Vacations are Short
I’m always surprised to discover I’m on my last day of vacation. Whether it’s a long weekend or a two-week trip it seems to rush to an end before you know what’s happening. Thus, I find myself at 10am on a Sunday in SFO waiting for a plane. Boo.
On Tuesday afternoon Katy’s sister, Agnieszka, took us indoor climbing! Very cool. She belongs to a climbing gym where, for a monthly fee, she gets access to this incredible, indoor climbing facility (see pic below - of course it didn’t occur to me to take a picture until we’d finished climbing…).
The gym is in a gigantic converted warehouse. It’s one huge room with 50-foot ceilings (at least) filled with simulated rock climbing surfaces. The climbing wall’s surface is some sort of hard, concrete-like material covered with hundreds of artificial rock hand/footholds. In rock climbing, the climbing surface (or mountain) is rated on a standardized scale that indicates the level of difficulty–the lower the number, the easier the climb. The difficulty is assessed primarily on the types and frequency of hand and footholds available (I think). So, an “easier” climb has big, regular handhold and ledges. A more difficult climb may have smaller, more irregular holds. In the gym, each wall has a multiple assent paths marked with different colors. Each colored path has a different difficulty rating. So, when you climb you’re supposed to stick to one color (even if you could reach a hold of a different color) in order to maintain the same level of difficulty all the way to the top.
Katy and I did 5.4 rated climb. (I’m not sure how low the scale goes, but I have a feeling this is near the bottom.) It was fun but more challenging than you might expect. On my first attempt I only made it about ¾ of the way up before my arms literally stopped working. (Then again, I’m horribly out of shape.) I made it to the top on my third attempt, but even then I had to stop and rest—hanging off the wall and supported by the belay—so I really never made it without assistance. It was a lot of fun, though. If I had access to a climbing gym I’d join.
Agnieszka also took us on extended tour of Oakland. If we ever move to the Bay Area we now have the scoop on affordable housing. You can get some nice one-bedroom apartments for around $1,00 a month. (Unheard of in Manhattan.).
The middle of my vacation was interrupted by work. I spent at least a day and half doing un-fun work-related tasks. Blah.
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It’s now almost 2:00pm PST. We boarded our 11:30am flight and then sat at the gate for a few hours. “Mechanical difficulties.” We finally got off the plane, now we’re scheduled to leave at around 3:30pm getting to NYC around midnight. Crap…
We had another Witkowski pool party yesterday afternoon. I made my Mom’s famous Potato Salad and Pudding Cake. I think both were a hit.
Here’s the recipe for the Pudding Cake. It’s *super* easy. It takes like 15 minutes to make. Plus no baking.
Momparker’s Pudding Cake
- 2 small boxes instant French Vanilla pudding
- 1 8oz. container of cool whip
- 3 cups milk
- 1 box chocolate graham crackers (Must be chocolate!)
- 1 can of milk chocolate frosting
- Pour both boxes of pudding mix into a large bowl and add th 3cps. of milk
- Beat mix with whisk until stiff
- Fold in Cool Whip until all is well combined with pudding
- Line the bottom of 9”X13” cake pan or casserole dish (glass or metal) with a layer of crackers
- Pour half of the pudding mixture over crackers.
- Add another layer of crackers
- Pour remainder of mix on crackers
- Top with layer of crackers
- Frost liberally (Tip: Put frosting in microwave for *only* about 5-10 seconds to soften slightly for easier spreading.)
- Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight
Yum, yum, yum.
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Home safe and sound at 1am EST. Long Day.