Challenge Accepted

I set up a fun day for my husband Marc’s birthday at the Natural Bridge Caverns in San Antonio, TX in 2021. We did both the Discovery Tour and the Hidden Passages tour. The caverns were wonderful. We’ve always loved our cavern tours. These were a bit harder because they were all walking. I didn’t think about it until later, but the caverns we had been to before took us down in an elevator to the bottom level and then back up. So without the elevator, these were a bit more trying, though well worth it.

In addition to cavern tours, they have surface attractions. One is a rope obstacle course with zip lines. I have a history with these. About 9 years before, a boss of mine thought a ropes course would be a good bonding experience for our team. I was scared to death. I’m a klutz. It’s a theme through most of my stories. My father did some research about the injuries people had gotten on this particular course, and he really didn’t want me to go. Going up in the air with minimal safety gear was too much for me. Only a few obstacles into the course I froze. I was scared to death. I came down on the next escape route I could. I sat in my car and cried. It was not a good bonding experience for me.

I have wanted to confront a course like this again, but I never got up the nerve. I always found ways around it. I tried that day too. I was pretty sure I wore shoes that they would not allow me to wear. They did. No more excuses. To Marc’s genuine surprise, I bought us both tickets to do the course.

I told them to make sure my harness was extra tight. I listened carefully to the instructions and then up we went. The first bridge wasn’t that bad, but it did move back and forth. I still wasn’t too sure about this. I told Marc to do each one first, so I could watch him. Then the next bridge was a bit easier. I was feeling a little better. As we kept going, it was getting easier. Marc was high-fiving me as we went! Then there was one where the walkway rolled. Seriously, it turned under my feet. I almost backed out of that one, but I made it. I couldn’t believe it. Really. Then came the zip lines.

I know people pay money to do zip lines because they think zip lines are fun. Not me. They look like death traps. I got stuck on the first one because I backed up too far and couldn’t get on the track. I’m so graceful. But the next one went…