Volasail

My peoples,

Erin and I have some news for you.  Rather than stress and worry about who to tell when and in what order, we’ve decided to write you all.

Long story short: we’re moving!  (shocking, right?)

In a nut shell, my job has required me more and more to be in San Francisco.  As our company has grown, the San Francisco office has grown large, while the office I’m at in Santa Monica has gotten smaller and smaller.  Because most of the work that I do requires me to be in San Francisco, I’ve had to drastically increase my travel up there — sometimes up there every other week.  This travel schedule has taken its toll on our little family.  This past trip, I missed Ava’s first words (”da da”).  The trip before, I missed the first time she crawled and her first teeth.  Erin and I seem to catch up only through email and the occasional phone call.  Frankly, the idea of continuing this pattern in the months to come is simply not an option for us.

So, we’re moving to San Francisco in January.

Obviously, there are some big drawbacks to moving: primarily leaving behind both our extended families in San Diego and also our tight group of friends in Los Angeles.  However, keeping our little family together more often is top priority for us.  We do plan to make frequent trips back to San Diego to see everyone.

Well, I guess that’s about it.  We’ve put a lot of time and thought into this decision and we’re ready to make the jump into a new life in a new city.  We now request your love/support/prayers for us as we venture off to a city neither of us know very well.  We’re very excited for this new chapter in our lives in such an amazing and vibrant city.  Stay connected with us online (Skype/Twitter/Facebook) — we’ll make sure to send you plenty of updates.

Love,
J, E & a

ps  For further insight or details, shoot us an email or give us a call!

pps By the way, we’ll miss you, (insert your name here) the most!  You were always our favorite.

We had big plans last weekend of taking a group of our friends out to Joshua Tree.  Having spent so much time out there the last two years rock climbing and camping, I figured our friends would enjoy the quiet solitude, campfire, and starry nights.  I guess I was wrong.

Although we locked down the date over 4 months ago, our small circle of friends all lead very busy lives.  Like clockwork, we got our first call Tuesday night — the wife was sick and they were staying home.  We got our second call soon afterwards — there was some volunteer work that randomly planned some training this weekend.  And with 4 of the 10 people cancelling, the others decided it would be no fun as a partial group.

Frankly?  I couldn’t care less!  I’ve spent more than my fair share of nights alone in Joshua Tree, staring into a fire and enjoying the alone time…  of course, I was very excited to share the beauty of this place with our friends, but getting to spend the weekend alone with my wife was a perfectly acceptable replacement.  

Friday was spent simply walking around the park, enjoying the “nature loops” setup by the park service.  Every 20ft or so, a new sign would point out plants and animals and give you some background on the area you’re in.  I always hated History class, but there’s something different about actually seeing history.  Seeing relics of the past (including a handful of pictographs), reminded me of my time growing up in Northern Virginia — a place littered with hands-on American History.  We finished the day doing a 90ft climb to the top of a rock to watch the sunset.  Afterwards, we drove into town to find the best in small-town dining: Applebee’s.

Saturday was full of bouldering.  My good friend (and very good climber) Aron joined us for the day.  My wife is a great encourager and she enjoys watching us climb.  (I’ll spare you the rest of the details as I can see my blog starting to become dreadfully unbalanced with climbing posts).  The day was capped off with a big campfire, some roasted chicken breasts, a big bottle of Fat Tire, and a great chat with my lady-friend.

We climbed a bit more Sunday morning before heading back to LA.  Once home, my wife left for her mother’s as I prepared for a week-long work trip to San Francisco.  Although my trip was a productive one, there’s something jarring to the soul when you experience such a drastic change in mindsets.  One day you’re sitting beside a fire, bundled up in a big poofy coat and beanie, staring at a sky lit up like a Christmas tree … the next, you’re dealing with cab lines, TSA, and expense reports.  I guess that’s why we take pictures.

hydroplane. v.
To be or go out of control by skimming along the surface of a wet road. Used of a motor vehicle.

so after a nice day of climbing in joshua tree with sensei, golfer, jill, and jcpeace (josh), everyone went their separate ways. freezing and hungry, i went back to my campsite. as i sat by my tent, trying to get a fire started with wet wood and sipping my cup o’ noodles, i thought, “maybe i should just go home. i had a day climbing, it’s probably gonna rain Sunday. i’d like to sleep in a real bed.”

“no! this is your last climbing trip before the baby comes! plus, you already paid for the campsite. suck it up and climb!”

around 10pm the winds started. my tent was on a bed of rock, so i neglected to spike it down. the rocks on the corners didn’t help, and around 11pm, my tent collapsed.i struggled to get out of my sleeping bag and put on my jacket. i piled all my belongings into the back of my tiny car, laid down the seat, and contorted my body enough to lay down and sleep. the car rocked back and forth in the wind for the rest of the night.

at 7am, i woke up. the wind was still howling and the clouds were rolling in from the west. i sat in the back of my car trying to think of a sheltered place to climb. i drove out to Hall of Horrors, walked around, and decided to call it a day. i left the park, experienced the worst ever customer service at the Denny’s in Yucca Valley, and started down towards the 10.

The rain was pouring, and I could barely see 50 yards ahead. I was doing fine, trying to stay focused on the dashed white lines flying by. 10-west, just before california st. in Redlands, i hydroplaned. i did about two 360’s, bounced off the center divide, did two more 360’s and slammed head-first into the center divide. my car was totaled, i was shaking uncontrollably, and somehow my Joshua Tree park pass had jumped from my center console to the side pocket of the drivers side door (amazing physics).

no car rental places are open in this great city of Redlands. so now i’m sitting in the lobby of a Howard Johnson below the freeway, waiting for my father in law to drive up from San Diego and pick me up. he’ll drive me to SD where my wife is this weekend, then we’ll make the 2 hour drive back to LA tonight.

sucks.

lesson learned: if you already had a great day of bouldering, and the next day it will probably rain, and you’re alone, hungry, and only 2 hours from a warm bed and hot food…go, man. just go.

signing off from the HoJo,
jon

Work it harder, make it better
Do it faster, makes us stronger
More than ever, hour after
Our work is, never over!

(daft punk)

i ride my little scooter down the same streets everyday, so i guess i’d kind of lulled myself to sleep. today, i drove out of my garage and turned left…like usual. my street turns into Santa Monica Blvd. I crossed the street to get into the left-hand turn lane at the red light. it turned green and i inched myself out into the intersection. there were only about 5 cars in each lane — they passed quickly. the 2nd lane had a bus that was lagging, so i timed my left-hand turn until after the bus passed. i accelerated around the bus … and just then i see a lady riding a bike with a kid in back crossing in the crosswalk. i slammed on my brakes — mostly cos the sight spooked me so bad. bad idea. my front wheel locked up and i fell onto my left side in the middle of the intersection.

the lady in the bike just kept pedaling. i think i looked up at her in confusion and she looked back and yelled out “are you ok?” and just kept pedaling. i hopped up, and moved my bike out of the road. i set the kick stand and just slumped down onto the curb, slightly shell-shocked. the other light turned green and a car came across the intersection towards me. it stopped next to me. the guy yelled out: “are you ok?” … “yeah, fine.” … “that lady didn’t even stop!” … “yeah, i know.” he drove off.

after checking the big raspberry on my left elbow and the growing knot in my hip, i decided i needed to get to work. everyone that had witnessed the accident had already driven off. no one else would stop to ask how i was. it took me awhile to get my scooter started again, but i drove off to work.

stupid pedestrians.