Grayson Highlands State Park - No Bouldering!

We were not initially planning to go to Grayson Highlands State Park but were not too far so we decided to go check it out. The park is not open during the winter and as you can see in the photos below there was a bit too much snow on the ground to do some climbing.

None Shall Pass!!

But the detour was not a loss! We were driving back when we saw something we could not resist, big fluffy great great pyrenees!

The puppies were only 5 months old and they are already huge!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww~~~!

The nice lady who owned the dogs let us pet the puppies! If the lady was willing to part with any of them we were ready to make room in the car to take one of them home with us! Even without any bouldering this detour was so worth it! It just goes to show that sometimes the unplanned portion of your trip can be just as awesome as your planned portion.

Waffle House!

On my cross country I have passed by many Waffle Houses but I never felt the need to stop by one. But since Jennifer had fond memories of the walnut waffles we decided to make a stop.

The waffles were o.k. but I think the more interesting dish is the one in the back. Can you guess what it is? It's hash browns! Well... it's hash brown with some additional toppings. Listed below are toppings you can get.

• SMOTHERED –ONIONS
• COVERED –American CHEESE
• CHUNKED –Hickory Smoked
• DICED –TOMATOES
• PEPPERED –Jalapeño PEPPERS
• CAPPED –MUSHROOMS
• TOPPED –Bert's CHILI
• “ALL THE WAY” - Everything

Needless to say I got an "All the way". It was kinda tasty in a greasy diner kind of way. I don't recommend you make a stop at waffle house just for it but if you happen to be at a waffle house and am on a unhealthy kick give it a try :o)

Fort Sanders Yacht Club! - Knoxville.

Since I have more time in Knoxville than I originally planned I was doing a fair amount of walking trying to find cool places to go. I accidentally passed by this small brick building that had a classy white lettering stenciled on it's window "Fort Sanders Yacht Club"

I would have just passed by it without thinking much about it but then I saw the most peculiar thing in the club, an arcade machine... I took a closer look and learned that this "Yacht Club" was actually an arcade bar!

Awesome random discovery! Sweet! The bartender told me that the bar's name was a spoof off of another bar that was the diveist, dirtiest bar that had a funny a sophisticated name like "Fort Sanders Country Club". Apparently the bar sometimes gets calls from people looking to join the sophisticated boating community, lol.
The beer selection is pretty good and the arcades cost only a quarter. If you want you can play NES or SNES for free! Let's not forget about the free wi-fi! Apparently Monday is the most fun to visit when they have guest bartenders and Tuesdays are good for $2 Tuesday for certain beers. It's a fun place to waste some time and drink some beer. If you have a lot of time and want to waste some time this is an excellent place to do it :o)

Tomato Head - Knoxville

If you are looking for a healthier meal in Knoxville the place to to go is Tomato Head.

Tomato Head!

Jennifer!

I visited Tomato Head 3 times during my 1 week+ stay in Knoxville and here are few things you need to know about Tomato Head:

1. A small sandwich is very very small... I would say it's barely big enough for a snack...
2. The burrito is not the most delicious thing on the menu but it is probably the most filling.
3. Almost every ingredient is divided into 3 groups. Any ingredient on the group can be substituted for another in the same group or lower for no additional cost. For example if your sandwich comes with fresh spinach, which is in group 1, you can substitute it with fresh mushrooms which are also in group 1 for no additional cost. If you wanted to substitute the spinach for a group 2 item like Artichoke Hearts there will be an additional cost.
4. My favorite item on the menu was Oh Boy sandwich! Thanks Danny for the recommendation!

Me and the Oh Boy sandwich!

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Knoxville

Right before I hurt my back my friend Jennifer decided to join me for part of my cross country trip! The original plan was that I would hit up Rocktown Georgia and I would pick her up from the Knoxville Airport a week later. Now with a busted back I needed to find another way to keep myself busy for a week. With not much I can do physically I decided to head out to Knoxville and spend a full week there. I have to give special thanks to Klinton for hosting me for a full week! Thanks to Klinton and his friend Danny I had a fun time in Knoxville!

Lupi's Pizza! - Chattanooga

If you want some delicious food in Chattanooga you should definitely checkout Lupi's!

I don't think you can really go wrong with anything you order here but there are somethings you want to know before you head out to Lupi's.

• If you are hungry the calzone is the way to go! As you can see in the photos below they are pretty big!
• After the 4th topping additional toppings are free!
• The line can move pretty slow so be prepared to wait for a while. 
• The beer selection is pretty decent so have a cold one!

 Mmmm~ Calzone!

LRC Doh!

After the awesome day of climbing I was super psyched on climbing again at LRC! We decided to warm up near the Mystery Machine Boulders.
For my first climb of the day I decided to climb a slightly tall problem called the Incredarete V0. I thought this would be a fun easy warm up.
The starting moves seemed a bit tricky but I got through them and kept on going up. Towards the top I was planning on moving to the right instead of staying left and that's when it happened. My foot slipped, my hand popped out and I went falling. It was so unexpected that I didn't have any time to think.
Next thing I know I missed the pad by a foot and landed on the ground on my butt with my spine straight up. I felt a shock all through my lower back.
I did have a spotter for most of the climb but he decided to move away once I got higher because he thought I was already up. I did have a crash pad but the way I fell made me miss it by a foot, and because of the way I fell my lower back took all the force of the fall...
I was in pretty bad pain and needless to say my day was shot. I could walk but it hurt to twist my body at all.
This was the first time I took a fall that bad and I grew very concerned. I decided to go to a nearby hospital to get it checked. Fortunately nothing was broken and I just needed to rest it but the whole experience gave me a fright.
We all know going into bouldering that it can be a dangerous sport but sometimes life likes to give you little reminders. I was lucky to not have bigger injuries. So what did I learn from this experience?

1. Never stop spotting somebody till they are fully up and over and they can verbally confirm that they are o.k.
2. It's probably a good idea to not warm up on highball problems especially as your first climb if you have never climbed it before.
3. If the weather is cold make sure the rubber on your shoe is warm. When you climb with cold shoes they might not have the same amount of friction that you are used to. A good way to do this is to keep them inside your jacket to warm them up.
4. Never underestimate any climb. Even if a climb is rated far below your skill level a fall from 15 feet up hurts just the same.