The trip

South Africa is maybe one of the most amazing places that I have ever experienced, not visited, not seen, but experienced. I went in thinking, this is going to be a hard trip, I'm a little scared but I know it will be fun. I came out feeling as though I have never met so many amazing people in one place at one time and had such an amazing experience climbing, drinking tea, drinking wine, sight seeing, everything was magic!

When we first arrive to the climbing area also known as Clanwilliam or Depaukys Pass we were a bit taken back not only by the view, the vast amount of boulders, but we also thought that we were supposed to be staying in our own private guest house. When we arrived we soon found out that we would be sharing this house with several others and to day the least we weren't exactly psyked.



When our roommates arrived we immediately fell in love with them. We had been starved for attention for days, we felt like we were living on the moon because we were the only climbers in the entire area. Once Bernd, Manu, and Belinda arrived we were so happy to meet them and climb with them and soon became close friends after many delicious dinners and several bottles of wine.

I feel like the relationships that were made on this trip really made it what it was. We later had a close friend from the states come without plans of staying in the house that we were living in but we kidnapped him and made him stay with us which later formed Team Honey Badger.



We celebrated my birthday to fullest extent with full brai, Champagne, Michael Jackson, Baker Man, and many other classic jams in a small hut/house/coffee shop which was later reincarnated into a sweat shack/dance hall. It was a real hit to say the least.

The worst part of the trip was seeing Team Honeybadger dissipate as we all had homes to go to and families to be with and jobs to actually work.

Team Honey Badger minus Bernd, Anelia, Becky, and Belinda

 And worst of all my Nana had passed within a week of my return home. My Nana, Gaye Paul Keeney, was possibly the most amazing woman on this planet. I don't say this just because she is my Nana but because she really was a presence that everyone learned to love unless of course you didn't love her within the first second of meeting her. She was smart, witty, fresh, read about 5 novels a week (yes the ones with Fabio on the cover,) loved the beach, loved to cook, loved to use to word "dope" as much as possible, she made me goulash every Tuesday night as a kid, she always had instant powder Nesquik in her cupboards at all times just in case, and she had the most amazing blue eyes.


This was a true, utter, complete devastation for me. I always worry about being out of the country for fear that something like this would happen. From that date the trip was over for me. I still certainly enjoyed myself and was still incredibly grateful to be there but my heart was broken and all I wanted to do was be with my family. So mentally my climbing trip was over. I forfeited my projects and stuck with a light hearted attempt at certain things to avoid getting frustrated and just tried to have as much fun as possible with the people around me.

In Loving Memory of Gaye Paul Keeney 1.29.28 - 6.26.11

This is Africa!

What a hell of a ride that was. Flying to Cape Town was less than simple.  After nearly missing our flight to Dakar from Dulles and than waiting on the plane for about 2.5 hours on the runway waiting for the weather to clear over the ocean it was for sure the start of a long slightly relaxing ride through the clouds.  When we landed in Dakar we sat in our seats for another 2.5 hours while someone was having a bed built in back of the plane for some reason. Followed by missing our connection in Johannesburg and FINALLY landing in Cape Town 4 hours later than expected. But as they say; “This is Africa.”

Once in Cape Town we got our Peugot and drove to the Fritz Hotel. It was so beautiful and quaint and quiet and perfect, and they serve the best Swiss breakfast! We hit the town did some dancing at The Dubliner Pub and met some cool people (can’t remember their names due to the Jagermeister and tequila shots, which I swore off when I was 16, Yuck!)

The following morning, beyond hung over and jet lagged, we drove around Cape Town for a bit and admired the amazing views of Table Mountain. Cape Town is stunning! It’s a city with a European feel but you can sense the work and history of it while looking over the port and seeing the huge ancient boats.  We than made the long but absolutely beautiful drive to Clanwilliam. There are wineries everywhere and rolling hills and mountains and untouched gorgeous country everywhere you turn.  I felt relaxed immediately besides freaking out from driving on the other side of the road and having the wheel also on the opposite side of the car while dodging swerving traffic.

We finally made it to Alpha Farms Excelsior outside of Clanwilliam where we were snuggled up on an amazing little farm all by ourselves for a moment. We were in a little cottage with a great little patio in the back with grape vines covering the roof and three adorable little dogs; Pinotage, Olive, and Shiraz. Pinotage is my fav! A sweet little black lab that we fed our scraps to from our first brai experience.

I’ve been waking up so early, around 5:30 a.m. or earlier and having breakfast, drinking Rooibos Tea and smoking Golden Virginia rolled tobacco outside and listening to all the birds sing to each other and drink out of the flowers, it really is one of the best experiences ever. I never thought that my night owl tendencies would pay off but I think that my clock has been on since we arrived because of it. Phil is actually the one sleeping in and not wanting to wake up.. haha.

