Bluegrass & Bouldering

Hi from Kentucky! For all those concerned after my last blog entry (and thanks to all who commented, texted or emailed their support!), the last week has been much smoother sailing for Marco and me. Things between us are definitely still “off,” in the sense that they are not the way they were pre-road-trip, but I suppose that is to be expected. I don’t think things will ever go back to the way they were, because neither of us can unlearn/undo the feelings we had and discoveries we made about each other over the last few weeks, but we are moving in a healthy direction. We’re not bickering at all and we are both focusing on really enjoying the experiences we’re having. All in all, I’m still a bit sad things are slightly “off,” but all we have is time and the open road to determine if we can build new roots for the incredible relationship we had. And now for an update on our whereabouts!

After we left New River Gorge on Friday, May 24, we took a beautiful drive through West Virginia and down into southwestern Virginia along the Midland Trail (U.S. Highway 60 East) to 311 South. Our destination: Virginia’s Crooked Road! It’s a very windy stretch of road in southwestern Virginia that claims to be the birthplace of bluegrass (check it out at http://www.thecrookedroad.org/ ..a little known gem of Virginia). We started our bluegrass extravaganza in Floyd, Virginia…a very tiny (teensy weensy) town that packs a real bluegrass punch! We rolled into the center of town--a two block stretch that hosts a handful of restaurants, small shops, a local artist market, and the Floyd Country Store. After speaking to some locals, we were informed that the two block stretch is pretty much the extent of the town. Regardless, there was plenty to keep us busy. The Floyd Country Store, which is a historic stop on the Crooked Road (think of a small Cracker Barrel, but actually authentic!), hosts a bluegrass jamboree every Friday night. We attempted to check it out but were quickly skirted out of the store because we did not have a ticket and arrived a bit late. While the jamboree seemed pretty legit and exciting, the service in the store was less than friendly, so we opted to dine at the local Mexican restaurant next door. Worst decision ever! It was very sub-par Mexican, particularly since we were spoiled with the most delicious Mexican ever at Diogi’s in New River. I guess we should have known better than to eat Mexican while in bluegrass country! Seeing as the closest WalMart was an hour drive back in the direction we came, we were a little stuck with where to park our van and sleep that night. We spoke with a couple locals about the parking options and were told that we could pretty much park anywhere. One of the women said there was only one cop in town and when her father parked illegally, the deputy sheriff just left a handwritten note on the car asking him not to do so in the future. While I was a bit skeptical about the sheriff leaving a handwritten note on a big, sketchy van with out-of-state plates (the more likely scenario I envisioned was the van being towed while we slept in the back!), we tried our luck at a gravel parking lot in the center of town. We survived with no problems! It was our first night sleeping at a somewhat “sketchy” location and no incidents! (Sorry, no pictures of Floyd!)

On Saturday we hopped on over to the Third Annual Bluegrass & BBQ Festival at Chantilly Farm in Floyd. We had briefly read about it online a couple days before and decided to check it out. It was definitely worth the visit! Chantilly Farm is a 140 acre sprawling farm that hosts local events, weddings and campers in need of a place to crash  (we know this because we had a heart-to-heart with the owner…look for us featured in promotional materials on http://www.chantillyfarm.com/) . The festival was definitely a locals-only festival—aside from Marco and me, I think everyone was from a neighboring county. When we pulled in and asked to camp, the woman looked at our license plate and gasped “Wow, did y’all come all the way down from Massachusetts just for the festival!?” I didn’t want to completely burst her bubble, so I told her the festival was a planned stop on our cross country journey—which is somewhat true, even if we did only “plan” to stop there just a day or so before the festival. It was a day full of bluegrass and BBQ. There were tons of local food vendors, local bluegrass bands, and local cloggers (think cheerleaders during the timeouts of a basketball game…they clog dance while each band is taking time to set up the stage). And, best of all, we were joined later in the evening by our really great friends Dylan and Sarah! We were the final four people sitting in front of the stage by the end of the night! It was a really great night with great friends!

Our little Bean is parked all the way to the left! Our campsite with a beautiful view!

A local bluegrass band performing

It was a very family friendly event…the little kiddies never tired of flying kites

And, finally, the cloggers!

After Floyd, we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway (which is breathtakingly beautiful…drive it!) and attempted to check out more stops along the Crooked Road. First attempt, Galax, Virginia. Unfortunately, the town shuts down on Sundays. We drove through the center of town and absolutely every store was closed. It was an absolute ghost town. Pretty eerie! No one was out. It was very reminiscent of a movie scene after an apocalyptic event. But that was fine, after a few hours of driving and finding nothing of interest, we decided we had our fill of bluegrass and we were craving some bouldering! Fortunately, thanks to our always dutiful and faithful tour guide, Andy Salo, we learned of a great bouldering area that is actually on the Crooked Road—Grayson Highlands State Park. New Yorkers and other east coast climbers, take note: go to GHSP!! It far exceeded our expectations in every respect. 

