Zipping NOT ripping

As you know, Susan W and I went zip lining on Friday. I thought I'd share some photos with you.

Why did we go? Zip lining was not on my bucket list. Matter of fact, I'm not that fond of heights. I remember going to the CN Tower - the very top observation deck and had my back plastered to the inside wall. It does take me a few minutes to warm up to heights. And roller coasters? Well, that's a whole different ball game and loads of stories to tell you about that experience.

But here's a quote by Mark Twain that I think sums up the experience rather nicely. This quote has been on my calendar since May and I haven't turned the page knowing that this experience was coming up.

An amazing quote by which to choose what you do

Shoot - I thought this next photo would be easier to read.

Venture quote by Mark Twain

Shoot - you still can't read that?  It says - Venture - Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones that you did do.

As I had mentioned, the place was far from my house. It's called The Skywood Eco Adventure just off The Thousand Islands Parkway east of Kingston.

Skywood Eco Adventure

I had to laugh as I drove down The Thousand Islands Parkway because while I've never actually driven on the parkway before, I've been on the bike path a couple of times. This is one of the BEST cycling paths I've ever ridden on. You're right beside the secondary highway but you have your own bike highway. It's a beautiful ride and goes on for quite a distance. I forget - I don't remember those kinds of things. More on that another day!

The bike path beside The Thousand Island Parkway

I had gotten there a bit early as I wanted to beat the traffic. No worries, I listened to my audiobook, but finally, the call of nature required that I go Base Camp to find the washrooms.

Off to base camp

Susan was waiting for me when I got back from the washrooms and we were set to get outfitted. That's a whole experience in itself. You have this big web harness on with all kinds of cables and stuff hanging off. It's a wee bit intimidating to say the least.

Suited up!

 Here's Susan getting herself outfitted. The two crew members we had were amazing. Anna and Garrett.

We felt like horses. You had to stand up to that railing. It was almost like you had two sets of harness. One for your body and one for the attachments to the cables. They flipped part of the harness over the railing while they got one part of the harness securely tightened onto your body. Then they flipped that other part back and you got to put your safety clips (part of the Smart Belay System) in your holsters. Just like guns! Except they were awkward to get the safety clips back in so no danger of shooting anyone.

Susan getting suited up

Susan and I chatted up a storm and frankly, we had NO time to even think about what we were going to do. It worked out perfectly since I don't either of us was super confident.

Then it was onto to the small demo/training area. But let's read the signs first.

OK - that's a sobering thought

Just in case you heard about that honeymoon couple who had a zip line accident in Honduras and one of them died. There was a serious thing that happened. She went first and had NOT arrived on the platform before he followed. Because he was heavier, he went faster and crashed into her. This was most certainly NOT allowed to happen where we were. They had walkie talkies and we were NOT allowed to leave the launch platform until the person in front had unclipped from the zip line on the landing platform. We did NOT know about the accident before we left, otherwise, I would have chatted up the guides.

Here's the little practise course. Trust me - it was worth it. There were so many steps. Unclip, clip, unclip, clip and it had to be done in a certain sequence and you couldn't disconnect your two safety clips at the same time - only one released at a time. I thought we were never get the hang of it.

While we had zip lines to go down, we also had to get between the trees if one zip didn't start where the other ended. We had "puzzles" to cross. In our case, there were super simple. Logs VERY SECURELY attached to each other with cables - big cables. Strong cables. It was half way across this bridge that we had to put faith in our harness and we had to lean back into the harness (feet on the cable, but no hands allowed) to show us that it would support us. It did and it wasn't so bad. I'm not sure I would have felt the same confidence if I had fallen, but none of us did.

Walking on the log bridge

 We had a fair number of these to walk on. You had two cables to hold onto and your safety clips were strapped to another cable. You'll see better in a bit. But imagine if it's wet? Yep - they run the course in the rain so those logs would be a tad slippery. I'm glad they weren't slippery.

