In January, the time had finally come for Chelsea and I to quit our respective jobs and set out for a few months of climbing and adventure. Sticking to my usual strategy of procrastination, I chose to wait until a week before departure to really crack down on getting the van completed. As the days until our departure ticked away, I checked things off of my to do list and the van began to look less like an unwelcoming metal box and more like a cozy home. I was still completing little projects up until the moment we left, but the van was deemed worthy for our 10 day trail trip. We planned to head to Bishop, readjust to road life, and see what things in the van needed tweaking. Then we would head back to the Bay Area/Auburn so Chelsea could attend a bridal shower and so I could take a trip to New York with my boyfriend, Arsalan and then celebrate my birthday with family. Any additional work would be done on the van and then we would hit the road again for a couple months in the sandstone paradises of Red Rocks, Moe's Valley, Joe's Valley, and possibly Indian Creek.
We made a quick stop at my brother, Mike's, house in San Luis Obispo where we installed our solar panels and interior lighting. We chose to mount two Goal Zero Boulder 30 solar panels to the roof and hook them up to a Goal Zero Yeti 400 generator. The panels collect energy from the sun and charge the generator, which can then be used to power and charge computers, phones, lights and cameras. The installation went smoothly and the following day we arrived in Bishop.
Two of our friends, Danny and Giuliana had moved to Bishop for the winter season and we met up with them in the Happies. It was great to get our skin warmed up on the rock and we saw some exciting flashes of Rene, V5, and Highbrow, V7 by Danny. We were treated to a delicious dinner cooked by Jules and then it was time to spend the night in the van. The four of us (me, Chelsea, Titan and Star) got situated and had a nice cozy night. 
The next week and a half was filled with lots of climbing. We went to the Gorge, the Pollengrains, the Buttermilks, Pocketopia, and the Sads. The temperatures were unusually high, which made our motivation to try hard a little lacking. We did enjoy soaking up the sun, lazy as it made us. Our rest days were filled with exploratory hikes that led us to great views and interesting rock formations. It felt good to try a bunch of new climbs, and to visit a few old projects. I was really psyched to send Perfectly Chicken, a V5 that had shut me down on a previous trip. Chelsea sent Green Wall Essential, a nemesis climb that she had fallen from years previous and hurt her ankle. It was great for her to conquer the climb this time. During a holiday weekend, we ventured north to check out a new-to-us area, Pocketopia, and had a great time pulling on sharp pockets and avoiding the crowds. We also experienced our coldest night there, during which all the water in the van froze. 
All in all, the van performed great. We made a list of little things that needed to be done, and supplies that could be useful to have. Towards the end of the trip we met Kevin, a fellow Sprinter-dweller who was also headed to Red Rocks in February. We made plans to meet up in Nevada, checked out each other's vans, and lamented the task of driving the washboard roads to the Buttermilks and the Tablelands, an experience akin to being inside a box with all your belongings and having that box be bounced down a flight of stairs.
Bishop is a fabulous place, filled with world class climbing. It had been a few seasons since we had been there last, due to living out of state, and it was wonderful to be back. We left with raw skin, lots of new projects, and a sense of excitement for the next leg of our trip.
Adventure on. LP
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