For as long as I can remember I have been afraid of heights. I never wanted to climb mountains or hang glide or parasail. Um, no, thanks. There was all that space between me and the ground. I still can’t even look down from a hotel room if it’s above the third floor. Fear is too small a word for what I felt.
So how, then, did I manage to go ziplining? How did I get up the nerve?
Well, first of all, I have quite an extensive bucket list, some of which I have checked off. I’ve ridden all around the county where I used to live in Texas on the back of a motorcycle. I tried to hold out for a silver Ducati but I guess I’ll have t be content with having one of my heroines ride it.
So what else was on my bucket list? A cruise to Alaska. More about that a another time. Jumping out of a plane. Just crossed that off. Seeing the Chicago Cubs play live. Did that last fall and it was worth every penny for those tickets on the first base line.
But ziplining stood at the top of my list for a long time. I guess because I had friends that did it, sent back great pictures and I thought, okay, why not? So a few years ago, when Most of my family went to Las Vegas over Christmas, my younger daughter found a great place to zipline not too far out of town, at Bootleg Canyon.
Before they even take you up the mountain you have a lengthy safety class that teaches you a bout the harness and all the things to do and not do once you are hooked up. Then they drive you as close to the top as you can get but there still is a fifteen minute hike after that. And let me tell you, I left my hiking days behind forty years ago. But bless my kids, especially my son and my son-in-law who took my hands and slowly helped me up to the top.
So now I’m at the top of the mountain, prepared to pass out and…shock! No vertigo! No fear of heights! All around me were majestic mountains and canyons and unspoiled natural beauty.
At the first landing, the launch pad, trained guides help you into your harness and hook you up to the line. Okay, still not nauseous! Then they give you a push off and man! It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Below me all that natural majesty and whoa! Some big horn sheep! The sun was out, there was a nice breeze, and there I was, flying through the air.
There are four separate ziplines that cover just over a mile and a half of canyon. It was exhilarating and…I wasn’t scared! I looked down each segment of he trip (because what’s the purpose of doing it if you close your eyes!) and loved every single minute of it.
Part of it was doing it as a family. My kids (all grown adults) really put up with a lot form me and support me in every crazy tings I do. So doing it as a family was a good part of the excitement.
Would I do it again? Absolutely!
Have I put it in one of my books? Not yet, but coming up soon.
But here’s the kicker…I’m still afraid of heights. Go figure.
When you don’t know how the story will end . . .
After years of hard work honing his craft, Blake Morgan is now an international bestselling author. But one thing he never imagined was that his fictional world would become all too real. When a stalker turns Blake’s latest book tour into a treacherous and nearly deadly trap, it’s time for Blake to hire protection. But the body assigned to keep an eye on him is someone he never wants out of his sight . . .
As a bodyguard for Vigilance, the private security agency in Blake’s hometown of Arrowhead Bay, Samantha Quenel has found the perfect outlet for her military experience. But her latest client is also a former high school flame, which might explain her willingness to protect Blake at all costs—even if that means staying in the same room with him, on the same bed, under the same torrid sheets . . .
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