Mountain madness

I was going to blog about my burn blister (caused by polenta-splashage while cooking and it could have been worse if not for the quick thinking of Florida Girl who said, "Put a lid on it!"), but Rocky said no, no, no, and veto'd my idea of posting a picture of said blister. So you can all thank Rocky for that non-post and non-picture.

Instead, I shall talk about making my current mountain obsession come to life. I've missed the Great Outdoors since moving down to Very Red State, and in December, I had a little taste of it when we did the Great Road Trip and I found a small trail to hike on. So I did some digging around and I found a rock climbing and camping trip that takes place in a couple of weeks. I was nervous about signing up, because, y'know, it's about DANGLING OFF THE SIDE OF A CLIFF, and it meant traveling miles and miles and spending time with people I didn't know. I'd almost talked a friend into coming with me, but he'd just come back from a ski trip and didn't want to do two trips in a row like that.

But I couldn't get the trip out of my mind. I was scared because it was trying something I'd never done before, potentially life-threatening and/or pelvic-smashing type activities. I wouldn't know anyone on the trip, so very possibly I could go an entire 72-hour period without speaking to anyone*. Finally I thought, "So what if no one I knows is going to be there? It's something I want to do." So I picked up the phone, my thumb caressing the raised numbers on my credit card and before I could back out, I bought myself a spot on the trip.

My excitement hasn't died down since. I can't stop talking about it, and anytime someone asks me what's new, I launch into this breathless soliquoy about the rock climbing trip and by the time I'm done, I bet they're sorry they even asked. I'm confident, injuries and all, that I'll still be able to make a good attempt at this rock. It's a new experience to have, something more to talk about than, "Yeah, still at the same job, yup, still living in the same place, nope, not really seeing anyone" conversations I seem to be having a lot lately.

Already, I have my eye on a trip this group is doing next year in semi-Red State -- a four-day hiking trip that involves a REAL LIFE BASE CAMP. And for people who know about my Mt. Everest obsession, they know that my dream is to go hang out at the Everest base camp for a few days**. It's not the same thing, but heck, I've never camped on top of mountain before, so that seems really, really cool to me, especially the part where it says "Breakfast, summit attempt" -- as if the summit isn't a foregone conclusion.

I'm making my own excitement and I like the way that feels. I'm not going to ask for company anymore to do things, and I'm not going to wait for someone to ask me. I'm just going to do it.

*And this is where RL people say, "Nah, that would never happen."
** Seriously. Just base camp. No higher than that.