We just got back from a lovely road trip which took us to Spokane, Seattle, Squamish, back to Seattle and finally Portland.  We lucked out with some great weather, did some fun climbing and sightseeing.  We also got to spend a lot of time with friends.

Spokane

The first leg of our trip took us to Spokane where we stayed with our friends Mike, Elyse and Elianna (their cute 2 year old daughter).  Ella got some good practice being a big sister and Kyle and I did some fun climbing in Deep Creek.  Kyle coined the term “vacation climbing” for Deep Creek because the holds are big and the bolts are close together.  He sent a challenging 13b and I sent two 12a’s and a 12b despite being 8 weeks pregnant!

Seattle

After a great week in Spokane, we headed west to Seattle to climb at Little Si.  On the way we stopped spontaneously for a bathroom break at a random exit (the benefits of traveling with a 4 year old) and found this turquoise trailer with amazing food and fresh juices.

After our snack, we continued on to a 3 mile hike to a waterfall called Twin Falls just outside of Seattle.  Ella did great on her longest hike yet.

Little Si is not a kid friendly climbing area, so Kyle and I traded off doing kid stuff with Ella in Seattle while the other one of us climbed.  I took Ella to the Seattle Zoo, which is an expansive and well run zoo.  We spent 6 hours there and still didn’t see the whole place!

Ella and I also spent a day going to the Space Needle and the Science Museum.  She loved the exhibit on dinosaurs, the butterfly pavilion and the planetarium.

On Kyle’s rest day, he took Ella to the Pike’s Market where she got to see flying fish and they had the best salmon sandwich ever.  Lucky me, they brought me one home for my dinner that night.  After climbing all day, I couldn’t have asked for anything better!

Squamish

After our fun days in Seattle, we headed north to Squamish.  The border crossing went quickly, so we spent some time in Stanley Park before heading on the gorgeous drive to Squamish.  We couldn’t believe our luck with the weather, a full week of sunshine!  I ended up climbing 6 out of 7 days.  I finally got to climb the Grand Wall, which was an amazing experience.  Our friends, Andy and Wendy were kind enough to find me a partner, Todd (from Tacoma), and accompany me on the climb.  We climbed hard and laughed a lot.  Kyle sent a tricky 5.13 at Chekamus and Ella started climbing.  She climbed a 5.6 and two 5.7′s and loved it!

Seattle (again)

After our unbelievable climbing week, we headed back to Seattle for Kyle to climb again at Little Si.  He fell in love with the climbing there and Ella and I enjoyed the sightseeing so much, we didn’t mind spending an extra day.  We decided to head to the Seattle Aquarium while he went climbing.  This aquarium reminded me a of a mini Monterey Bay Aquarium, as the sea life is quite similar.  However, Puget Sound seems to have some amazing bright green sea anemones, which I have never seen before.  We also enjoyed seeing the sea otters, river otters and seals swimming and playing.

Portland

We stopped through Portland on the way home to go to Pok Pok, an amazing, authentic Thai restaurant.  Chef Achatz recommended this restaurant to us when we were in Chicago and I’ve been dying to go ever since.  It truly lived up to our expectations.  We had the spicy beef and green papaya salad, a noodle dish with coconut milk and lemongrass, and even Ella loved the mixed veggies with tofu.  Served with the most incredible sticky rice, the meal was superb.  The next day, Ella insisted we go to the climbing gym before driving back to Bend.  The Circuit has a great kid’s climbing area with fun boulder problems up to a slide down (I wish all boulders had a slide descent).

The reward for getting to the top of the kid wall.

All in all, it was a great trip with wonderful weather, climbing, food and hanging out with friends.  We were happy to be back in Bend, though, as summer is in full swing and there are many festivals, music and activities going on right now.

