When we checked in, I opted to purchase a $10 phone holder. I wish I had bought the blue phone holder from Five Below for $5, so I basically broke even. We walked past the Treetop Adventure course. That one said 2-3 hours to complete, which we didn't have time for since Meredith was flying home at 3. Instead, we signed up for the Treetop Journey, which was good for all ages and only took 1 hour.
Compared to the Adventure course we had just passed, the Journey course looked like the kids table. All the courses felt very close together. It didn't look that high. Did we jip ourselves?
We got harnessed in and had a quick training session for the harness equipment. Then, we made our way to the first loop. I was in front, followed by Christina, Mere, then Luisa. I was excited but nervous as we made our way up the stairs. The first crossing had nets on each side. The second crossing was the same type of bridge, but without the nets. Throughout the course, they do a good job of easing you into new obstacles. Then they make those obstacles harder by making the planks skinnier or removing a rope railing.
I moved slow. Looking at the video footage, perhaps I could have spent less time looking down. Perhaps I could have fixed my posture and my center of gravity wouldn't have felt at risk. Hindsight is 20/20. Each loop ends with a small zipline. The worker explained what to do when we land and how to launch. It was a lot of words at one time. I had to process the words and balance the nerves. I slid down and landed on my butt/back. Christina had the running landing, which is far more graceful, and more clean.
The second loop felt a lot harder. My least favorite part was a net you had to crawl or squat through. I saw a hole in the middle of the net and it was discouraging. It didn't feel stable to me at all. My second zip line was better, but I still wasn't brave enough to jump off, so I slid again, and I landed sitting again.
On our way back, two little boys gave us insight on loop 3.
"It's the hardest one," the first boy said.
"That one took me ten minutes," the second boy said pointing to a course. "Because I got stuck," he continued. I asked where the third loop was and they gave good detailed responses. You enter through the box in the middle of the course.
Christina opted out of loop 3. I learned later it was because she didn't feel comfortable going up that box. I enjoyed the box. It reminded me of play places (play pens?) at Chuck E. Cheese. Only, this was better because my climb wasn't shared with other kids wanting to go fast and pass me. I climbed and met Mere at the top. She took the reign as first up. Luisa followed and pointed out there were a lot of bees in the box. I hadn't noticed, but when I looked at the video footage, I saw the bees.
Loop 3 was far easier than Loop 2. Two bridges were wide and felt stable, so they were easy to cross. There's a side story to this last section, which I'll cover in a separate post.
I was able to accomplish the running landing on my final zipline. Meredith gave me a tip to pull the rope closer to my body, and that worked. We returned our harnesses and got a completion certificate.
After, we picked up Luisa's charger at the university and Mere and I got to see the school our friends jetted off to on the weekdays.
The ropes course was a new challenge, and although I was totally up for it, I was still scared. No matter how "low" something looks, when you stand on it, your view is higher by your height. Whenever I was nervous during a climb, I sang songs to distract and calm myself. That definitely helped get me across.
I was ready to bail after the second loop, but I'm glad I kept going. It helps to see my friends do it. It helps to see little kids do it. I wish I could be like kids and have no concept of fear or pain or consequences. I saw joy and amusement in their eyes. They went fast because they can't wait for the next one. I went slow because I was worried I couldn't make it to the next step.
Literally all I had to do on this course was put one foot in front of the other. I got through each challenge one step at a time, and I just have to remind myself that in life too. I can do this because it's something I want to do. So I will push myself to get there. Whatever my next bridge is.
@jmeprcn ##travelvlog Treetop Journey at @goape is fun and perfect for beginners like me ##chicago ##ropescourse ##zipline
♬ A-O-K - Tai Verdes
No comments:
Post a Comment