Be Brave And Zipline

Two years ago the boys took me ziplining for my birthday.  You will notice that my husband isn't in any of the pictures.  He conveniently had to "work" that day, even though he did the scheduling.  You will also never find him on an amusement park ride, ferris wheel or skydiving.  Just saying.

I had always wanted to try ziplining.  We planned to go the last time we were in Hawaii, but T didn't weigh enough.  Recently, a local family opened a zipline course on a retired farm about thirty minutes north of our house, and the boys asked if they could take me.  Hubby was all for it, especially since he had to "work".

After a long and tedious, but necessary safety discussion, we piled into an old jeep and were on our way up the hill to the beginning of the course. The first platform wasn't too high off the ground, but they got substantially higher as we traversed the six ziplines.  I'm not exactly afraid of heights, but I do get vertigo from time to time, so I was a little concerned.  As long as I didn't look straight down over the edge I was fine.  These two weren't bothered at all.

It was a beautiful day, and the course wound through a lush Pacific Northwest forest with beautiful views of Mt. Baker and the rest of the Cascade Mountains.

C offered to go first, and stepped right off like he'd done it a million times.

Next up was T, who didn't seem to be the slightest bit concerned

and tried to flip himself upside down.  Luckily he was unsuccessful.

And then it was my turn.  I stood at the edge, willing myself to let go.  I wanted to show the boys that I was brave too.  I finally took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and stepped off into nothing.

So much fun! I absolutely loved the feeling of flying through the air. Landing on the platform was not easy, and there was no way to do it gracefully.

Several hours and many ziplines later, we were all exhilarated, and I was exhausted from the adrenaline.  I'm pretty sure the boys could have gone right back up and started again though.

Now we had to get back on solid ground.  The final challenge was a 47 foot rappel to the bottom.  See the tiny man in the orange helmet?  It was a looong way down.

Such a great birthday present from my boys.  So much fun, in fact, that I'm taking my husband back for our anniversary this year.  He doesn't know it yet, but I'll make sure he has no "work" that day!