First, the local climbing interpreter who works for GHSP and who spearheaded the development of the area, Aaron Parlier, is incredibly nice! He recently wrote a guidebook for the area, which was published this past month (check it out http://graysonhighlandsbouldering.com/new-problems/). Unfortunately, Marco and I couldn’t get our hands on one—the park had not yet received them in (huge bummer!). We spent our first day at GHSP finding the boulders based on a picture that I took on my phone of a topo of the park. It was pretty challenging! On our second day there, Marco happened to recognize Aaron from some GHSP climbing videos he watched on Mountain Project, so we chased him down when we saw him in the campground (creepy, yes, but it was in the name of climbing!). He talked to us for a bit and once he heard we were in town to boulder, he ran to his Jeep and gave us a copy of the guidebook. It was incredibly nice of him and really improved our trip! I highly recommend purchasing a guidebook before venturing to the area…though, on the other hand, it was a lot of fun to hunt for the boulders ourselves! But there are some great areas that we would not have found on our own. Check ‘em out! The bouldering is really, really top quality!

• Highlands Area (we think)! A long, but fun, hike to get there, and well worth it…even if just for the views! There are supposed to be some great highballs up here, but we struggled finding them because we didn’t have the guidebook when we went and it was difficult to tell where the problems were. Next trip!

• Contact Station Area: I really enjoyed this area. The problems are a bit soft, so it was a nice self-esteem booster for me : ) But grades aside, I really loved the moves and the flow of the problems, particularly Ranger Rick, V1-, and Periscope, V4. Who really cares about grades when the problems have super classic and fun moves. You can watch a YouTube video of Marco sending True Grit, V5, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUNHtHvc8Wk (despite being a computer programmer prior to my days as a lawyer, I can't figure out how to incorporate videos into this blog! It's too frustrating and time consuming...)

• Listening Rock Trail Area

Marco scoping out Shang-High Knight, V6. Unfortunately it was our last stop of the day so he was out of juice! 

• A.V.P. Area: This was Marco's favorite area. Unfortunately, it takes WAY too long to upload videos to YouTube, so I don't have the time/patience to upload the video of Marco sending his favorite problem, Front Man, V5 (there's only so long I can tolerate sitting in Starbucks and mooching their free internet). He scoped out the problem in advance of our trip to GHSP and said the problem definitely lived up to the hype. 

• Picnic Area: This area was my favorite! The approach to all the boulders is a 30 second stroll through a lovely little picnic area. The Picnic Block Boulders are full of really fun baby overhangs, which is perfect for a fledgling overhang climber like myself. Short and powerful little moves. Great practice for me! Check me out on Meatloaf, V2, on the Picnic Blocks here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12eNqol94Kk. The Olympus Boulder was pretty staggering in size and also had some great problems on it.

Marco and I astounded at the enormity of the Olympus Boulder!

The Rock House Boulder at the Picnic Area. We didn't have any juice left to climb on it, but it looks really fun!

Second, the campground is by far the nicest campground we have been to EVER! It was a bit on the pricey side ($21/night), but there are not many other cheap options for camping in the area. The closest WalMart is a good hour drive away in Marion, and, we’re told, it doesn’t even allow overnight parking. There are a couple other campgrounds in the area, including a nice one in Jefferson National Forest (Hurricane Campground), but they are also a bit pricey and are not as nice. It’s worth it to spend the money on the GHSP campground. The showers and bathrooms are very clean and really nice. Make reservations in advance…it fills up!

Our campsite at GHSP!

Choppin' wood for the fire!

I make fire!

Third, the temperatures are GREAT for bouldering, even during the summer heat! Because GHSP is located high in the mountains, the temps stay relatively cool. The few times we ventured out of GHSP, the surrounding towns were very hot (high-80’s), but GHSP felt cool enough to climb. It dropped down into the mid-50’s at night, which was key given that we’re sleeping in a little van. One night we stayed at Hurricane Campground in Jefferson National Forest, which is roughly 30 minutes from GHSP.  While only $16/night and an extremely scenic campground, it was much hotter at night! We went back to GHSP the following night. Cooler night temps are clutch when sleeping in a little van…avoid hot places! Even with the roof vents, it’s hard to get good air circulation in Bean when the temps are above 80 degrees.

Our campsite in Jefferson National Forest. Note the beautiful stream next to our campsite!

