I've never considered myself a particularly adventurous person but my
latest vacation makes me sound like some sort of adrenalin junkie. When
they say that having teenagers gives you gray hair, they must be referring
to the fact that teenagers persuade you to do things you wouldn't otherwise
even consider.
So here's what I did in Colorado Springs (all above 6,000 feet which
makes it hard to get enough oxygen into your body in the first place).
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White water rafting on the Arkansas
River. That's me, third one back on the right side of the raft.
Honestly, the rapids were a bit tame (at least compared to Alaska),
mere Class IIs and IIIs, but it gave us more time to enjoy the spectacular
scenery. |
Horseback riding over a mountain in a thunderstorm.
No photos; it was too wet. Actually, it didn't start thundering until
we were right on top of Grayback Mountain and it didn't start pouring
rain until we were about a quarter of the way down the other side
on a trail that was exactly as wide as one horse hoof. At that point
my daughter turned to me and, with a huge grin, said, "Wow, this
is real riding!"
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Bicycling all the way down Pike's Peak. Maybe
this sounds easy to you but trust me, it gets your blood pumping.
First, there's 35% less oxygen at 14,110 feet so you get light-headed.
Second, the road is mostly dirt and it has erosion ruts and rocks
and gravel all over it. Third, on the way up in the van, our guide
pointed out three curves to watch out for because if we lost control
and went over the edge, we would definitely die (very reassuring).
By the way, in that photo, that's the top
of a cloud that just ran into the side of the mountain.
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Jeep touring in the high country.
Again, this may sound like a walk in the park but our guide
was a race car driver whose nickname was…Crash. He told us that
if you hit the Colorado "guard rails" (foot high dirt piles
on the edge of the road) fast enough you could really get some air.
Enough said. |
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No, I didn't do this. That's
my husband and daughter, who are both certifiably insane, riding the
Skycoaster at Royal Gorge, home of the world's highest suspension
bridge. Basically they hang you at the end of two metal cables like
the weight at the bottom of a pendulum. Then they winch you up a hundred
feet behind the two metal supporting poles and drop you so you swing
out over the 1,000 foot deep gorge. The bravest thing I did there
was to walk across the bridge which sways a bit under your feet but
after all that other stuff, I didn't even notice.
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