Friday, August 2, 2019

Wild, Wild West Senior Trip - Day 6

Today was incredible! We had an incredibly early start and late finish but it was such a great day!


We left our hotel bright and early to make our 8:30 appointment at AVA Adventures! We had zip lining scheduled for the morning and white water rafting for the afternoon. Up until two weeks ago, I only knew about the white water rafting. My guy and my not-so-little guy were keeping a surprise from me - zip lining!! I have said for some time now that I really wanted to zip line. Let's just say that AVA did NOT disappoint! 



Our guides for the zipline were Cam and Brandon. They were amazing. Incredibly patient with everyone in our group, seemed to genuinely enjoy their job, gave great instructions and were super fun to be around!



The race

We accomplished six different ziplines nestled in a small Colorado town - really in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. The longest zipline was a 1/4 of mile long and was a double line so we got to race with a partner. My guy and I raced and the boys, of course, raced each other. Who doesn't love a little competition on the zipline?











At each of our zipline launches, AVA had a little sign with historical information about the area. The closest town is Leadville. We passed through the adorable downtown on our way. It is so named for its incredible mining history. It is the town in Colorado that mined the largest amount of gold during the gold rush!

Leadville

After our zipline expedition, AVA provided us a fantastic lunch! We had a great chicken fajita meal complete with rice and black beans and toppings - all cooked in the outdoors under a canopy. Our fajita chef from AVA was just a spectacular as our zipline guides. 



After a relaxing lunch break, we suited up and prepared for our white water rafting expedition. Honestly, last night after watching the required safety video, I told my guy that I very likely was going to back out of the white water rafting portion of our day! I wasn't sure I could do it, especially when I found out we were doing Class IV rapids. I debated and listened to folks have conversations about rafting and decided I would do it. I am soooo glad I did! We had a great time!







Our rafting guides, Blake and Paul, were so encouraging and gave us specific and clear instructions. We all survived. We did have one man overboard - my guy. But he was quickly pulled back into the raft. And somehow, I have no idea how, I lost my paddle during that whole scare! The boys volunteered to be up front and take the brunt of the water, but we all walked away quite soaked. Along our 7 mile trip down the Arkansas River, I saw lots of smiles, heard loads of laughter and shrieks of excitement, and many memories were made! My not-so-little guy said at dinner that rafting has been his favorite thus far!








After our morning and afternoon of adventure, the plan was to head to Estes Park where we were staying for the night. My not-so-little guy asked if we could drive though Rocky Mountain National Park on the way. 

Long tunnel through the Rocky Mountains... I can't resist a great line shot- even if it's with my pocket cam - AKA iPhone.
Herd of Elk and cool looking plants I can't resist.

We visited there last summer, but I'm so glad we made a return trip. The mountain tops were covered with much more snow and we caught an amazing sunset!









Photo Cred - Jac Patterson

We stood at an elevation of 12,305 feet! That's over two miles above sea level. It's hard to belief that these two boys - young men - in just a few short weeks, will be living at sea level at UNCW!



We rolled into Estes Park, CO a little later than planned, grabbed some dinner and crashed for the night. 

Tomorrow - the mountain trails await!!


*All rafting pics and most of the zip line pics were taken by AVA.

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