Camp Zip Line Mama
One of the many extra things to do at Camp Chaparral is the ropes course. I've have done some in the past when I was younger and they were fun. So, I was determined to check it out this year while my husband was teaching away in small groups. While we were at lunch on Thursday, Steve had mentioned they were going to open the ropes course from 2-5 that afternoon since it was not raining that day. Yea! I was there! I wanted to endure the excitement of childhood camps again!
So, after lunch and after I had gotten my husband's small group stuff established and started with all his materials for the afternoon, I was off! Well somebody forgot to tell me it was miles away on the other side of the campus, quite a trek in OVEN HEAT! I get there with other high schoolers to do the zip line. I ask around and get geared all up with a harness and helment while sucking down Gatorade. And then I look up......and there she blows, a 25 foot telephone pole with what looked like a deerstand at the very tip top. My mind raced back to good old camp days and just remembered when I did the zip line before, we walked up steps to a deck type area and jumped off. This was no deck, it was 25 feet straight up something like a BellSouth telephone repair guy would climb. Holy Crap! I didn't sign up for this?! I'm 33, I'm not in high school any more. But I was all geared up and I didn't want to look like a whimp in front of high school kids. I talked a lot of smack to get here.
Guess who they called up next? ME! "Uh, ok", "You mean you have to climb the pole to get to the top?", I asked. "That's the only way to get there", he said. I was a little overwhelmed and was hoping that Gatorade wouldn't be coming down the other end! I started up. It was ok at first, like a tree house. Then you start to go up past the tree house status. Thats when I started getting scared, real scared. I started shaking as I was climbing and my nose was touching the pole because I was hugging it so tight.
I made the mistake of looking down, then, even worse looking up! Steve was at the top of the platform waiting for me encourging me that I was almost there. Don't ever look up to respond to him, just respond to the pole! Once I got up to the platform, I paused, clenching to the pole, and asked a dumb question, "How do I get onto the platform?" We all know the answer to that one, and Steve said, "You climb over." So, I very slowly, and cautiously climbed over looking straight ahead. I was probably stiff as a board. I was so scared to move wrong.
Steve unlatches the climbing rope and latches up the harness to the zip line. He said, "ok, you gotta turn around to go down." Meanwhile, I was clenching a hole in Steve's shirt so I wouldn't fall. I said, "What do I hold onto?" Steve said, "The white rope at the top." He pulled off my right hand from his shirt and placed onto the rope with my left one. He said, "Whenever you ready, Cindy." I said, "This is a lot scarier than I thought. Has anyone ever fallen off?" "No", He said. "Has anyone ever hit the trees or hit the pole on the other side?", I asked. He said no again. He said, "ok, you gotta move toward the edge if you gonna jump off". I said, "I'm too scared to get near the edge". He told me to go on the count of three. One, two, three! Nothing happened. I was frozen. I said, "You gonna have to push me, I can't do it." Ok. He pushed.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", I screamed! I was laughing so hard! It felt like a swing roller coaster. "That was great!" I yelled. The man below me helping me down said, "so you want to do it again?" Hmmmmmmmmmmm? Um, no, not unless I can do it without climbing that pole. The scariest part was going up, the best part was coming down. Isn't that funny? You would think it would be the other way around. No, I didn't wet my pants. But I was glad this 33 year old wife of a guys Bible study teacher's did it! It was fun! Who's next?
~Cindy~
So, after lunch and after I had gotten my husband's small group stuff established and started with all his materials for the afternoon, I was off! Well somebody forgot to tell me it was miles away on the other side of the campus, quite a trek in OVEN HEAT! I get there with other high schoolers to do the zip line. I ask around and get geared all up with a harness and helment while sucking down Gatorade. And then I look up......and there she blows, a 25 foot telephone pole with what looked like a deerstand at the very tip top. My mind raced back to good old camp days and just remembered when I did the zip line before, we walked up steps to a deck type area and jumped off. This was no deck, it was 25 feet straight up something like a BellSouth telephone repair guy would climb. Holy Crap! I didn't sign up for this?! I'm 33, I'm not in high school any more. But I was all geared up and I didn't want to look like a whimp in front of high school kids. I talked a lot of smack to get here.
Guess who they called up next? ME! "Uh, ok", "You mean you have to climb the pole to get to the top?", I asked. "That's the only way to get there", he said. I was a little overwhelmed and was hoping that Gatorade wouldn't be coming down the other end! I started up. It was ok at first, like a tree house. Then you start to go up past the tree house status. Thats when I started getting scared, real scared. I started shaking as I was climbing and my nose was touching the pole because I was hugging it so tight.
I made the mistake of looking down, then, even worse looking up! Steve was at the top of the platform waiting for me encourging me that I was almost there. Don't ever look up to respond to him, just respond to the pole! Once I got up to the platform, I paused, clenching to the pole, and asked a dumb question, "How do I get onto the platform?" We all know the answer to that one, and Steve said, "You climb over." So, I very slowly, and cautiously climbed over looking straight ahead. I was probably stiff as a board. I was so scared to move wrong.
Steve unlatches the climbing rope and latches up the harness to the zip line. He said, "ok, you gotta turn around to go down." Meanwhile, I was clenching a hole in Steve's shirt so I wouldn't fall. I said, "What do I hold onto?" Steve said, "The white rope at the top." He pulled off my right hand from his shirt and placed onto the rope with my left one. He said, "Whenever you ready, Cindy." I said, "This is a lot scarier than I thought. Has anyone ever fallen off?" "No", He said. "Has anyone ever hit the trees or hit the pole on the other side?", I asked. He said no again. He said, "ok, you gotta move toward the edge if you gonna jump off". I said, "I'm too scared to get near the edge". He told me to go on the count of three. One, two, three! Nothing happened. I was frozen. I said, "You gonna have to push me, I can't do it." Ok. He pushed.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", I screamed! I was laughing so hard! It felt like a swing roller coaster. "That was great!" I yelled. The man below me helping me down said, "so you want to do it again?" Hmmmmmmmmmmm? Um, no, not unless I can do it without climbing that pole. The scariest part was going up, the best part was coming down. Isn't that funny? You would think it would be the other way around. No, I didn't wet my pants. But I was glad this 33 year old wife of a guys Bible study teacher's did it! It was fun! Who's next?
~Cindy~
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