After the Chicago part of the trip, we reconvened with Mike, Jeri and Ella in Santa Cruz.  We also joined Karen and Walter, spent 2 days visiting Ma and taking Ella to the Boardwalk.  She loved the kiddie rollercoaster and some of the other rides she wasn’t tall enough for last time.  We got up super early and had an easy flight to Kona where we met up with Debbie.  We originally decided to go to Hawaii because Ella wanted to see hot lava.  Unfortunately, the lava was not flowing to the sea at this time.  Since lava was present only inside the crater, the only way to see it was in a helicopter.  We managed to talk the whole group into going and everyone enjoyed the gorgeous views of the Big Island.

Hot Lava

Of course we also had to go to a luau.  Ella was super excited about the luau and we went to a really great one where they taught the kids a hula dance and then they got on stage and performed it.  Super cute!  The second reason we went to Hawaii was because Ella wanted to try poi.  So, she finally got to at the luau and seemed to enjoy it (although she was surprised it was cold).

All ready for the luau

Hula Dancers

Fire Dancer

Next it was time for some water sports.  Ella snorkeled and swam with turtles, which she loved.  She also did a little boogie boarding and although she had a wipeout or 2, she kept trying!

Ella riding the waves

Kyle and I decided to take a surf lesson.  We did better than we though we would and rode some waves, although we could have sworn they were at least 5 feet tall!

Surfing together

Finally we wrapped the trip up with a wagon ride into Waipio Valley.  The road into this valley is a 25% grade downhill and once you get down, only about 50 people live in the valley.  Of those, only half have electricity and running water.  Although rural now, it once was home to 20,000 people.  The valley is incredibly fertile with a source of fresh water, so in the days when being able to grow food and have fresh water was of utmost importance, it was the place to be.  Now, there’s not a whole lot to do there except guide wagon tours and grow taro.  It is an incredibly beautiful and peaceful valley.

Waipio Valley Wagon Ride

Waipio Valley Waterfall

Highlights of the trip also included eating at Merriman’s in Waimea, playing on the beach with Ella and just having some nice family and best friend time.  Everyone made it back to their respective homes safely and hopefully we can all go somewhere again someday.

To celebrate our 10 year Anniversary, Kyle and I left Ella with Grandma and Grandpa and went to Chicago to eat.  We secured reservations at Alinea and had our fingers crossed for “same day” reservations to Chef Achatz’s new restaurant, Next.  Alinea lived up to our expectations and now I will describe it in detail.  WARNING:  Food porn to follow…

The evening began with Steelhead Roe with watermelon, kafir lime and oxalis:

Steelhead roe

Then came Hamachi on a vanilla bean skewer flavored with banana and ginger.  This was like a savory, yet sweet and spicy fried banana.

Hamachi

Then we had seven more dishes we don’t have pictures for, but my favorite of these was the English Pea.  The Chef had made English Peas in about 4 different ways including an incredible soup and amazingly crunchy dehydrated peas.  The next course pictured is the famous “Hot Potato Cold Potato”.  This consisted of a perfect bite of a hot potato ball over vichyssoise flavored with black truffles.

Hot Potato Cold Potato

A few courses before this, the waiter had placed funny looking flags at our table and told us not to touch them.  Now it was revealed to us that these were sheets of pasta in which we were to roll the next course, a short rib.  A very interactive course, various garnishes including fermented garlic and blackberry, were to be added at our discretion.   At some point we were also served a bowl of eucalyptus leaves with a single silver pin in the middle.  You pulled out the pin to reveal a perfect bite of venison flavored with cherry and cocoa nibs.  As a palate cleanser, a test tube was given to us filled with dragonfruit, cilantro, cucumber and lemongrass.  The stopper was made of gelatin so we were instructed to lift the tube to our lips and suck the liquid out.  A flavor explosion ensued!

Dragonfruit shot

Another palate cleanser consisted of a small metal disk that we were warned not to touch with our tongues.  It contained yuzu (an asian citrus fruit) sorbet that had been super frozen with nitrogen.  The grand finale consists of Chef Achatz himself coming out and making dessert ON your table.  The waiter lays down a silicone table cloth and Chef creates a masterpiece in front of your eyes.