Each time we got to the landing platform, we had to use our two safety clips to unclip from the safety line overhead to the safety line on the tree. One clip at a time so you were always connected.

Then we got to try the mini zip line. Oh boy - more stuff to connect. Thankfully the guides were with us the entire time, I don't think I could have remembered all the steps. Well, that's not ture - I'll show you where they weren't with us.

Here's Susan just coming in for a landing on the mini zip line.

Susan landing on the pracitse zip line

 Oh - there's a better picture of her.

Yeah Susan made it safely to the end of the practise zip

 I should mention how we got the pictures. I took my phone with me and so I snapped some of the photos. But when we were in the trees, I had to give my phone to one of the guides (I had no pockets) and they put it in their back pack. Susan had her camera with a strap and she also had pockets but I think she also gave her camera to one of the guides. And then we had to get the camera or phone back out to take pictures. Next time - yes there will be a next time - I'll know to take a small pouch or a small bag with a clip that can attach to the harness. We had NO idea what to expect.


Here we are going up the ladder to the first platform. One guide was already ahead of us. Once we were on the platform, we had a series of log bridges to cross. We were on our own to remember to clip/unclip. I mean you couldn't go ahead if you didn't unclip. We all managed just fine.

Climbing up!

Honestly, I didn't give two thoughts to the heights. I just went up. What's the matter with me? Perhaps heights are no longer an issue?

Here I am walking one of the log bridges. That third cable (the safety one) was an issue as it was the same height as me and kept hitting my helmet. Susan had the same problem.

Walking the log bridge

How far apart are the platforms?? Most were about 200 - 300 feet. Susan took the picture below with the zoom on her camera.

The landing platform

But it was also this far away. This is what it looked like to us from the launch platform.

AH - there's the landing platform

One must have good form. I was the last one (of the guests) on the first couple of zips and then Susan and I swapped places to take pictures. She was much better at that than I was.

Here's my zipping form. They said to be aerodynamic and so lifting your legs make you more aerodynamic. No need for a push at the start. I kept coming in to the landing platform with a LOT of speed. I love speed.

Good zip line form

The first zip, I don't think we saw anything except the landing platform. But once you got the hang of it, you could actually look around and enjoy the ride.

Here I am getting ready to clip to the zip line and release my safety clips.

Getting ready to clip to the zip line

Then we got to a larger platform where we had a water break and Ann took this picture of Susan and myself. What fun we had. We had to walk down three log bridges to get to this platform.

Susan and I enjoying the break

It's deceiving because part of the course is laid out on the edge of the escarpment. But in the distance is the platform which was on the tallest tree or the tree that we were the greatest height from the ground. Way in the distance. 

Highest platform from the ground in the distance

That platform was a double decker. There was a landing platform and then you had to take a ladder down to the launch platform. Getting attached to that ladder was a tad scary. I was on the ladder when our guide left the other platform and everything just shook like crazy.  AH - what's going on here?  OH - OK. That wasn't so bad.

Going down the ladder to the launch platform

I have to say that my legs were a wee bit shakey on the very first platform, but after that, I was totally fine. Perhaps because Susan and I talked up a storm either with ourselves or with the guides. I'm sure the family of four with us were saying - just SHUT UP already!!! But DAMMIT - we were there to enjoy ourselves and we certainly did that.

Oh here's a better view of that two level platform.

Two level platform

And from that platform was the longest zip line - 600 feet.  Yahoo!!!!  Of course, I had to do a yahoo every time I left the platform. Why not????

In the picture below, the upper cable was leading away from the double platform for the incoming zip line and the cable in the lower left was the 600 foot outgoing zip line. Great shots Susan!!!!

Incoming and outgoing zip lines

Too bad we didn't get all the safety clips, but this is what it looked like in the tree. We each had two safety clips attached to the safety line (red).

