#19 Rock Climbing Wall - or - I love my office

Hooray for my job helping me reach goals! Item number 19 on my list, to go to a rock climbing gym, was achieved during work on Friday 11/22/2013! We had our Fall Event day, where we closed the office and had a team building day up in Portland/Beaverton. It was awesome!

We started out the morning at Portland Rock Gym, I made it tot he top of the wall twice and part way up a few times. Right before our time there was up, I made a 3rd attempt at this part of the wall that I really wanted to get but halfway up all the holds seem to disappear and evade me. So on my 3rd try, I got 3/4 of the way up and slipped. The guy belaying me told me to take a second to rest (while hanging there) and then try again. So I did and I pumped myself up that I didn't have too much farther to go and I did it, legs and arms shaking, made it to the top! I was feeling good and he complimented me when I got down, "good job pushing yourself!" That was a great compliment :)

Met at the top! 3rd try after slipping, I made it!

That was invigorating and now I want to try to go more. There is a local gym, the Salvation Army Kroc Center (designed by my office) in NE Salem that has a rock wall and they have day passes (and gym memberships). So I can go during some of the open climb hours and check it out. I don't know if they have climbing shoes for rent though, I'll want to look into that. They do have the harnesses so if I go a couple times it would probably be worth picking up some climbing shoes.

I had a good time, it's really more about leg strength (unless you are pulling yourself up and around a cliff like wall) and your hands and forearms help keep you against the wall. I'm not nearly as sore as I thought I would be. Other than the spot on my knee where I banged into one of the holds and now have a bruise that my puppy seems to like to bump into :P I had to take my glasses off because the rope kept getting in the way, luckily I can see well enough right around me so for rock climbing it worked out :)

After rock climbing we went to Base Camp Brewing where they have, bump ba-da-DA! S'mores Stout! Omg it was sooo good. I loved the look of the brewery. There were carribeaners all over the place, table tops with topomaps under the glass and slabs of trees for tabletops (as seen in the photo below).

After lunch, where we were also joined by a past coworker we all miss who moved to a job in Portland a few months ago after having a new baby, we went out to Big Al's in Beaverton. It was surreal driving around the back road I used to take to go to high school and now there is this big mall/development that wasn't there before! To top it off, they were playing some 90's playlist with Collective Soul, Goo Goo Dolls and other music from high school! It was a good time, I'm terrible at bowling though. It was a good time!

I napped on the way home in the charter bus, then went home, dinnered and played with the puppy, then my friend Laura came over and we made rice crispy treats from scratch (as in, homemade marshmallows!). They turned out GIGANTIC and quite tasty! Might need to make/serve these for the farmer's market next summer :)

The photo is a little deceiving, they are almost 3 inches tall!