In three hours we made the best of the freezing temperatures and a little bit of sunshine. After climbing we packed up the car with some remnants of my time living in Fort Collins and got on the road!

Robin sending Moon Arete (V10) at Horsetooth Reservoir.

Our visit through Colorado was too fast. But we had a goal to be in Seattle in four weeks and still had so many stops planned along the way! Leaving the snowy Front Range we entered the Rocky Mountains.

We spent the night at the cozy Cali Cochitta B&B trying to sleep off the jet lag. Homemade biscuits and frittata made by Carrie helped us get up quickly the next day, and we drove out to the Big Bend Boulders 15 minutes away.

Warming up on Leftover Lover (V0).

We gave ourselves about 4 hours to climb. The rock was fantastic! Beautifully fine, smooth red sandstone. Big Bend is known for having stiff grades (aka sandbagged) and we couldn't help but laugh when we found the hardest V4 in the world - Circus Trick. We had a great time playing around, but as snow clouds gathered we were encouraged to start our drive to the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon in the winter is magical. The sun was shining, snow covered the forest floor, and there were hardly any other people. Off-season tourism is the best kind of tourism. We took a short hike, drove to every look out we could find and felt like we had the place to ourselves. And then we got in the car again, on our way to Las Vegas!

Red Rocks State Park is beautiful. As you crest the hill into the park, you are welcomed by a rainbow embedded in the mountains. With the brightest stripe being the bright red sand stone. We spent most of our time at the Kraft boulders, where the hikes aren't long, there are lots of problems in both my range and Robin's, and in the middle of the week it was pretty quiet.

Robin securing the final crux move on Americana Exotica (V10)

This visit was all about bouldering. Using the wonderfully put together Southern Nevada Bouldering guidebook we climbed as many classics in 4 days as we could. There is so much to explore in this area though, we need to come back.

Well the view is impressive, to say the least. Otherwise this is definitely not a destination to visit quickly. The rock is too sharp, the technique too unique, and for me, everything was too high. The first day was rough.

Beautifully sharp.

The second day, we took a rest day - a good idea for our skin and bodies. We went in search of and, after a few hours, successfully found a set of 'secret' hot springs. We also upgraded to a super comfy Airbnb with the sweetest hosts- Charles and Diego. On our third day, when we went out to the Happy boulders we were much better rested. The Happys were fun and the sun was shining- a great day for bouldering. We also randomly ran into a friend from our home gym in Utrecht; making us appreciate the smallness of the bouldering community.

What an amazingly desolate place. I can't even imagine how hopeless it must feel here in the summer when temperature reach over 120F.

We started the drive up Highway 1 in Cambria. There had been quite a bit of rain in the previous weeks and our host warned us of road closures and mud slides. But the rain clouds lifted as we started the drive north and we were so lucky to have a mostly sunny drive all the way up to Monterey.

Bixby Bridge.

The Big Sur drive is fantastic. We began the morning at a giant Elephant Seal colony at Piedras Blancas. As expected, they were loud and smelly and fat. Later, we hiked down to see one of California's only coastal waterfalls, and also found a few other unnamed trails that brought us closer to the rocky shores. On the 100 mile drive we probably stopped over 50 times - each lookout was unique and deserved a flurry of photos.

At Castle Rock we found cute sandstone egg-like boulders. It reminded us of our home bouldering in Fontainebleau, France. The weather was dry, freezing and windy- perfect bouldering conditions. We made quick work of a fewt fun classics in the area and THEN finally headed down into Santa Cruz.

Robin's first surf day in America

On the first morning, it was pouring rain. Surfer like, instead of rushing, we enjoyed a lazy morning and when the rain began to let up we set out to find Robin a surf board and a thick wetsuit. The Pacific Ocean is cold in the winter. The swell wasn't big, but good enough. And when the sun came out Robin ended up staying more than 2 hours at Pleasure Point. A 'sweet day' as he says.

Due to some misplaced luggage, when we finally reached San Francisco we didn't have much time to explore the downtown and were pretty kaput.

Golden Gate Park

Instead we used our time to walk around Golden Gate Park and eat a few delicious meals around the Sunset neighborhood. Outerlands for lunch- super tasty and cozy. A fancy date night at Aziza- a Moroccan themed dinner. And on our way out of town the most hipster of hipster breakfasts at Cibo in Sausalito: avocado+ricotta+toast = <3.

As suggested by our trusty Lonely Planet of the Western United States (yes, we had a guide book to my own country, and yes Robin was right to bring it along- it was incredibly helpful), we stopped at Humboldt Redwoods State Park and drove the 30+ miles along the Avenue of the Giants.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

We took a few quiet, calming walks between enormous trees (and definitely a few LOTR Ents). By the time we had to get back in the car we were almost too relaxed to drive.

The winter is perhaps not the best time to visit the PNW. Deterred by the high winds and cold temperatures, we have noticeably fewer photos of the Oregon and Washington coasts. Yet is was all so beautiful and well worth the slower drive along the coast.

The winter is different. There hadn't been an Orca sighting in 20 days- which is pretty normal. But we weren't deterred. We made a reservation with Jeff of Maya's Legacy Whale Watching. He wasn't optimistic about spotting Orcas, but as the weather forecast predicted sunshine he was up for a nice day out on the water.