The safety clips secured to the safety cable

And then we were on the ground. Oh shoot - we were having a blast and wanted MORE!!!!

There was ZERO free fall. If you just sat in the harness and let your weight support you, it was just like going down a slide. I'm not kidding - it was amazing.

Time to get out of the harness. No - I'm not flapping my arms - Garrett was just loosening the safety harness and it was easier if I lifted my arms.

Removing the safety harness

Here's Susan getting rid of her harness.

Just before the harness came off

And here's a picture of Susan and myself with our two guides. Thanks to Anna and Garrett for a great day. It was loads of fun. I highly recommend if you get the chance - you should go. It wasn't nearly as bad as what I thought it was going to be. NO - I didn't even allow myself to think of it as scary. I just wanted to go.

Anna, ME, Susan and Garrett

Before we left, we went back to look at the adventure course. That's the one with the obstacles and you need to get through the obstacles in order to move on. I'm not sure that we could do that. It requires a LOT of upper body strength and I'm not sure I would have the strength or the courage. Anyway - it looked interesting and might be fun to try. At least it goes by level - you start with the beginner, then intermediate and then expert. You can get off at the end of any of the sections. Hmmm - Susan???  Are you going to start doing push-ups on the dock each morning?

Part of the adventure course

So there you have it. Way more information about zip lining than you ever wanted to know.

It was a long day to get home and I'll tell you about that another day.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

The BiQUE Ride - Day Five - Part One

After all that rain from the day before, the sky didn’t look so promising in the morning, but there was no rain and it turned out to be a glorious day.

Very quickly we were out of the city of Kingston and on our way again. I must have been really psyched because I was cursing along at a fairly past pace. Not sure why - it just happened. And I always leave early. I try to be at breakfast at 7 AM and out of there by 7:30 AM. Which isn’t hard to do considering that I’m very much a morning person and usually up around 5. When you don’t really have anything to do in the morning it’s not hard to be ready. I mean - really how long does it take to pack the suitcase?

The weather was beautiful - a little bit of cloud cover and the temperature was coolish. I almost wanted to put my wind vest on in the morning, but decided I didn’t need it.

I completely missed the truck in the morning for the snack. Oops - well it happens from time to time. And while I had food with me - that was my afternoon snack. So I stopped in Rockport. I don’t remember stopping in this place on previous strips. I’m thinking it was just was rinky-dink little town. Gosh - it’s quite the place with the main attraction being a dock for tours of the islands. Very touristy. I used the washroom and bought a chocolate bar and I was on my way.

My system is going into sugar overload on this trip! Not really - I always do this on a bike trip - chocolate bars and especially Snickers (because of the nuts and sugar) are excellent sources of fuel on a bike trip. I enjoyed it, but won’t crave it when I’m back.

By this time, I had gotten in touch with Mary (the wonder of cell phones) and we were going to meet in Brockville for lunch. I wasn’t sure what time I was going to arrive until I got on the road. But it appeared that I would be able to do the 80K by lunch. That’s insane. BUT - for a good part of the day we were on the bike path beside the 1000 Islands Parkway. That’s a treasure. It’s the best bike path around. You’re completely on your own little highway and you can literally fly along. There are a few inclines but not much. And there are equal downhills. We did 442 meters of climbing and 446 meters of descents. So it pretty much equals out at the end of the day.

I passed the place where Susan and I went zip lining a couple of weeks ago. That was neat - it was even nicer when we went zip lining and I saw the bike path and knew that I would be back that way in a very short time and not in a car.

Let me finish this in part two.

On an adventure

Today’s blog is a bit different. First off, I’m not sitting at the computer at home. Nope - I’ve got my butt parked on a slightly damp dock and watching a slight mist on the lake. Flocks of Canada Geese have already gone wild and flew off in two low clouds right in front of me.

It’s early in the morning of a long weekend at the cottage and it’s deathly quiet except for the occasional duck, bird, goose or other natural sounds. Let’s not forget the loon that woke me at 3 AM just so I wouldn’t forget them.

