Then we made the mistake of going to real rock.

We started on easy routes. Heck, barely even climbing. It was a lot harder than grabbing brightly colored, plastic hand holds. We had to actually figure out where to put our hands and feet. We had to look out for moss and loose rock and spiders and ... nature. So gross. So much fun.

So, which is better? Dunno. Real rock is more fun for us. I think we'll stick to it.

And if you want to give it a try, too, check out this guide to climbing in Washington. We got it courtesy of the publisher, but it's worth buying. Especially if you buy it from Amazon via this link. That way we'll get a cut.