Only a week left until we leave for S.A. It's kinda crazy to think that I'm going to be in AFRICA. I'm so excited to see what it's like.

Yesterday was another day in Rifle. I got on a route called Pump-o-Rama and tried to do it without the kneebar. (I've been kinda anti-kneebar for some reason. Guess I like to make things difficult for myself.) Anyway, I finally came to the conclusion that the kneebar was definitely mandatory and broke down and wore not one, but two knee pads. It was ridiculous. Lisa showed up late in the day to see me start up the route all knee-padded out and proceeded to make fun of me for such shenanigans the entire time I was climbing. Today I have bruises and raspberries on both knees in spite of the protective wear. Ah well. I've officially crossed over to the 'dark side.' Pretty soon I'll own my own knee pads.

On another note, some tourists showed up during the day with the usual bevy of entertaining questions. They were very nice and very curious. Some comments were:
"Those shoes don't look like they should fit on your feet."
"Well no wonder. Those are some UGLY feet you've got!"
"So, does your body look that good because you climb, or do you climb because your body looks that good?"

Always a good time...