The climbing has been a challenge, getting used to a new area, trying to find everything, and getting used to the elements here. The guidebook hasn’t been very helpful but I also think that we may be having a problem due to the fact that we are the only climbers here and there is absolutely no chalk on anything! We have spent most of our time here hiking around for like 7 hours at a leg. The hiking hasn’t been easy either. There are super steep hills to climb up, unmarked paths that haven’t been walked on since last season so they are over grown and the cairn markers aren’t as visible as the guidebook suggests. We also have a really small car that can’t make it to certain areas which leaves us with more hiking so at the end of the day I am so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open past 7:30 p.m.

 

I’m so happy and grateful to be here, I feel like all the long hours and hard work that I put into making this happen is paying off.. Now I just want to climb something!!

Family, Upcoming Travel plans, Life..

My mom was just out here for a quick little one week visit. It was amazing having her out here! She has more energy than a five year old and whipped me into shape super quick. We went hiking, did yoga, went to the gym, and ate super duper healthy. So now I feel awesome and ready to run a marathon.. just kidding. But I am trying to get into shape for an upcoming trip to South Africa!!!!
Wooot Wooot!!

This is what this little climbing area looks like.. endless amounts of rocks!

Leaving May 17th until July 6th and let me tell you folks, I can not wait! Phillip and I have been trying to book this trip for many moons and than on our 7 year anniversary after a few glasses of wine we did just that! We are staying on a tea farm in Clanwilliam, South Africa which is about three hours north of Cape Town in the Cedarburg Mountains.



We went to Hueco back in February for 10 days which was great to see friends and catch up with the climbing lifestyle since I end up putting it on hold most of the time when I am here. I didn't climb anything really or do anything special but I did enjoy myself and worked on some problems that I have done in the past which was still fun :)


I'm still working two jobs which has been handy as of late due to lack on finances for the trip. So as usual I am working like a nut and loving it making dolla dolla bills ya'll!

That is all for now.. I will be in touch more since I have things to talk about and my life is getting a bit more exciting~!
Adios

New Year Resolutions

Now that all the champagne has been popped and everyone is cured of the worst hangover of the year they are all at the gym working hard.

Yes, I jumped on the "new year resolution I'm joining a super nice gym bandwagon" and got a membership to http://www.coloradoathleticclubs.com/Home_Page.aspx. Now I have had many gym memberships in my days but this gym is really something. They are equipped with a saline pool (indoor and out), hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, millions of treadmils and cardio machines, yoga classes (hot ones too), water with cucumber essence, clean towels, and many dumbbells literally (and the other kind too :))    

I am obsessed with this place and I think that everyone should at least go and check it out. It really is that special and hopefully we can all look like Jane Fonda one day!

My friend came up with a great idea: Open a gym for the first two months of the year and than turn it into a bar for the remaining 10 months, I mean if that isn't a million dollar idea than I don't know what is! You can be frequenting a place known as "Work out World" to get buff and curl some weights and than also curl some cocktails when you are sick of working out.. haha.

                 

Cheers all and I hope everyone can follow through with their new year resolutions for at least 2 months ;)

Closing thoughts; Lionel Richie is still amazing in my eyes!

Happy Holidays

Well happy holidays all!

My man and I just returned from renegading across a few states to Las Vegas, NV. We stopped over in Las Vegas to avoid some treacherous weather that was killing our dreams of climbing in Bishop, California.  We made it to Vegas, had some fun, did some climbing, and than thought it would be best to head back to bubble and try to make up some money that we blew on $11.88 cocktails,  and $7 bottles of water (it adds up pretty fast).  We did actually save a little cash by staying at a diamond in the rough hotel known as the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace is a special little hotel located within the Sahara hotel on the strip that we found for $25/night.. what a steal, not to mention the nostalgic feeling you get when walking into a place that hasn't been up dated since the late 70's and the entertainment looks the same.

Either way it was a real hoot and we had fun. Unfortunately we didn't make it to Bishop or win a $100,000, or find a tiger in our bathroom, or a little asian man in the trunk of our car but it was still nice to get out of town and do something different. This trip also gave me a friendly little reminder that I am getting a bit too old to be driving more than 8 hours at a leg.. I get so restless and would rather just fly.

Another exciting little thing that I just realized is that I really need to make some more money and time to travel. It's been far too long since I have had the pleasure of eating sketchy food in sketchy countries and just feeling free out in the wild. So I have decided that I may take next semester off and high tail it to Sayulita, Mexico for a little R&R, some hard core surfing, a sun tan, maybe a margarita or two,  and lots of fish tacos.

I've heard of this magic land through some friends that have ventured there with nothing but great things to say, so now I want to go and I want to go soon.  Plus I feel like all the vacations that I have taken over the past few years have been amazing, they have consisted of mostly climbing but we did take one trip to Bali and went surfing and I really liked it so I figure before another climbing trip I should probably try to get my feet wet again and hopefully not get eaten by a shark.

Another announcement that I would like to post is that my two greatest friends are getting married and I'm in both of the weddings.. I'm really excited for both of them and can't wait to witness their nuptuals front row, Congrats Nat & Corey and Kenny & Noelle.

