Limestone!

Lander, Wyoming: free camping in City Park, amazing climbing on pocketed limestone in every direction, and infectious kindness. We climbed at two areas, Wild Iris and Sinks Canyon. Next stop: Jackson, Wyoming for some fun!

Bathing in the Platte River on our way to Lander from Laramie.

Oh yeah, did I ever mention that we do whatever we want. We can even hang upside down in the kitchen!

Unfortunately we do not have any picture of a special guy we met. We climbing with a guy named Ken, and he was so grateful to climb with us that he brought us up a full cooler of beer, a bottle of Whiskey, and homemade/grown fruit leather. Thanks Ken!

This one is for you Ken. He is the embodiment of our trip.

View from our campsite.

Wild Iris is located in the Wind River Mountain Range.

First actual climbing shot of the trip. Mmmmm, Limestone. This rock is pretty wild: there are fossils in the handholds!

We encountered the worst tangle in a rope that I have ever seen. We spent an hour working out the kinks in this 70 meter rope, and it is still twisted!

The rope malfunction sucked, but this did not. We found a natural shower underneath the cliff face. It was cold, but needed.

Vedawoo!

The first part of the trip started in Vedawoo, Wyoming. Vedawoo has been my playground for four years and it is now the starting point for a long road trip.

The first few days of the trip provided amazing climbing, but the best part of our stay in the Voo was getting to see our friends who came up to send us off. So far, we have met some incredible people such as fellow dirtbags and Rob Kelman, the author of the Vedawoo guidebook.

The living system in the car is cramped, but we are dialed. Moving in and moving out is pretty easy. The real challenges are going to be the small difficulties we encounter every day, such as bad weather, boring food, poor sleep, and injuries. We are confident and excited.

Day 1. The spread.

One of the challenges we have encountered thus far: we learned that multi-vitamins have to be taken with food, or else you will throw up. It took us two days of experimenting to pinpoint the exact problem!

George and Adam after our first day of climbing. George and I decided not to take any beers with us, so that we would start off the trip on the right foot/sober foot. We were lucky Adam came up with a cooler of beer. Note to self: beer at the end of a day of cragging tastes good.

Adam and George with the Nautilus in the background.

Day 2. Our buddy Corban came up to hang with us on our second day of climbing.

Fun colors around the Nautilus.

Day 3. Our buddy Tyson came up to climb with us on a day that was supposed to be a travel day, but we could not resist hanging with more friends. It is difficult to leave the places you love. Above: Tyson Wormis making Strawberry Jam look like it belongs on crumpets instead of your ankles.

We got rained out after one climb, but we had a great cave at out campsite to hangout in and make an early dinner.

After Tyson left, we shared our campsite with these strangers from Golden. Kate and Ryan trying to knock each other over.

Right Now!

The Dream Starts Right Now!

On my way to Vedawoo, Wyoming to begin the trip.

A good man once said, "Offwidths are good for you." It is true.

It's all going to Change

For the last 6 months I have chosen to live a somewhat normal life, living in Sweden with my family. Over the next half year, I will look back at sleeping in beds and regular showers, because I will have a life on the road.

The purpose of the trip is to climb, but with the option to do anything and everything. Throughout the past couple of months I have tried to explain what I will be doing on this trip to friends and family, and the usual reaction is excitement and confusion. Many seem to crave for an adventure experience like this, and many look back fondly on their own adventures, whether they be backpacking through Europe, moving to a foreign country, or repossessing boats in the Caribbean. While we all have obligations and commitments in life, I would like to say that anyone can live like this. I hope that the next couple of months of this blog can show that it is possible to live your dreams. I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to undergo an adventure such as this, and I thank my upbringing for allowing me to believe that I could do this.

While the adventure seems glamorous and exciting, I know that there will be times when it is not. I know that we will struggle and suffer, but it will not be fun without pain. It will take time to grow into the routine of not having a routine. The journey is about to begin, and I encourage everyone to join me, whether it be on the internet or coming by a campground for a visit and some cragging.

The rig: Chevy S10 Longbed Pickup

The truck is starting to get full. The climbing will not be as hard as living out of the back of this truck.

Turne med Mormor: So I learned how to be a firefighter

The next stop on the family tour was with my cousin Lars and his family. He and his partner Pernilla have two cute kids who know how to please. After receiving their hospitality and countless meals, Lars decided to take me to the fire station where he works.

At the station I got the full tour, plus a uniform and a fire suit to use if there were any calls throughout the night. I don't know if any American fire stations are allowed to take visitors on calls, so I thought spending the night at the station was a special treat. Unfortunately/luckily there were no calls, but I can confidently say that I am 0.5% of a firefighter!

From left to right: myself, Ida, Mamma Pernilla, and Noel. This was Ida's first time on the lawn.

Noel, making use of yard tools as weapons.

Noel, looking for his soccer ball.

Little Ida, trying to look right through me.

Watching TV with the little one. I was actually sleeping, and judging by the pillow I received to the face, Noel was not too happy with my lack of attention.

Big Brother and Little Sister.

Musical talent.

Wilma and Hjalmar. These two are the children of Anna-Carin and Jorgen. Anna-Carin is Lar's sister and my other second cousin. Anders, Anna-Carin, and Lars are the children of Birgitta and Soren.

Wilma, happy as can be.

The serious and careful Hjalmar getting ready to be chased at the park.

Ida and her mamma Pernilla. Jorgen is in the background.

This is the gymnasium at the fire house. The men here play indoor hockey until they bleed and practice their golf swing.

This is the heart of the Sandviken Firestation: the Bastu (Sauna). According to Hans, the Bastu is the heart of every Swedish fire-station.

I even got a space for my stuff.

Fire Truck 2: water and retardent.

The cockpit of number two.

No explanation needed.

Watch out. I may not know what I am doing.

"The best part about being a firefighter is the large amount of time I get to spend with my family." Lars Olmedal

Lars and Pernilla with daughter.

Turne med Mormor: So I learned how to use a crane

After uncle John's house, Mormor and I visited my second cousin Anders and his wife Carina in a city called Gävle. It was a quick visit, but we had a good time.

The visit started with a quick hello, and then Anders jumped into his lumber truck and began playing with his crane. He blocked off the whole street and then stepped out of the truck with a plastic cup. He placed it on a stone and then climbed up into the crane and began reaching for the cup. He gently picked the cup up and then place it on his mailbox.

After his stunt, he instructed me to climb up into the crane and do the same thing. After a thirty second tutorial I was ready to begin the challenging act. While shaky at first, I managed to pull myself together and pick the cup up and place it down.

So I learned how to use a crane.

The controls.

The task of picking up a plastic cup requires extreme mental control and concentration.

I got it!

Me in the booth.

Me, attempting to place a stone into a plastic cup.

The end result: Placing a cup on the narrow stone, and then placing a stone in the cup.

I was impressed by the whole process.

My teacher Anders.

This is the truck we used. It was actually stolen the week before.

We actually had a real job to do. We were going to put this gate post into the ground, but got a little carried away.

The end result of the project: So it's a little crooked, it's not that bad.