb more often, since I have hardly done it since highschool and I miss it.