So, not only did we have an amazing meal, we also got to meet Chef Achatz!  I casually mentioned we were hoping to obtain “same day” reservations for Next the following night while Chef was creating our dessert.  After he left, a waiter came out and asked for our contact information and told us Chef wanted to give us reservations for Next!  How lucky are we?  Amazing.

Happy couple post-meal (and yes, that is my wedding dress!)

Our reservation wasn’t until 9:15, so we went to the climbing gym to burn some calories.  Incredibly enough, Chicago does not have a “real” climbing gym.  The best we could find was in the basement of a gymnastics studio.  Needless to say, they didn’t have much space to work with.  This resulted in some route finding difficulties.

"Am I climbing blue with white stripes or white with blue stripes?"

We also had time for drinks at Aviary (Chef Achatz’s cocktail lounge that is adjacent to Next) with Bill Brown and his lovely girlfriend Kirsten.  Aviary has custom glassware and a whole room dedicated to making ice cubes infused with various flavors and often spherical.  One of the most involved cocktails was the Rooibos Tea.  This was akin to a science project complete with bunson burner.

Cocktail or Science Project?

Finally it was time for our reservation so we bit adieu to Bill and Kirsten and stepped into Paris 1906.  Not being huge fans of French food, we wondered how we would enjoy the menu.  The flavors were amazing.  I had the first fois gras I actually liked!  We also feasted on duck with jus made in a duck press and the richest potatoes au gratin I’ve ever tasted.  The dessert was a Bombe Ceylan, a sort of ice cream bon bon.

Bombe Ceylan

We left Chicago for Santa Cruz, stuffed, but happy.

For the past month we’ve been traveling.  This trip has been so crazy and all over the map that it deserves several installations.  As an overview, we traveled first to Denver to see U2, then to Las Cruces for Mike and Jeri’s 50th Anniversary, then Kyle and I went to Chicago for our 10th Anniversary, then we all met in Santa Cruz for a couple days and flew to Hawaii for a week.  We finally returned home late Tuesday night.  All in all we had 6 separate flights and no delays, lost luggage or meltdowns!

The first part of this trip actually was added last.  About a month before we were set to leave, I see a mysterious message on Facebook from my mom asking my brothers if they like U2 and then saying to check their email.  So, I call my mom and say, “I like U2″.  I find out she’s scored 4 tickets to a 1000 person U2 concert and given them to my brothers without asking me if I like U2!  Well, luckily she made some calls and scored another ticket so Kyle and I could go too.  This extended our 3 week trip to a month and added a stop in Denver, but it was so worth it!  The concert was amazing and we even met Bono.

Are we close enough?

I just shook Bono's hand!

After that once-in-a-lifetime experience (thanks Mom and Dad) we hopped on a plane to El Paso and drove over to Las Cruces.  Kyle and I took a little side trip up to Datil for a couple of days climbing.  The first day was insanely windy, but the second day turned out better and Kyle sent “Goliath”.

"Goliath" follows the shadow / light arete. Arguably, an absolutely perfect line.

For those of you who don’t know, this is a 35 meter 13a, which is likely the best route in New Mexico.  (In non-climber speak, a very long and difficult climbing route).  We returned for the 50th Anniversary celebration.  Ella enjoyed dancing with her cousins and we all feasted on excellent BBQ.  I also made some killer sangria to accompany the food and Ella helped me make a strawberry orange sponge cake.

Dancing with cousins

Serious dancing

50th Anniversary Couple

After the party, we left Ella with Grandma and Grandpa and headed to Chicago to celebrate our 10th Anniversary.

All of the photos can be seen here

To be continued…

Skating with Sophie on one of our last days in Flagstaff

Okay, so I’m not doing great on my New Year’s Resolution.  Maybe a post a month is all I can handle?  January was quite busy though with moving to Bend, then the next weekend Kyle and I went to the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City.  It turned out to be a hectic, but successful trip.  I won the women’s division of the pull-up contest with 17 pull-ups and we scored deals with Sterling Ropes and Stonewear Designs clothes.  Thanks for their support!  And thanks to Grammy and Grandpa for staying with Ella so we could go.