Something very weird happened at the dock yesterday as we were sitting here. A mommy duck and five little babies came swimming along the shore. As they approached the dock so they could go out around the dock, they went crazy and flapping their wings. We could see something chasing them in the water and thought it was a huge fish. Nope - it turned out that the loon mommy? Or could have been the daddy? was swimming underwater and chasing the ducks. Now, why is that???  The loon left its own baby to do that.  Just checked the internet and yep - it’s a common thing for loons to attack ducks. Bad loon - there were five cute little duck babies!!!

By the way, I hear the loon back. What a haunting cry!!!  Oh - I thought I saw the lone loon, but from the HONK it just gave - that’s a goose.

Well if you followed me on IG and FB yesterday, you know that I was NOT quilting. I was on an adventure.

I’m going to blame this all on Susan S from Saskatchewan. A number of years ago, she went zip lining and said how fun it was. For some reason, that stuck with me. At one of our quilting retreats, we (Susan W and I) said that we should go. It had never been on my bucket list, but why not? Life is too short.

I believe that seed was planted before I went to work. I was very limited on time and we’ve been trying for several years to make that happen. It never did - the timing was never right. Well, the timing wasn’t right yesterday, but no matter - we planned the date, booked the session and we were good.

The only problem, the zip line place was over 3 hours from my house and we had an appointment for 9:30. Needless to say, I had to get up a wee bit early. I was on the road by 5 AM after checking the tire pressure in my tires (one was low) and filled up with gas and breakfast from Tim’s. That was a strange thing, but it would have been a bit difficult to eat my oatmeal while driving.

I wanted to leave early to clear the traffic in that ridiculous city. Hard to imagine that one can drive at 100-120K for almost one hour and still be in the “big” city. It’s a bit crazy. And hard to believe how much traffic there is on the road at that time of day - huge trucks and lots of cars. It’s just insane.

But no issues and I was good. I arrived about 40 minutes earlier than I needed to, but I had already connected my audiobook to the car so I just sat there and waited and listened.

It was a glorious day. I’m not going to tell you about it today - I’ll do that tomorrow when I have pictures. Let’s just say that it was amazing and I’m so glad that we did it.

Then back to Susan’s (W) cottage which was about 40 minutes away. I won’t say much about that either until I have the pictures. Let’s just say that it’s a beautiful place on a beautiful quiet lake.

I’m not sure that I’m a cottage person. It’s nice to get away, but oh what work to maintain. I think I would rent a place, but the water is nothing to me so I wouldn’t even need to be on the lake although early in the morning when all is peaceful, it’s kind of fun to sit here and look out at the great view.

I have a couple of things to do on my way home and you’ll hear all about them tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Ciao!!

Up, Up, and Away!!!!

 Life is too short to not be spontaneous! Oh my - this adventure literally came out of the blue. Two mornings ago, Suzanne came downstairs and announced that she had seen a hot air balloon go by. Oh my goodness — I remembered seeing them in this area years ago. I conducted some online research and found a company that offers hot air balloon tours in the area. We checked it out and signed up! WHAT???? I didn't tell anyone that I'm somewhat apprehensive of heights. 

It's not bad, but I remember zip-lining several years ago, and I stood on the first platform with shaky legs; then I was okay. So I went prepared to deal with my demons. 

We had a half-hour drive to get to the start point, which was the Stratford Municipal Airport. Depending on the weather, the number of people, and where they are coming from,  there are several starting locations. We had to be there at 5:30 AM!!!!

Stratford Municipal Airport

After signing our waivers, we went to the field, and this is what we saw. The balloon basket was on its side, and the balloon was stretched out over a long distance! This is going to be so much fun, as we watched them inflate the balloon, which I had never seen before. 

