Brownie Point

Matt, James and I were lucky enough to have family come visit us over Labor Day.  How nice is it when you don't have to do the traveling?? (pretty nice I say)  My Mom came in on Friday and I got to go pick her up after James went to bed, which worked out great.  It was so nice to be able to just talk; usually I only get that luxury during nap time.  My sis and bro-in-law, Christina and Paul, came in Friday night and stayed over before their climbing trip to Looking Glass outside Brevard in the Pisgah National Forrest.  My sis Michelle came up from Columbia on Saturday, and we all drove over to Brevard so Matt, James and I could hike up and see Christina and Paul climb.

One word. Wow.  I've wanted to see them climb for YEARS, seriously, years.  When Christina and I were at Clemson, the trips never worked out for me to tag along.  Not to mention that I'm not the most adept 'camper' as it were. haha.  Bug phobic, anyone else??  Anyways, I've been telling her that we should plan a trip where we meet up with them so I can just watch.  That's all I wanted, to see the action in its natural habitat vs. and inside climbing gym (which lacks all the beauty and natural danger of the sport).  I was not let down in the least.

Christina put up the top rope for us to climb on lead, because they wanted to give us the chance to climb.  Matt and I are both pretty athletic, so we were like, ok, let's go for it.  She was pretty impressive to watch, but it only got better later when they climbed something hard.  And yes, Matt and I did this! go us.

I went first, and wow, am I sore now!!  They were totally encouraging and gave great instruction so I could do it.  Honestly, would not have done it if they hadn't been so encouraging.  Here is our posed shot.

Here is my cool shot.  It looks so high! ps. it was high.  The climb was about 100 ft.  They said it was a 5.8 rating, which I'm told, is 'something most athletic people couldn't just get up off the couch and do.'

Matt went second, and he was much faster than me.  It is so crazy to see where the moves were harder for him and easier for me (and visa versa).  This one was pretty impressive to me.  Look at that flexibility!

Finally, Pauly climbed it for fun, barefooted, in about 5 min.  like taking a walk in the park.  I was impressed, until I saw them do the harder route, then I was really impressed.  They are pretty awesome.  Christina was just as awesome as I'd always known she would be.  I'm so glad I finally got to see it in person!!

Here is James and me watching Auntie Christina climb to start off.  He had a great time.  He loved touching the rock, and honestly, it was a pretty intimidating sight.  Because I climbed it on top rope without falling, that's called a 'brownie point.'  So, go me. :-)

Thanks Christina and Paul!!!