3.30.2009

Spring Break - Day 3

So this took forever to get up, but they really are the best pictures so I had to do it even though spring break ended a week ago (sigh).

Day 3 - We woke up early, that tends to happen when you camp. Brandon and Amanda had to head back to take care of not-so-little Apollo so Craig and I went off by ourselves to explore the park. The trails were not marked well at all, but eventually we ended up where we wanted to be - the "observation tower." Craig didn't think it was tall enough, but it was plenty tall for me - which should have been my warning about our other activity for the day, but I didn't heed it.

After that, we headed to the beach for some parasailing! Unfortunately, that area was having high winds and they kept postponing our trip. It wasn't too annoying though, as we got to wait on the beach. Eventually, we gave up on that company and moved back to the beach we were on the day before where it was calmer and got to go up.

It was way scarier than I thought! 700 feet is really high when the only thing keeping you from plummeting to your watery grave is an semi-worn out piece of nylon. I figured it wouldn't seem so bad being over water but my hands hurt after the trip because of the death grip I had on the top straps. After about 5 or 6 minutes I relaxed a bit but then it was time for our descent, including a little dip. I'm glad I did it, but I don't think I will ever do it again. But at least I got good pictures!

Here I am, still happy and excited about our adventure.


And here is Craig, demonstrating how utterly safe this is, because see - there is a clip to make sure you don't fall off. You're really not helping, Craig.I'm starting to get hooked up, not feeling so excited anymore but still trying to give a smile in case I don't die, I don't want the scrapbook page to be ruined. (I obviously have my priorities in line).And up we go.
Here we are coming down. You may notice my hands are still firmly in place while Craig is being brave and giving a wave to the deck hand/camera. I will note that he did so in spite of my request that was somewhat along the lines of "DO NOT LET GO, CRAIG. I'M NOT KIDDING. DO NOT LET GO." I might have even used his middle name. I'm not sure.

A little dip...and back to safety. Wet but glad to be down.
Craig was pretty much that relaxed the whole time.
After my heart slowed down to normal again and we made it back to land, we headed off to the official national seashore area with the hopes of getting our national parks passport stamped. We thought they probably closed by 5 so we were in a bit of a rush. We got there with about 5 minutes to spare, only to find out they closed at 4:30. So, no stamp for us :-( But we did take a little hike on a trail through the first boat tree plantation started by John Quincy Adams (that isn't the official name but I can't remember the real one) for some educational and entertaining fun. Then next day we headed home. Our trip was short but fun and relaxing.

4 comments :

  1. How fun! I love the smiley face sail- very cute for pictures. I went paragliding one time, and I had to "jump" off the mountain in order to get air born. Way scary. I would take parasailing over that.

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  2. Yeah, and just think, if it had killed you the last thing you would have seen was a huge golden smiley face--not a bad way to go!

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  3. I totally want to parasail. The height would not freak me out, but the landing in shark infested waters on the other hand...

    Can you tell I am afraid of sharks?

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  4. You don't have to touch the water when parasailing. We opted for the dunk, which was only knee deep. So, feel free.

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