Breakfast by the stream

Fourth, every Tuesday night, the Amphitheater in the GHSP campground hosts a local musician jam session. It was totally the authentic, bluegrass, spur-of-the-moment jam session that Marco and I had been in search of on the Crooked Road! The musicians were really great and really friendly. Apparently they have been having Tuesday night jams for the last ten years! If you make it to GHSP, make sure to be there on a Tuesday night!

And, for those who are still not sold on the place, THEY HAVE REAL WILD PONIES ROAMING THE PARK! Yup, you heard it right…REAL PONIES! We were hiking on one of the many amazing trails they have and we just stumbled upon them. How crazy, right!? Emma Deacon, I know you’re not keen on camping, but I have a feeling you’re going to plan a trip to GHSP when you see these pictures : )

Setting out on our hike…

Ponies ahead!

He was our favorite little pony…what a sweetheart! The others pretty much ignored us.

He even posed for pictures!

If Marco were a pony...all that hair!

Marco too busy checking facebook to care about the pony. Not impressed! Note, just after I took this picture, the Fabio-look-alike pony charged right behind Marco (he missed Marco by inches!) and ran at our super sweet pony and kicked him! A full on kick with his front two legs. It was mean and sad and our sweet little pony ran away. Marco was staring at the phone the entire time and missed it. He almost experienced death-by-pony and totally missed it!

Mama & baby pony!

In addition to the ponies, we saw lots of other wildlife! Deers, turkeys, chipmunks and bunnies galore, including a tiny little baby bunny that stood roughly 3 inches tall! Sadly, we didn’t get a picture of the baby bunny.

And now for some observations on our experiences in Virginia!

• Every other mailman across the country is being short-changed…the mailmen in Virginia get actual Jeeps to deliver the mail! No dinky little mail truck. On the back of the below Jeep, there is a cut-out cardboard, handwritten sign that says “Caution. Frequent Stops. US Mail Delivery!” We were a bit skeptical at first, but then saw numerous others. We caught at least ten of these puppies in action. Very odd, but I guess the houses are so far apart and there are so many hills, the mailmen in Virginia need a delivery vehicle with some juice!

A mailman in action! Note, the flashing orange light on top. Super official.

• Overalls are NOT out of style in Virginia. About 50% of the grown men I saw were wearing overalls. And, honestly, I like them. Sorry, no pics. I didn't have the heart to snap a picture of some innocent old man lounging around in his overalls. I wouldn’t want him to feel like a zoo animal just because he’s wearing his overalls!

• We drive slow. When we were trucking it up the hills in lil’ Bean, just about every single vehicle that got behind us passed us. Even going down hill, we couldn’t seem to go fast enough to keep the locals happy. The descent from GHSP (much like every road in West Virginia and Virginia) is an extremely windy and steep road filled with sharp, unexpected turns. And yet the speed limit is 55! At about 40 mph, we were maxed out. I was pretty sure we were going to tip on some of those turns. And still, any local that got stuck behind us would cruise past us as soon as the solid yellow line turned into a dotted yellow line. I don’t know how the drivers in Virginia do it! But if you visit the Crooked Road, don’t be alarmed when EVERYONE (including grandmothers) passes you.

• We are convinced that a good portion of the Virginia population makes a living by holding yard sales. We saw about 3-5 yard sales on every stretch of road we got on.

This was the most legit, hardcore garage sale we passed. The racks of clothes in the driveway remained out for days…we passed it a handful of times and the scene always looked the same. There was pretty much a TJMaxx in this person's driveway.

• The churches are plentiful (there is certainly not a lack of churches in bluegrass country!) and surprisingly witty. We passed one that had the following saying posted in front of a giant cross: “Use son screen to avoid sin poisoning.” Get it..."son" screen and "sin" poisoning. Maybe it was the countless hours on the road, but I laughed.

Now, for those keen on Marco’s gameboy addiction, he just reported that he finally beat Donkey Kong Country! But wait, don’t get too excited. This is an exact quote from him: “Wait! What!? The credits just stopped rolling. Oh no! It fooled me. The big guy just woke up and killed me! Damn…I knew there was something else coming!” So he didn’t beat it. Oh well. At least he can still keep himself busy with Donkey Kong Country while I write to you all!

So, after a few days of bouldering at GHSP, we left behind Virginia and its Crooked Road. We got on some pretty uneventful interstates and back roads to make our way to Kentucky, where we are currently stationed. Lots of love to everyone and thanks for tuning into the blog! 

PS: For those worried, while I was in the process of posting this and uploading the pictures/videos, Marco informed me: “Okay, now I REALLY beat the game!” I guess it’s on to Tomb Raider. Wish him luck in his attempt to channel his fiercest Angelina Jolie!