Swimming Lesson

I would like to say our days have been filled with unpacking and organizing, which half of them are, but the other half are filled with climbing at Smith Rock and exploring the area.  Ella is making new friends at school and has started swimming and ballet/tap lessons.  Next week she starts ice skating lessons.  The most exciting news is that Ella got into an amazing private school called Seven Peaks.  They only take 18 students in their Junior-K class, so I think we got really lucky.

Ella likes to have her picture taken every day with these statues outside her school

again

This weekend we are headed to Portland with some of our new friends and we’re going to visit old friends as well.  My college roommate, Jennifer Nelson, is living in Portland and just had twins in November.  I think it’s been about 8 years since we’ve seen each other!  Should be fun.

Baking in our new house with her new apron from Aunt Debbie

I can’t say enough about how happy we are and how much we love Bend.  The people are great and friendly, the weather has been pretty good, the climbing is amazing and there are so many things to do here.  Of course we miss our good friends and neighbors in Flagstaff, but we do hope they will visit us soon.  We are ready for visitors!

And now for an amazing recipe.  I made this last night for dessert for our realtor/friend who came over with her wonderful family.

Coconut Chai Chocolate Cake

adapted from Clean Eating cookbook

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp cardamom

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 cup milk (after some thought, I should have used coconut milk)

1 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup agave syrup

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

1/4 unsweetened flake coconut

Combine dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and mix with hand mixer until combined.  Mix in coconut flakes.  Pour batter into 9 inch round baking pan that has been oiled and dusted with flour.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely then frost.

My Coconut Chai Frosting

please forgive the lack of measurements

Steep chai tea extra strong (2 tea bags with about a 1/2 cup water), add to cream cheese, add coconut milk and about 1 Tbsp coconut oil and mix with hand mixer.  Add truvia to taste and powdered milk to thicken to frosting consistency.

This cake is amazing!

New Year’s Resolution- I’m going to try to blog more.  Besides sharing our adventures with our friends and family, I’d like to share some of our great healthy food conversions.

Holidays- We had great celebrations this year starting with Hanukkah.  This was the first year Ella expressed interest in Hanukkah, so I busted out the Menorah.  (Well, actually I couldn’t find mine and had to run from store to store in Flagstaff to find a Menorah AND candles.  Lots of Goy in this town.)

Christmas-  Christmas started early with Ella’s cousins coming up for the Polar Express.  They had a great weekend together, playing non-stop and then getting to see Santa Claus.  Doesn’t get much better.

Then we headed off to Las Cruces (after a few cold, wet days in vegas) and spent more time with Ella’s cousins.  Kyle and I climbed a bunch at the Tunnel and one day at Hueco.  We got to take Bryce, Kyle’s 15 year old nephew, with us for his first climbing experience.  All went well until a Japanese climber fell off the top of a problem and busted his noggin.  I don’t think it totally traumatized Bryce, but it did make for a long day.

Now we’re back in Flagstaff with a cracked water pump because of the -10 degree cold the other night.  Fortunately we have the best neighbors ever who have been letting us shower at their home, do dishes and just generally hang out.  Of course this extra time we’ve been able to spend with them is making us realize how much we will miss them.  We definitely have bittersweet feelings about moving.  We will miss our friends, but are looking forward to all the opportunities afforded to us in Bend.  We’re trying to chose after-school activities for Ella right now from ice skating, gymnastics, dance, music, spanish, swimming and soccer.  I just registered myself for a Spanish class!

Oh, I should include a recipe for a (mostly) healthy conversion of something traditional.  This is my personal favorite- rum balls!

Rum Balls

1 1/2 cups toasted nuts (I like almonds)

1/2 cups sugar-free cookies (I used almond ones this year)

3/4 cup Fiber One cereal

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tbsp agave syrup

1/4 cup or more rum (I used Malibu and regular rum)

Blend all almonds, cookies, and Fiber One cereal separately in food processor until crumb-like consistency.  Place in large bowl.  Add other ingredients adjusting rum until mixture sticks together.  Form balls with hands and roll in more crushed cookies, cocoa powder or Fiber One (or shredded toasted coconut).  Store in airtight container until eaten.  Enjoy!

