What a trip!
Heading back in time to Thursday. I worked late, had to pick up David from the airport. So I came in at noon and worked til 9:30. Apparently Matt has been leaving early by an hour or two each day. So I was pretty pissed about that and his general lack of ability to keep notes, etc. So I was going to write him up. Then his car got hit by a fork lift and he was throwing very bad language around at Andy and other GLC people. Which is just unacceptable. He and I had some words. Apparently I made him cry.
Went over to the airport and picked up David… I was so happy to see him! He was so cute and he was so excited to be in LA! It was great. I didn’t know if I should hug him or not at the airport, so I didn’t. Just hello and off to the car. We stopped at In N Out for dinner and chatted there.
Drove about 2 hours north to Ridgecrest area. I wanted to sleep at Robbers Roost, but I couldn’t find the entry to it. So we just pulled off the side of the road and went to bed. The drive up there we chatted pretty much the whole way. It was really great to talk to him again. I could already feel the weight on my heart.
Got up early Friday morning and drove north. Got to Bishop around 10 and ate a quick brunch at Schatts then drove to Mammoth to meet up with Connor. Found him at the camp site. The site was amazing and so pretty!
The three of us drove up to the climbing area and found an area with a bunch of 5.7-9’s that were all four or five star climbs. Did all those and decided that would be the perfect place to bring everyone the next morning.
Once we were done with that we had about 2 hours before dinner so we went off to the hot tubs. Got a little lost trying to find them so ended up with only about an hour before dinner. Found a tub that had 4 guys in it, three of them were just getting out so we stopped. The guy that was left, gave us one of the best stories of the trip..
He was a crazy local… I’ll let Connor explain:
As Friday drew to a close, and since the three of us constituted “the group†thus far, we decided that visiting one of the hot spring tubs would be an excellent pre-dinner activity. So we headed out and checked in, via text of course, on all of the converging Bottoms and Flashers. Dinner was to be at 7:30 in Mammoth Lakes. Now 6:30, we were racing to squeeze in our hot dip. We arrived at one of the tubs in a grassy field a few miles from the Mammoth Airport. There were 4 men in the tub, and 3 were getting out. So we jumped in and started chatting with the one remaining man. He had long hair, and wore a old cowboy hat. He identified as a “local†although he also said that his camper was just over the hill.
The scene couldn’t have been more picturesque: there were a few large bull wondering around in the amber fields as the orange sunlight beaming down on the vast landscape was cut in half by the towering mountains to the west.
The local started to tell us about how he was camping on an indian burial ground. He knew this because he had spent the day digging a hole for his second-hand recliner to nestle. And he told us about his “friends†that put on a show for him after kicking back in said recliner. One was black, one was white, and all the women were “hussiesâ€. The black one and the white one got in fights often, but the white one always seemed to win. “The white won had all the power, naturally,†he said. We all shot a look at each other as if to say, “We’re not in the city anymore.†The local saw this non-verbal communication and qualified his statement, “I’m talking about cows, of course.†We all laughed.
When asked what the local does for work, he rambled off about “unlimited funds†and “giving back to the world.†Which I think meant not much more than, “I have a nice truck, possibly because I won the lottery†and “I sit in this hot tub and act like a crazy hippie.†He then insisted us on “showing us†by taking us on a spiritual journey that was supposed to help us live in the moment. It was so silent that for the first time that I began to hear the Enya-like music coming from his truck, as if on cue. Chris and David looked scared, and I decided to provoke the hippie by reaching out and grabbing his extended hand. He told us all to “reach in, close your eyes, and feel your ass.†I think Chris was about to reach for his because, the hippie qualified, “feel your ass against the tub… your legs warmed by the water… etc etc.†It was actually quite fun to think about all of the things he listed from the wind that seemed to gust almost at his will, and the sunlight on our faces. But at the same time, we all knew this guy was crazy and we had to get to dinner. So I told him we had to leave and asked him his name. “I have many.†So I asked for his favorite. “Spirit wind†he replied. I almost cried trying not to laugh.
We got some awesome laughs after that… Headed into dinner and the rest of the crew showed up. Great times!
Got up Friday morning and again hit up Area 13, climbing, etc. Lots of awesome laughs, fun times, and what not. The climbing was pretty typical, the story here is David…
The whole weekend he spent so much time around me, so much time talking to me, we bonded, told stories, joked, spent something like 20 hours together of JUST HIM AND ME without any other group around. And even WHEN the group was around he spent most of his time just around me hanging out. The last night around the camp fire he kept standing RIGHT next to me, arms almost touching, etc. Yet he doesn’t want anything, he’s “taking a break from men”. UGH. I had such an amazing time with him this past weekend, so happy when he was around and it felt so great.
I just don’t get why he doesn’t want anything! I even met some of his family this weekend, which was AWK! I just wanted to hold him, cuddle with him at night, walk up behind him and put my arms around him. On the drive back, I just wanted to reach over and hold his hand. He’s such an amazing person. So smart, so cute, so funny.
I know a lot of other people don’t really see that side of him, he is very shy, but once you get to know him, he’s a great guy.
I also don’t get why he’s still not completely out to his family. His parents know he said they were ok with it. But example his family here in Cali, he wasn’t out to them. They LIVE IN BURBANK! It’s a pretty GAY area. I’m sure they’d be fine with it. He also wouldn’t go into why he’s not out which was annoying.
Also apparently he’d been “sort of dating this guy jesse” in dallas. But apparently that guy has some one else now. So WTF.
It just drives me nuts.
I can’t wait for John to get back so that I can get my mind off David. John at least SHOWS that he has an interest in me. I just wish he were STAYING back instead of just visiting for a month!
Check out the HC blog for more from Connor on the trip.