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In Charleston I advised you.... So you want an adventurous Fun Filled Adrenaline Rushing Vacation!!! Go some place Else!!!!  WELL >>> THIS IS IT (ok, it's one place).

So you went Skiing in Vail, well, goodie for you! I went Rock Climbing and White Water Rafting.  What a rush.

First...Rock Climbing.  Well, there's a ton of places to go in Vail, but they are unmarked and there are NO guide books.  Guess the guides who charge up to 500 bucks or more for a few hours trip want to keep the secret.  Well, the secrets out.  From Vail, go towards Redcliff...Just down the road pass the bridge (about 1 mile, there's a road stop on the right...To the left is a little, I mean Little, dirt path.  Climb the path to a great place to climb.  Or right pass the Red Cliff Bridge swing a right and go down the dirt path to the left towards the railroad tracks.  There Park, and hike to your left, keep an eye peeled on the right and left at the rocks, you'll find quite a number of sport climbing opportunities.  None are Marked so use your best judgment, there's plenty of 5-8's and lots of 9's and 10's!  

Second, White Water Rafting.  OK, it's not a river, more of a rapid stream, but there is at least one class 5 drop and plenty of 4's and 3's to keep you paddling.  Call the Lakoda guides up and get the day trip on the Arkansas river!  You'll have a blast.  It was 4 hours and 14 miles of heart pounding fun!  Cost was 111 dollars included, lunch, all the gear and the guide "What a Deal"!

Lots of resort places to eat, charging oodles of money for a burger and fries with blue cheese, cilantro and watercress... What about just a burger???  Head to one of the outlying towns, like Midturn for great food at a great price.

HIND LEG SALUTE TIME TO UNITED AIRLINES!!! Why is Grilldog giving United Airlines the dreaded Hind Leg Salute, well....  As I was leaving Denver on and checked my American Tourister bag (retail value $200) I didn't realize that it was going to have an adventure too.  After leaving my sight, the bag was scanned and the people in the back saw all of Grilldog's Rock Climbing Gear (lot's of metal shines up on those x-ray machines).  Some bastard then smashed the lock and stole several Carabiners and a couple Quickdraws, then ran over the bag a few times to make it look like the items could have been lost!  Well, United refused to admit that the items were stolen and insist that they simply fell out...  OK, so you judge here is what a Carabiner looks like and what it does...

#1 Note the loop there on the belt,  #2 is the Carabiner #3 is the Belay device and #4 is the looped rope. Now #3 the Belay device is attached to the harness #1 the loop by the #2 Carabiner.  Now this setup can hold hundreds of pounds of human weight so that I don't fall and bust my head open.  You have to physically (a child can't do this) twist and unscrew the Carabiner for the Belay device or Belt to be removed.  It doesn't Fall off! It's specifically engineered not to Fall off.  Yet, when I packed my equipment, the Belay device was attached to my harness via the Carabiner and when I unpacked the Belay device was separate from the belt and the Carabiner was missing.  Now United Airlines feels that it (against all engineering logic) just fell off when the bag was crushed, without, mind you, breaking the belt or belay device. Plus, another Carabiner was locked onto the #4 looped rope, that Carabiner was missing too and the rope was intact.  Only by physically twisting and pulling could the Carabiner be removed from the rope.

 Therefore, Hind Leg Salute to you and the crooked piece of crap person in the United Airlines Terminal who's a stink'n thief!

Grilldog Rules!!!

And that's the Grilldog Report for my Stay in Vail, Colorado.  Now it's back to San Diego!