Lizzie_Outdoors

Some weeks, we are so tired because of our day jobs that we hardly have energy for the weekend. We went out to Red Rock only to realize that we didn't feel like climbing. We met up with some friends, watched them climb a few routes, and then ended up heading home. Despite the fact that we didn't climb, Ellie was in rare form and was so happy to be outside, as proof by her smiles in the pictures.

Every year for the past few Christmases, Luke's parents have given us the gift of time; time to be spent as a family. Last year we took Luke's parents to Zion National Park and had a wonderful time introducing them to a place that we love so much. Those memories we made will last far longer than anything tangible they could have gotten us. This past Christmas, they gave us four times through out the year that we will spend together, but instead of being just, we would spend it as a whole family (including all of Luke's 3 siblings and their spouses. The first was a trip to Red Rock. Luke and I know this gift was for us, because we are the ones that love spending our time outside. We had spent the weeks prior scouting locations and picking out the perfect place to climb. The spot we picked ended up being perfect. there were

We don't usually take Ellie with us when we go climbing. We are always worried about her bothering other people and being her being stressed out. Today a friend asked us to bring her along, so we happily complied. Ellie was wonderful at crag dogging. She hung out at the base of the climb sunbathing and hanging out with our friends daughter.

Rain seems to ever be our forecast here in the desert this winter, which means climbing outdoors is an impossibility.  We continually climb inside trying to get stronger, but it really isn't the same. We decided to take Luke's parents out to Red Rock to plan an upcoming trip. While we were there we stopped at one of our favorite pullouts, and there just so happened to be this amazing waterfall right off of the trail. Water in the desert is pretty rare, and it was wonderful to have the chance to see the water from the rain in this rare way.

After being stuck inside for a month, and then finally being able to get outside, we wanted the next day to be just as good...but it wasn't. We both ended up waking up later than we intended and with massive headaches. Looking back we probably should have been drinking more water the day before because of how warm it was. Not knowing if we would have the chance to climb again any time soon, we decided to head out to Red Rock again. When we got there our headaches were worse, but we were determined to climb. We made it to the intended cliff, and then despite our best efforts, realized that we weren't going to be able to climb. We ended up taking a short nap on the cliff, snapping a few pictures and heading home. Isn't that how life is kind of like? We spend so much time planning what we want, and then once we make it there things don't go our way despite our best intentions and then we are forced to make do. We could have gotten on the climb that day, but at what cost? A