Today, David and I took a trip to the Biltmore Estate. Lucky for us, some buddies from back home were in town celebrating their engagement, and were nice enough to hook us up with their passes once they left, saving David and I $70 each! America's largest home has the largest price tag attached. Here's a few from around the grounds.







Now on to the garden house.









And now for our parting shots.







That's it for today...

Yet another day wandering around downtown Asheville...



Back to the Bald tomorrow.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the brief hiatus, but I've (a) had writer's block. (b) had photographers block. (c) lost my arms in a bear fight. (d) just been lazy. Pick whichever situation you choose, they're all true.

Now, onto the present. We left Red River Gorge yesterday afternoon, and are currently residing with Bryson's relatives (pictures to follow) in Asheville, North Carolina. Electricity, home cooked meals and sleeping on an actual mattress as opposed to my crashpad has been a wonderful change of pace, and I'm looking forward to doing it all again tonight, but I am starting to miss our nightly fires, and there's something so simple and rewarding about having to roll around in my sleeping bag for 5 minutes before it's actually warm enough to go to sleep.

Today was spent in downtown Asheville, and I've already fallen in love! From the curbside musicians to the double-decker bus converted into a coffee shop, this city radiates good vibes and hold an all around welcoming atmosphere. I'm actually finding it hard to sit down and post to this blog right now, simply because all I can think about is getting back into town to see if the city's nightlife can even come close to affecting me the way a bright, sunny saturday afternoon did.









That's all you get for now.

Only a week into this adventure and all my clothes already smell like a campfire. Not really a complaint, seeing as the smoke probably smells much better than I do. The creek bath's do a wonderful job of getting the stink off, but we're all just about ready to find a warmer source. $2 shower token at Miguel's, here I come!















Bedtime. Early day at Purple Valley tomorrow.

What better way to spend my last few days in Alabama, than going up to New York for work! Made some pretty easy money and got several good shot, but now I have to deal with the fact that I'm leaving Monday and I still don't have anything packed! Ah well, I'm a professional procrastinator, it's just what I do.

Now this first one has nothing to do with New York except that we drive by it on the way. It's become one of those landmarks that I get a shot of everytime I pass it. I think this was one of my better ones...



Now, back to Manhattan...













And of course, some skating at the Brooklyn Banks.





Then it's back to Jersey to get the truck and start the journey home at around 2:00 am. Not a bad last job with the moving company, that's for sure!





So long work!!!

Managed to find myself some free time during the daylight hours and ended up spending them roaming around the downtown district. Sure am gonna miss this place...











REMEMBER: If you weigh over 3 tons, you CANNOT climb at first ave. The free-standing boulder's can only support so much.

Been spending the last few nights downtown climbing up on buildings, trying to find good angles of Birmingham. Here's what I got so far...









Managed to get myself into a parking deck I probably had no business being in, but I find those to be more enticing, none the less.



Finally have a chance to stay out for a while and explore all my options tonight. Just hope the rain holds out for an evening!

Houston... Is really hot! Really really stupid hot! In fact, I wouldn't recommend anybody going down there between the months of June through October, unless you're going to climb at Stone Moves, the local indoor gym. The people there are extremely nice and the problems will put you in your place, quick! Wish I had some shots of the gym to share, but I was to busy getting shut down by every V-3 in there! After a 4 hour struggle, David and I managed to walk away from Stone Moves with one V-3 and one V-2 under our belts. Final thoughts, Climbers in Texas are strong!

So here's everything that has nothing to do with climbing...







Silly suburban kids and their silly rituals





Funny how I go to Houston and only take pictures of the sky. Oh well, water bouldering up at Little River Canyon tomorrow! Time to go see if I can catch the belly dancers...

Nothing to exciting went on this past week, just a trip to Memphis and another midnight adventure to Sloss.