Update: The End

It is a sad day. The remorse is accentuated by the dreariness of Inidana days. Kristen has left and the only remnant of the trip left with me are a few dirty clothes and memories that will never be forgotten.

To catch you up, our climbing experience in New Mexico was amazing! We spent nearly all day on 5.12's. Easily our hardest day of climbing yet. Then, back to Albuquerque where we met our team of balloonists for the world's largest balloon launch in the world! To help the lift-off of two balloons and chase them in the back of a pickup truck was just the not-so-touristy side of the event that we were looking for!

A few stops along our route back home took us to my aunt and uncles' house (warm hsopitality and excellant cooking) and to Lubbock to see Matthew Levi Beck (a creative genius with hook-ups at the local country western dancing club--don't tell any Wesleyans).

16 hours past while driving from Lubbock to Nashville, TN where we had the honor of a long-awaited reacquaintance with James Parker. A great man you should count yourself blessed to know if you ever get to meet him. We stayed with his friend Warren, another climber who welcomed us into his home.

Travels brought us to The Obed where an abundance of roof climbs were at our fingertips. We had a ton of fun while our technique was tested and grown. The added bonus of Obed was to have Tipsy, Soldier, and another K-9 friend follow our car 2 miles to the climbs and hang out with us for the duration of the day. We knew we needed a crag dog at that very moment.

Being met with a bit of rain in Tennessee we headed up to Red River Gorge Kentucky...the birthplace of our passion for this sport. As Kristen says, "it's where we cut our teeth" and right she is, metaphorically speaking. It is home. Home to familiarity. Home to friends. Home to good times and bonding experiences. We met with Kristen's friends Jarod Owens and his friends Brian and Katie...climbing has quite a network of connections. But we all share at least one thing in common--which makes for a great time. Saturday, dangerously close to the end of it all (in melodramatic terms of traveling) we were able to accomplish so much! Kris and I both led our first 12c and we found ourselves capable of leaving the headlights of the car on in the middle of the sticks of Kentucky--leaving us hopelessly stranded 5 miles from the nearest house and even further from anyone we knew. Kristen's stroke of genius got ahold of Miguel's number and his son Dario came out to save us.

This was not the last time we would botch up, however, when the next day brought with it frigid temperature and a premature departure from our home crag due to exhaustion. We left Military Wall with one directive in mind: make it to IWU by dinner time. 15 miles in that direction, however, Kristen realizes that we left our tent back at Miguel's where we had camped. Figuring by this time that we would be arriving late to IWU we decided to drive the RRG scenic drive back and check out what shows were playing at the drive in. To our disappointment we found them closed for the season. We also found closed a pound that I had stumbled upon while hitchhiking in that area a couple years ago. Realizing where we were we thought we would take our chances and see if we could just look at the dogs...just sneek a peek. Needless to say we were overcome by the hounds' desire to be ours and we pick out the Rottweiler-mix puppy stuffing his face at meal time. His name is Punjabi; named after Punjabi MC, the artist of our favorite song on our trip. He was an instant hit at Miguel's when we arrived and has been melting hearts and making friends everywhere he goes. (And I even got a girl's phone number today because she was so drawn to him...she'll be a dogsitter...nothing more).

That is it. Kristen is back in Goshen with brilliant aspirations to start her life refreshed and anew. And I am that lowly grad who comes to live at IWU becuase he is too scared of the real world. Sorry for the melancholy mood of the last email, and thank you for your concern and prayers. Many of you had a direct hand in making this adventure the trip of a lifetime.

-Anthony and Kristen