And finally.. if you haven't tried the concoction 4Loko I suggest you go on out there and scoop up a can if you can find it.. It has recently been taken off the market for various obvious reasons and I think that everyone should try it before it is no longer in existence. The hangover is awful and you feel terrible while drinking it but I mean what the heck, you should try everything once right??

CHEERS!

ugh October........................

I hate the month of October..

As posted in my last blog I explained one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. There have been several other occurrences of bullshit that have happened during this month over the years of my life that I choose not to tell the world. I am someone that is slightly superstitious when it comes to things such as this, therefore I dread this time of year.

Four years ago I met my heterosexual life partner/Best friend.. We had both moved to Boulder at the same time, we both hated it, we both worked at the same place, we look very similar, we have the same personality bla bla bla... we just clicked very easily and soon became inseparable until I moved away, than moved back and than she moved out of the country. Not the easiest thing ever.. all happening in the month of October.

Than today as I was messaging my BFF I noticed many posts on her Facebook wall expressing gratitude and sending prayers her way for what had happened to her. I freaked...  a bit.

So I investigated her local friends and messaged one that I thought would know the most details.

She had been brutally beaten by a man with a 2 X 4 and is recovering from several head and hand injuries. I'm sickened by the thought of man doing this not only to a woman but to my best friend in the world. May he sit in jail for the rest of his miserable life and other bad things!

She is in intensive care and recovering but since we have no means on communication I'm left in the dark until she has an internet connection. Send all of your love and prayers to my sweet angel Lindsey! The most badass chick I know! I love you Lindz!! Get better soon Mama!

October 2009

I am amazed that a year has passed so quickly. 

This time last year my world came to a crumbling, crippling halt when I got a phone call from my Mom telling me that something was wrong with my brother. 

I was thinking that he was once again either back in jail or got into some type of trouble. Well.. here's the story. He had finally been sober for nearly three months and was peer pressured into going out to a bar with some friends that he hadn't seen since he stopped drinking so they went to a bar off the regular beaten path. At that bar he was jumped and beaten up by 5 army guys. Once the ambulance arrived they insisted on bringing him to the hospital because he was kicked in the noggin several times. After the MRI came back showing a mass in his right temporal lobe (not from the fight) and required surgery asap my parents got me on the next flight out of Denver. 

 After his surgery I flew back to Colorado and started really pondering the importance of my family and how special they are to me. Four days after I had been back in Colorado I got another phone call from my Dad telling me that my brother, his girlfriend, and my mom were in a terrible car accident coming home from the hospital. 

In rush hour traffic my mom was at a stop on the highway when a driver hit them from behind going 60+ mph while texting. After hearing this news I packed my shit and waited for my cousin to fly out to CO so that we could renegade across the country back to CT so that I could nurse my mom and brother back to health after their surgeries. 

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/09/24/study-texting-while-driving-responsible-for-16000-deaths-in-6-years/

I have never had feeling of such hopelessness in my life. I have always been extremely protective of my little brother and my mom is the sweetest, kindest woman on this earth and to think that I could have lost either one of them still tugs on my heart and tear ducts. Thinking back to this still sends me into a state of disbelief thinking that I could have lost my brother not to all of his crazy and dangerous behavior but to something that was completely out of everyones hands. And even though I have a few choice words for those 5 army guys that beat up my brother I'm thankful they brawled due to the finding of his brain tumor. I thank my lucky stars everyday that they are both happy and healthy now and I've realized how precious life really is. 

My brother had two surgeries following the first, each becoming more invasive and dangerous.  The end result being that he had 95% of a growing benign astrocytoma brain tumor removed and will now be able to continue living his life as a hilarious 24 year old man. 

I credit both my mom and brother for my new found realization that I would like to dedicate the next few years of my life to learning about the miraculous human body and becoming part of the medical field due to all the time I spent in the hospital with both of them. Thanks Mom and Bubby! xo

As you know I'm studying stuff that will lead me to a fantastic, exciting, successful career in the medical field. I have been feeling a bit discouraged as of late because I don't know exactly what path I will choose to follow? Well last week I was once again at work, surprise, surprise, and it was the busiest night I have ever had while bar-tending. We were short staffed and about 8 deep at the bar, for 4 hours I didn't lift my head from the well to speak to anyone about anything unless it involved mixing a cocktail. 

                                      

                                            And Than...... BAM!

 A shot glass shatters on the bar with shards flying into my ojo ;( 

We were so busy I barely had time to go to the bathroom and flush my eye with water. I thought for sure I was going to have to be a full-time pirate with a bedazzled eye patch. UGH! So after a few drinks I shook it off and decided I'd wait until the morning to go to the hospital, Not a good idea.. I repeat, Not a good idea.  I woke up and me ojo/eye was not happy. 

Phil brought me to the ER (very exciting, and inspiring) and the doctor numbed eye and flipped my eyelid inside out and bla bla bla.. bottom line, I can see!!! My eye is healing fine, and apparently they don't give out eye patches anymore which totally sucks! I mean they're so trendy right now..

Moral of that story is.. when in doubt go to the hospital to be re-inspired about a career in the medical field.