All those who come to San Franscisco...

I haven't wrote in a long time. Here's a quick update:

When my road trip to Rifle, Ten Sleep, and Maple ended last September, I took a 13 week contract north of Denver at St. Anthony Hospital. My goals were to tackle my first travel assignment all while getting to climb in Rifle on my days off and explore other sport climbing areas of Colorado. Turns out, it got cold. REAL cold. Like by mid October, the roads to Rifle were frozen over and it was snowing in Denver. There went my outdoor climbing psyche. I just wanted to sit around, eat soup, do yoga, get in half assed sessions in at the gym, and do tons of gymnastics. All in all, I'm glad I took the job because it opened up a TON of opportunities but as for climbing, it pretty much SUCKED!

Beautiful scenery but no bueno for climbing
After Colorado, I couldn't fathom going back east to more cold weather. I had finally gotten my California nursing license (after waiting approx 5 months) in mid November and could officially begin lookin' for jobs. Northern Cali seemed most reasonable due to friends/family in the area and the high pay of contracts. I ended up with a 13 week assignment in Oakland, CA, the 4th most dangerous city in America, at a hospital that I hadn't read great reviews about.

Sutter Alta Bates Summit Campus view from my house!
After hearing these terrible reviews and signing a 13 week contract for five, 8-hr shifts per week, I figured I would be spending most of my time in Oakland training at the gym and not getting outside at all. In January, I began what I thought was going to be the assignment from hell, only to find some of the best, most welcoming nurses I have ever met. Not only did I fall in love with the hospital and staff pretty fast, I found an awesome set up for my "home." I reside in a house as close to a tree house as you can get and it is very close to my work, close enough to ride my new fold up bike everyday!

Zen in the treehouse
Since starting the assignment in January, I have been able to explore Morter Rock (local Berkeley bouldering), Humboldt (always wanted to go since I've seen Spray), the Redwoods (duh), Yosemite (double duh), Mount Tamalpais (good bouldering with amazing views), Stinson Beach (bouldering on the beach), Mickeys Beach (sport climbing ON THE BEACH), Lake Tahoe (bouldering, beautiful lakes, awesome people), Castle Rock (sandstone bouldering on the WEST coast), and Bishop (another double DUH)! So much for work getting in my way of adventure! 

Ally lookin tiny in the huge Redwoods


I have met some amazing people out here, including one person who I must find a way to bring with me on my future endeavors (Ally). She is one great human, I kinda adore her!





California is most definitely one of the most beautiful places I have EVER been. The nursing here has been amazing. The union has strict laws for nurse:patient ratios, breaks, and overtime allowance. Basically, this is the only place I have been where I feel like patients and the hospital NEED me, respect me, appreciate me, and have welcomed me with open arms. I would come back to this hospital in a heart beat!

El Capitan, Yosemite. Obv. I want to get on top :)


Bouldering at Stinson Beach, CA

Mount Tamalpais. Entire view of San Franscisco!

Happies, Bishop. Acid Wash Right
I had a great sending week in Bishop! My main goal was to climb as many classics as possible in the area, no matter the grade. My expectations of Bishop were exceeded a million times over!! I was completely blown away by the quality of the rock, the boulder problems, and, of course, the freaking bakery (Schat's). I was able to send so many classics including Atari (maybe best v6 ever?), the Gleaner, Heavenly Path, Jedi Mind Tricks, Seven Spanish Angels, Acid Wash Right, Shizam, Green Wall Center, etc! My week in Bishop was one of those epiphany trips. I realized how much I missed being out in the open and climbing every day. We had such a great 7 days in Bishop, totally soaking in the sunshine, AMAZING bouldering, beautiful scenery, and awesome people we met along the way. The stars, I forgot about the stars!!! I haven't seen that many stars since we were in Rifle! I quickly realized it was time to plan for some new adventures as I am getting a tad burnt out from training in the gym and nursing full time. 

Star shine on the Pit

Top of the Happies. Bishop, CA 

Peter Prelich on Seven Spanish Angels
Now with only 4 weeks left in my assignment (it went so fast!), Ali and I officially sat down today and wrote up a rough draft for the summer. We worked hard these past 7 months and are psyched for some down time! I'll keep you updated on the future plans! Until next time!

Location: Oakland, CA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Céüse - Warning: Bipolar Tendencies

Image
If there is any place on Earth that can break you, challenge you to your mental capacity, demand strength beyond your physical limits, and have you question your ability to keep going, it is Céüse. I have developed a special love-hate, toxic relationship with this place over the past two months. And that is exactly why I want to return. Céüse Photo Cred: Ali Alter The Céüse cliffline is located in Southern France near a village called Sigoyer, which is surrounded by rolling patchwork farmland and quaint villages.  From the cliffline, farmland and mountains for EVER. At an elevation of about 2,000 meters, the beautiful blue and gold streaked limestone cliff makes it the perfect climbing destination for summer craggin. The cliff is broken up into several sections, all which offer a wide variety of climbing from steep, jug haulin, tufa pullin/kneebarring, techy slab, vertical, traditional routes and multipitch routes! Ali and I called Les Guerins our home for 6...
Read more

"When you scared and you go in the ocean, the ocean take you."

Image
The hustle bustle of the city was getting to me. Only so many times can you cross the Bay Bridge without losing your sanity and overall faith in humanity. Tributaries of cars 8 lanes deep dump into the stream of toll booths which they so cleverly and ironically call “Fast Track.” The concrete jungle of San Franscisco creates an illusion of paradise with its fancy cars, expensive victorian homes, and lucrative job opportunities. The problem with this illusion is it’s driven by material items that have no real importance and contribute little to our mental well being. I was ready for an escape.  I stepped off the plane in Liberia, Costa Rica, sweat immediately gathered in large drops on my forehead and dripped down my face. No AC. Our redeye flight from SFO should have consisted of sleeping, but movie watching, trivia gaming, and chess playing took over our six hour flight. My eyelids felt like fine sandpaper scraping against the dry surface of my eyes from lack of sleep. T...
Read more

#YoloCoto

Image
       2021: I decided would be the year I did things I was bad at. I picked routes with foot cutting dynos, big moves, small crimps, and intense drop knees. I TRIED not to knee bar as much, I really did! I worked hard to get better at running. I attempted to obtain my Certified Emergency Nurse specialization (I suck at tests and this was one was no different. Spoiler alert: I failed the exam). I applied for a new certificate outside of my realm of ER nursing to broaden my scope of practice and open some new doors. So when the option came up to climb a 19,347 ft volcano in Ecuador to celebrate Emily and Adrian’s pre-wedding ceremony with 42 of the most impressive athletes I had grown up idolizing, now was certainly not the time to say "no." (#Yolocoto) Gorgeous pink alpenglow on Cotopaxi the night before our ascent     Brooks, Katy, Ciara, Naomi, and I did our first test hike on Mount Sopris in Carbondale, CO at the end of September. I knew we ha...
Read more