climbergirl blog

We spent the Christmas holiday up in Reno with Dennis’ family. It was a quiet holiday as the nephews & neice were absent. But we grown-ups managed to have a great deal of fun in spite of the missing kids.

Walter’s wonderful wife had made us a batch of rum cake-which we brought with us. It turned out to be the star of the snackbar. And, soon it was almost gone. I had to play tug-o-war with Dennis in the kitchen; laying claim to the last piece.

We went snowboarding for two days at North Star (with freshest of fresh powder!). The first day, I spent all day on the beginner slopes, but by day two I had moved on to the intermediate runs. I’m very happy with the way I started this season. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to share with you.

Santa brought us some snowshoes for Christmas, and I can’t wait for us to go out and give them a whirl! The other highlights for me were a DVD from my Mom & Sisters, a kitchen scale & thermometer from Mom & Dad Reda, a spicerack from Sherry & Kids, and a new snowboarding helmet from Dennis!

I recently returned from trip to Dayton, Ohio. I was there for GIANT (GPS Interference And Navigation Tool) training and configuration control board meeting. If you want to learn more about GIANT click on it.

The training was great and I made some good connections. While I was in Dayton, I visited the climbing gym Urban Krag. It’s in an old cathedral, with stained glass. Truly a fun climbing opportunity, if you are in the area and want to get a good workout. They make ya take a belay test, but they are super friendly and positive upbeat staff. Highly recommended for the climbers out there!

While in Dayton, I ate out at several nice places. Living in sequestered Ridgecrest, I have developed the tendency to gorge myself on fine dining when I’m out of town. (more…)

started out with a sunny morning!

We took advantage of the sun and went for a stroll over to the Tokyo Government Building’s Viewing rooms. We took an elevator to the top and walked around the window encassed room to see a panoramic view of Tokyo. It was quite a hazy day, so we could still not see Mt. Fuji! (more…)

It figures on our very last day at Mt. Koya that the sun would make an appearance! When we woke up the mountain was drenched in sunlight and it felt good to be travelling in nice weather for a change. We had our 2nd elaborate breakfast, and packed our bags. (more…)

After the morning prayer service, and the ample breakfast, we headed out for the Mt. Koya cemetary. Supposedly, there are over 10,000 grave markers as well as amazing sculptural masterpieces. There was an auditory tour available, but we forgot to pick it up, so instead we got to wander around exploring on our own. At the end of the 2 km walk there is a shrine/temple which is quite impressive. (more…)