The balloon was flat on the ground when we arrived

They have two large fans, and two people hold the balloon open and blow air in. Not very complicated, but probably pretty scientific, and it works!!! I didn't take note of how much time it took to fill, but it was relatively quick. 

Blowing air into the balloon

The opening is getting larger! At one point, I swear the pilot was inside the balloon - probably checking for something, as there are flaps along the sides of the balloon. And I swear that when it was being deflated, there were vents along the top. Something, anyway, to help quickly deflate the balloon. 

Inflating the balloon

Oh my -- how big is this thing going to get? It was HUGE. The capacity of this balloon is 350,000 cubic feet, which is a relatively large balloon, but there are even larger balloons, reaching up to 750,000 cubic feet and beyond. That's HUGE. The bigger the balloon, the more people it can carry!

It's getting bigger! 

When it was somewhat inflated, they popped some hot gas inside. You would think the balloon would go up in flames. I had a chat with Mark (the pilot) when we were up, but I didn't catch what he said. The fabric will burn, but it will not catch fire. Well, I suppose anything is possible, but we didn't need to know those details. 

Putting hot gas into the balloon

And then WHOOSH - the balloon starts to rise and sets the basket upright. It's hard to see in the picture, but at the far right, two people are pulling hard on a rope to prevent the balloon from quickly flipping upright. The basket is firmly anchored to the front of the van! 

Up - it's going up! 

We were twelve passengers, three of us in each of the four compartments, and the pilot in the center with all the propane canisters! I would say the hardest challenge was climbing over the 4-foot-high basket. However, it wasn't a big deal - perhaps not as elegant as we would have liked, but it all worked out. There were toe holds, so it wasn't hard. 

The propane tanks in the basket

And then we were off. It was so gentle and so beautiful - who had time to worry about heights? I swear, I had not ONE twitch of vertigo or whatever you call that height sensation thing. It was amazing!!! And there's the sunrise!!!

Sunrise from the balloon

I managed to get a selfie of Suzanne and me. We didn't have a lot of room to move around, but there was enough space for us to be comfortable. We reached an altitude of 2,000 feet, and I believe the maximum altitude allowed in Canada for pleasure crafts is 3,000 feet. 

Suzanne and I are in the hot air balloon

What a perspective to see the fields and farms from above! It was terrific, and we were both thrilled that spontaneity struck us! And that we acted upon that whim. It was glorious! 

The fields from above

We went as high as 2000 feet, but we also skimmed the tree tops in this forested area. It was so cool as you could look down into the trees. Such a cool thing to do. 

Floating over the trees

The chase vehicle was on the ground and following us. Between the pilot and the crew, they were scouting a place to land. You don't want to land in a crop, nor on a highway, but we found a somewhat deserted road and landed there. 

Oh -- I should mention that it was only when we were in the basket and about to take off that we were told about the landing. OH!!! The Hollywood landing would involve the basket remaining upright. In contrast, the Wild West version could involve several, potentially hard hops, and the basket would tip over, being dragged 50-100 yards by the balloon. OH!!!!!!

We had a Hollywood landing! Two small hops and we were still upright! Then we ungracefully climbed out of the basket - again, not an issue. It's summer, and I didn't bring pants with me, nor did I bring a sweater, so I had to borrow a sweatshirt from one of the retreat attendees. However, it was warm and toasty up there, and I had no issue with shorts. Let's say a lot of heat is generated from those burners! 

After we landed

We had to wait while the chase crew got the balloon organized to be loaded back into the truck. They lay it out and try to deflate it as much as possible. Then it gets strapped to hold it into this sausage shape. 

Prepping the balloon to load back into the trailer

They have a large bag that holds the balloon. WOW --- that was so fascinating to watch, although I'm sure we were the only ones who were fascinated. There was one younger girl who you could tell wanted to be anywhere else but there. I believe she was with her grandmother! 

Stuffing the balloon into the bag 

When we arrived back at the airport, we had champagne and orange juice, and it was a grand finish! 