We also did low sugar gingerbread houses with sugar-free Royal Icing.  They are decorated with all sugar-free candies.

So we have spent the last three weeks in Bend / Smith Rocks, OR.  It’s been a ridiculous whirlwind of decision making.  I’m dizzy….what happened?

We came here 3 weeks ago to make some final decisions about whether to move here or not.  Within a few hours, it was easy.  It’s wasn’t a decision, it was an obligation.  The community, the food, cheap houses, lots of outdoorsy folk with kiddos, and the climbing (of course).

House hunting we went.  After a week or so we settled on a nice place in the middle of a great neighborhood.  Gangs of kiddos riding bikes and people living the good life.   Made an offer, got a loan (2% !!!), and signed our name a hundred times.  Trigger  pulled….boom.

Next was the schooling.  It was a choice between an orderly Montessori or full spanish immersion (the teachers are don’t to say a word in english).  Without a clear preference we chose both.  3 days at spanish, 2 days at Montessori.

In the middle of all of all that we had to get a proper tour of Smith Rocks.  Climbing about every other day was sufficient.  The place is simply AWESOME.  I absolutely love the challenge of a new climbing style with plenty of hard routes to choose from.  The beta is cryptic and exact.  Routes quickly change from 5.15+ to 5.13a with an obscure, far reaching foothold.   Thank you local beta lords for your help.

Since Smith will be our home crag I thought it was best to climb as many different routes as possible (rather than projecting something hard).  I’m in no rush in completing anything.  I have plenty of time. I did manage to feel reasonably comfortable on Badman & White Wedding (14a).  I was also able to successfully drag myself up Aggro Monkey (13b).  All are ultra classics.  I feel like I accomplished all of my goals for the trip.

Aimee wasn’t as enamored as I was.  She found the reachy pockets and the minimalist bolting to be….well…”crappy”.  But, after a couple of weeks things started to come together.  She adjusted, found more suitable routes, and started to crank again.  It seemed to all click on a single day and it was cool to watch.

This move is a huge deal for us.  We’ve lived in Flagstaff for almost a decade and have grown strong roots.  It will be difficult to leave our friends, but I know it’s for the best.  I can’t remember ever being so excited about the future.

I’m REALLY looking forward to visitors.  I can’t wait to give a proper tour to my climber friends.  I will put them on an easy 5.12 warm-up, sit back, stay quite, and watch the suffer.  Yes, a little cruel….but if I had to endure it and so will you  (hopefully).

Keep in touch.

-kyle

Yes, I love food. It provides fuel for climbing. I escape reality when I chew on something really good. It keeps me healthy. It warms me in the winter and cools me in the summer. It brings my family together every night. I love that Ella is learning how to cook, taste, and appreciate real food. If you are like me and appreciate real food (as opposed to boxed, frozen, processed food products) than you can appreciate what this night was for us.

El Bulli is, and has been, the best restaurant in the world. No question. Adrian Ferran is a genius. He single handedly invented the molecular gastronomy food movement. We’ve eaten at a few of America’s top restaurants and while those were good, nothing compared to this meal. Nothing. My best analogy is to imagine yourself working contently on a 1988 IBM PC. It’s slow but you don’t notice because you’re used to it. Now imagine someone gives you a 2010 mac book pro. That’s what this meal is like compared to other top restaurants.

At dinner, we met two people who lost their jobs for keeping their reservations. You can always get another job, but you will never get another chance to go to El Bulli (1/4000 chance). There are a few people I know that I would recommend selling their car (if needed) and flying to spain for the weekend. It’s that good.

The courses ranged from playful to intense. They were small and usually required instruction from the waiter. “Eat this first, then this in two bites.”

El Bulli is located 2.5 hours north of Barcelona. It’s a simple looking rustic restaurant in the hills above the Mediterranean Sea. Yes…it was expensive, but not as expensive as other top restaurants and probably less than you think.

El Bulli
June 15, 2010