McDaniel Musings: One Year Older and Wiser, Too!

Well, maybe not wiser, but definitely another year older! Yes, time keeps marching on, and I just celebrated my 29th birthday on September 29th!

When Matt asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, my first thought was the usual stuff like clothes, books, earrings, the super beautiful blue sapphire ring we saw at the mall (hint, hint), etc. While all of those things are wonderful and very much appreciated, I wanted something a little different - something a little out of character for me. I know! How about we go ZIP LINING!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I do not like heights at all, so having the desire to fly down a mountain 120 feet above solid ground attached to nothing but a nylon harness and cable is a bit out of my comfort zone and quite out of character for me, but it just sounded SO FUN!!! I had thought about taking Matt for his birthday in April, or even for our anniversary in December, but I would rather not freeze my face off. September seemed like the perfect time of year to do it, so Matt hopped on to internet, found the nearest zip line company, and made our reservations for September 29th!

The morning of my birthday (after a night of strange dreams, though oddly none of them involved heights or plummeting to the earth from high places) started out like a typical Saturday morning. We got up, made breakfast, took a shower, relaxed for a little while, and talked to my Dad (which is usually done on Sunday mornings, but since my birthday was on Saturday I not only got to talk to him Saturday morning, but also Sunday morning to tell him all about our high-above-the-ground adventure!). Matt's parents were due at our house by 11 am to watch the kiddos so that we could hit the road to make it to our destination in Horseshoe Bend by 1:00, with a quick stop for lunch on the way.

Once my in-laws got to our house, I kissed my sweet children good-bye (hoping it wasn't for the last time as my acrophobia really began to kick in), and we climbed in the car and drove away. We stopped at a Quiznos in Eagle for a delicious sandwich and soda, and right next door happened to be the cutest little cupcake shop I had seen in my life, so of course we made a short unplanned mini-detour to the delectable store and purchased two yummy cupcakes for the road. It was, after all, my birthday!

We made of the rest of the trip to Horseshoe Bend trying to delicately and cleanly eat our cupcakes in the car, but that proved to be a challenge. I ended up with a frosting-covered nose several times and I was covered in crumbs, but I supremely enjoyed my cookie-dough surprise cupcake, and Matt his super-duper chocolate cupcake!

Finally we made it to the main zip line building where we checked in, paid *gasp*, and waited to load up into their "comfortable" suburbans for the short jaunt up the mountain to the zip line course itself. I suppose the suburbans were comfortable enough, but the dirt road up to the course was quite bumpy and dirty! Those of you who have ever traveled with me on an extremely bumpy road know that they give me the giggles, so I proceeded to giggle my way up said bumpy dirty road, which was almost as fun as the zip lining itself! :)

Anyway, when we got up the mountain, we stopped, made a quick jaunt to the port-a-potty (my nerves were starting to kick in and my bladder was full - not a good combination), and then joined the rest of our group of 8 plus 2 tour guides to get into our gear. We stood in a circle as the guides explained to us how to properly put on our gear, which consisted of words such as "cloop", "bloop", and "carabiner" (which I thought was spelled "carabeaner" until I just looked it up). Finally harnessed and carabined and helmeted we trekked up the path to the first platform, the "bunny hill", which is the first and smallest zip line on the course. That line takes you out into the trees at what feels like 60 miles per hour down the line, but boy is it fun!! The worst part for me was stepping off those wooden platforms 30 feet above the ground, but once I was off and flying through the air, I really started to have fun!

After the first three lines, you get to run off the side of the mountain and take a zip line about 2000 feet down the mountain to a destination so far away you can hardly see the other end! What a rush! I was going so fast that my helmet almost flew off my head and I had to keep a hand on it to keep it down! (I don't think I had it strapped on tightly enough, but I hate having a strap under my chin - it makes me feel claustrophobic). That line was probably the most fun!

The very last line is a double line where you and your friend, spouse, partner, whatever get to race each other to the end of the course, about 1500 feet away. Super fun! I just wish Matt and I could have recorded each other on that last leg of the line, but all we took was an Ipod and we were worried if we tried recording it as we flew down the zip line, the Ipod would go flying and we would never see it again, so we left well enough alone and settled on just the fun mental memory).

Zip lining turned out to be super fun, and you are going so fast (backwards much of the time) that heights are hardly a problem - that's the last thing on your mind! I highly recommend it to everyone who is brave enough...