Wednesday evening Ngoc and I attended Alfred and Susan's civil ceremony at San Francisco City Hall. Ngoc was even one of their two witnesses! Along with the four of us, Nicola, Allison, and Jason were along for the awesome experience and the delicious fare at Boulevard.

I can count more than one time that I was near tears here. The setting was beautiful, and although the civil ceremony might only be the prologue to the huge reception in So Cal next weekend, I thought it was spectacular nonetheless.

Here are a very select few pictures I took from the gathering. I hope you enjoy...

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and finally, here are some of mine and Ngoc's own pictures from Bishop. I was thwarted on my attempts at the Gleaner on day one, as seen below, but managed a couple fun sends up at the buttermilks over the next couple days, including the Iron Man Traverse.

Shawn bouldered w/ us on Saturday morning, as I previously mentioned. In addition to being a great photographer and boulder, Shawn is also not a small guy. That's why I was amazed to see him cruise the Iron Man Traverse as if he was lighter than a twig. All this after being off the rock for a few months due to an ankle injury. enjoy.

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last weekend Ngoc and I hopped the Sierras over to the east side to our favorite home away from home, Bishop, CA. While there, we bouldered at the happies and the buttermilks, pigged out on the brownie monster, and met our super cool wedding photographer, Shawn Reeder.

Saturday morning, we met up w/ Shawn circa 6:15 for a photo and bouldering session at the Buttermilks. For those of you who know Ngoc and I reeeeally well, you're familiar with our general satisfaction with the Happy and Sad boulders, and (until now) ignorance of Buttermilk country. Thanks to this past weekend, that is all about to change. Our Saturday morning session with Shawn made us both realize how much we've been missing out these past few years, and we left the east side with starry-eyed promises to get back to the Buttermilks as quickly as possible.

The photos Shawn took were immaculate, and I was surprised to hear that he had never done a similar photo session with wedding clients at the Buttermilks before. Here are some great examples for your enjoyment:

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So for the few of you who may have noticed, my apologies for not keeping on top of this whole blog thing lately. technical difficulties? not exactly... Ngoc and I have been busy traveling the globe and whoopin' it up, straight old school. last weekend we were in fabulously delicious Las Vegas visiting Ngoc's brother and his wife, Tuong and Hanh.

I'll give you the tour in a second, but first, deserving honorable mention was Tuong's amazing winning streak at TI on night 3, where he turned $100 into over $500 with his trademark siege-style gambling tactics.


We landed circa 8:30 and were treated to a fabulous dinner at Hyakumi in Caesar's. Then, we hopped the freeway over to the Rio and up to the 51st floor to Voodoo Lounge, above. Fab views of the strip, and interesting cocktails, including their "Witch's Brew", which bubbles CO2 from something like a quart drinking glass.


As if we didn't get enough views of the strip, on day 2, after an afternoon of walking the strip and wearing our knees out, we rode up to the top of the Stratosphere tower, above, and chillaxed in their lounge with yet another view of Las Vegas Blvd. very relaxing. due in part to our 3 hours of sleep the prior evening...


On day 3, we took a break from Vegas proper and rented a crashpad for a trip to Red Springs in Red Rock. Great weather, and unique scenery! Ngoc nailed her first v4, an awkward sit start number with a perilous finish, and I stuck my first v6, an overhung sidepull-undercling to an incut at the lip via enormous dyno. I'm not going to go around bragging about being a v6 climber, seeing as this problem was so unorthodox...but hey, the book says six. 'nuff said.

Here are some more misc. pics from our last evening and with the family (to be).




see above for a shot of the witch's brew

On Sunday, we made our way over to Turtle Rock in Corte Madera to take advantage of the beautiful weather. "We" were myself, Ngoc, Fogel, Ben, JFire, and Moddie. Between the sandwiches from Twin Cities deli, the dry conditions on the rock itself, and the wonderful views of the bay (see below), I'd say the day was a complete success.

We also picked up a bouldering guide to the bay area with our REI dividends Sunday morning. Check back for all the summer bouldering antics to follow.

Click on any of the pictures for more juicy snapshots.