Exploring

Hey everyone! The winter here is way too snowy, once again. People try to reassure us that it's not normal, but this is 2 years in a row.. I'm not really buying it. But luckily Micah and I are headed out west at the end of the month for a little vacation from all the snow.

But NOW, we're living here in Fayetteville at our friend Lydia's house. Which sits on 30 acres. So I did some exploring. Below are some pictures of all the interesting stuff I found on those 30 acres.

First, though, are some other pictures:


Roger installed a pole to "help support the roof" here's what happened on day 1:
I had fun, so I kept playing on it (on a side note, I'm eating melted chocolate in an eggroll wrap. Awesome)
I was working on getting my feet to touch my head. Obviously I haven't gotten very close
This is my most showy move. You kick up into the splits and hold it while you go 360 around the pole. I don't think I make it 360 though.
here's a picture of Waterstone. since I now spend the majority of my time here, I thought I'd add it.
And now to "Things I Found on Lydia's Property"

Micah on the bed
Ollie! Ollie is the softest cat ever
and the best cat ever
from the house toward the barn
from the bridge you can see the house!
this bridge is part of the driveway. Not gonna lie, it was kind of scary to drive over the first time
bathtub
deer poop! I also see deer tracks all the time
a fire ring! There are lots of these around
a chicken coop!

this chicken door leads out into a dilapadated chicken-wired space
"You can take a ride on my big green tractor!" -a country song that I can't stop singing everytime I see this. Also, that ladder used to be at the Junkyard wall. It was how you got in and out if you didn't want to walk up and sown the steep, glass infested hill. I miss that ladder.And here's where the ladder led! Someone's bed! Actually, later this same day, some of Lydia's friends spent the night at our house. Turns out, it was one of them who lived here all summer. He had to walk down to the barn to get the bed
stalls!
Proof that the stalls were used by horses
this was in the stall too
hmm. Actually, what's more interesting (though I didn't know it at the time) is those pallets on the upper edge of the picture. The guy who lived in the barn said it's an outhouse! You just slide a bucket under there, I guess. I'll look at it more closely the next time it isn't buried in 7 feet of snow (give or take)
the house!
there are two ponds in this picture, you just have to look hard to see them
this was in the field above the house
this was unexpected! Just outside that field above the house
and this is the ridgeline (of the hill) above the graveyard
from the house you can see this fire pit on a peninsula
this is a cool little patio in the backyard! There's a built in grill on the left there
..and a little man made pond on the right
grapes!
there's a dam in the creek, this is where it came from
Micah told me later that I should have examined this more closely. That nubbin left by the beavers has actually been carved into a face on the other side

-Stella

I know, this post's a little late!

Sorry about that everyone who's reading! Hopefully it'll have enough pictures to make the wait worth it... Here we go:

In August, Micah and I went to the West Virginia State Fair. It's nothing like the Ohio State Fair. Not nearly as big or sweet. And it would have cost us over $10 to ride this ride. So we didn't. But I took a picture of it.Then in September, Micah took a trip to France! I included some of his pictures because they're so good! I took this picture, though, when I dropped him off at his house. This is his niece Savannah, and a Waterstone sock monkey (there are 6 or 7 sock monkeys that live at Waterstone. It is now a store rule that you have to take one when you go on a trip, and you have to take pictures of it). We named him Jean-Pierre.
Here's Jen Pierre checking out the street in Paris
They went to Fontainbleau, one of the worlds biggest, most famous bouldering areas. Unfortunately it rained almost the whole time.
Then they went to Chamonix. Micah and Jean-Pierre checked out this glacier
On to Ceuse. The home of the worlds first 5.15 rock climb. Micah's having trouble on this climb, but Jean-Pierre thinks it's so easy, he does it ropeless, in Micah's face.
The Verdon River Gorge was next. It's huge.
They hiked along the Verdon river one day.
And the coast! Hean-Pierre's psyched about the beach!
Here's a random picture I took of our friend Kati trying Toxic Hueco (5.11d). When she came at the beginning of the summer she hadn't done anything over a 5.9 outside, but she improved so fast! She didn't do this one, yet, but she will.

In October, on a whim, because it was rainy and cold at the New, but warm and sunny at the Red, Micah, Kati, and I went to the Red for a day and a half! A four hour drive each way, but totally worth it! Our friend Sara had just moved there, and our friends Adam and Ryan were there for the week. Two others, Philip and Johanna (pronounced YOhanna - she's from Austria!) followed our example and came too! There's just pictures of Micah and I though. Here's Micah in a hueco (that's spanish for big-hole-in-rock)Here's me on a fun climb. I couldn't do the first move, but after that it was easy!
here's some fall pictures I took from a bridge! It was scary up there! It was so high, and the walkway was a bit rusty...



We went to the Red again in the beginning of November! This time with the staff of the Vandalian, a resturant in town. We know everyone that works there. It was so fun! We also brought Waterstone's only female sock monkey with us! We need a good name for her.
Micah and I stayed at Miguels, but the Vandalian staff had a sweet house to stay in. The sock monkey stayed with us.Here's the sock monkey getting ready to hike in
our friend Craig climbs while the sock monkey looks on
sock monkey's turn!
me and Peilee! and the sock monkey.
here's a lot of the Vandalian staff: Emily, Peilee, Craig, Robbie, and Erin. Also, the sock monkey is in the picture too. This day we went to Torrent Falls. Only a certain number of people can get in per day, and we were too late to sign up as guests for the day, but Porter (the owner of the resturant) is so well known at the Red (just look at a guide book for the place! His name is ALL over it), that he just called the owner of Torrent Falls, and we were in!
Rachel came to visit! She brought her friend Kyle from Canada. The first night, we went to Open Mic Night at Pies and Pints, where she and Kyle sang (for the record I've never heard Rachel sing before. It was so random, but so sweet!). I didn't bring my camera, unfortunately. But the next day we climbed at Whippoorwill. The lake level is way down, so this is what it looked like
We all did a 5.6, two 5.7s, and a 5.8. Kyle had a bit of trouble on the 5.8, but Rachel got right up it even though it's been a long time since she's climbed (nice!). So here's Kyle on the 8
and Rachel on the 8
Now it's December and winter has finally set in. We moved into our friend Lydia's house, had our 3rd Thanksgiving (Turkeys were $0.50 a pound!) on the 1st, and now I can't get out of Lydia's driveway because we have a good 4 inches of snow. They finally started plowing, but our road is steep, single laned, and dirt. They won't plow our road. And they don't salt around here. It hasn't been above freezing for 2 or 3 days now, and it's not supposed to get there for another 4 days. And it's supposed to snow everyday until then. I already feel weak from lack of doing anything physical, and I can't wait until Jan 15th, when it's time to go out west again. On the upside, I'm getting a lot of reading done. I'll try to take some pictures of our new home soon.

Until next time,
Stella!