Farewell SE Climbing tour, and Farewell St. Louis!

Dave came back to St. Louis for about 2.5 weeks in March. This was a fun, yet busy trip. Though there was much that needed to be done, we first packed up and headed out for a Farewell Southeast Climbing tour. Our hope was to go to Seneca Rocks, the New River Gorge, the Red River Gorge, parts of North Carolina and Tennessee. The weather had a completely different idea regarding our itinerary as it was snowing in many of those locales. So, we pointed the car southeast into Tennessee and hoped for the best.

Our first stop was Foster Falls outside of Chattanooga. Minutes into the trip, Dave wrecked his knee. The trip was then reconceptualized as the Southeast Eating tour. This was posted as a trip report on www.supertopo.com (a climbing website). It's quite a funny trip report so I encourage you to check it out. Go to: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=571680&msg=571719#msg571719



When we returned from this trip, we had A LOT to do. The entire house needed to be packed, most of my belongings needed to be sold or given away, and we had only a few days to do it. Luckily, we are both very organized and we got it done. Before all that no-fun stuff, we had a party so some of my STL friends could meet Dave. It was quite a good time!




Most of the attendees were from the office. They partied in the kitchen, they partied on the back porch, and they partied in the dining room. Others came too - some climbing friends - Kelly and Cam showed up for the duration. And my sweet neighbors John and Evie Merrill were there. Of course, they showed up with delicious goodies. They will be one of the most missed parts of St. Louis for sure.




After the fun, we had some serious work to do. Plants, furniture, home goods needed to go, and go fast. Pictures needed to be packed, as well as the items that made the cut to go to Boulder.




Not only did the house need to be dealt with and packed, my office did too. So many books, so much weight. Ack! Much was tossed, much was donated and much was boxed up (13 book boxes) and taken home for the movers. I spent the rest of the semester in an empty, echoing office. It was disturbing.





In the end, the house and the office were packed and cleaned. The movers came, and the house too was an echo chamber. I had grown used to the sounds of an older house, but with the new echos, every noise sounded like a monster emerging from the basement. The evidence was clear, I really was leaving STL and UMSL. Everyone wondered if I was getting scared or anxious. I wasn't. In fact, it was a great relief to be rid of so much stuff, so much responsibility and so much worry. Life really is too short to work all the time.

Bye bye St. Louis house!

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