As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.

Joshua Tree - Originally Published January 2010

July 3, 2018

First, follow this link and listen to this song. Did you do it? Good. Now you’re in the right frame of mind for Joshua Tree. Joshua Tree is a national park that can best be described as other-worldly.

When we first arrived, we sat and watched some of these guys climb with a few thousand dollars worth of equipment from REI.

Then this guy showed up. All he has is a bag of chalk. He free climbed that wall with no hesitation.

This park allows the opportunity to break away from the crowds and find some solitude. It’s hard not to reflect on life when climbing among the boulders in Joshua Tree.