Celebrating a successful ride

It was a truly remarkable experience, and we also learned that Mark, our pilot, holds the record for the highest altitude in Canada. I know there are more specifics on that, and if you'd like to watch, I found a documentary about their trip. There were two of them. I haven't had a chance to watch the entire thing yet. 

We were lucky as it started to rain a bit once we were finished at the airport. We stopped in Stratford for breakfast and then returned to the retreat house to get some work done. While some of us worked very hard, there were some slackers, but hey - it's their time off, they can do what they want. 

I was trying to finish my quilt top, and I was on the last column, but where was the last piece of fabric? I swear I had it cut. Maybe I left it in the bag of fabric that I took to the car. No - I rifled through it all, but couldn't find the piece. I was about to cut another one when I glanced at the table and there it was! DUH!!!!

My missing piece of fabric

And that top got finished before I went to bed. I really like it, and although it takes a bit of time, it's a great one for 2 1/2" strips. Yep - I'd make that one again! By this time, I was alone again in the sewing room! 

Another quilt top done! 

There was a fancy table runner on the table, but we quickly removed that so it wouldn't accidentally get stained. I had a tea towel on the table where I sat! Just in case! 

My spot at the table

We had our dinner catered last night, and oh my goodness, what a treat! Pix Martin was the chef, and she did not disappoint. This was our appetizer! 

Our appetizer

And then we had an excellent BBQ chicken, local veggies, and dill pickle potato salad. And to top it off, we had this for dessert! 

Dessert

We won't do that every time, but it was fabulous not to have to cook! 

And that ends another day of the retreat! Today we go home! I have to laugh because the last retreat I was at was a bit too hot for me, although after the first day of wicked heat, the temperature did settle down. This place with central air is MUCH too cool for me, and I've been sleeping in the basement with three layers of quilts. I LIKE the weight, and I like to be warm! 

The others are used to AC, but it drives me crazy, and I should have remembered to bring a sweater! Next time!!!

And with that, I have one more project I want to sew this morning and then pack up to leave. I have a surprise waiting for me at home, and I'm eager to share it with you! You'll have to wait until tomorrow! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Sit n Sew days are the BEST

Yesterday was yet another super sit n sew day! And we're going to make them a year-long event. For those that accepted my invitation on the blog last year, I'll be sending out a note with future dates! Unfortunately, there's NO ROOM to add anyone at this time. It's so nice to get together with amazing friends. The conversations - well we talked about a lot of subjects yesterday and you don't need to know what they were, but all were very entertaining.

I don't have a lot of time this morning, so I'm going to focus on what the others were working on and I'll show you what I was working on tomorrow.

There were eight of us but I didn't get pictures from everyone. Some people were just starting new projects - I should have taken a picture of Ronda's quilt that she finished - she did post it on Instagram - I could steal the picture from there.

Found the picture on Facebook.

Ronda's quilt

The pattern is called Crazy 8's which for some people, well let's just say it works for some and for others it doesn't (right Shelly).  Ronda bought a bundle of Organic cotton from The Hobby Horse last week. I saw the fabric but wasn't sure I liked them, but now that I see them in a quilt, there are pretty neat. Do I need them? Will I buy them??  Depends if I can find a good use for them. I can't just buy them!

Let's see what some of the others were working on.

France was working on something that looked a lot like paintbrushes!  Now, what would she be making a whole lot of fabric paint brushes for???

Are these paintbrushes?

Turns out, those "paint brushes" make a cute little bunny!!  Isn't that adorable! She's making them for her co-workers and she'll be putting a yummy Easter treat in the little bag.

Cute little Easter basket

 I bet her co-workers love her! Too bad I gave up chocolate or I would have been hinting!

Liz has been working on a project that she bought when we were on retreat last year? Or was that two years ago?  I don't remember. But she went to the local quilt shop where she was just going to browse and came back with a kit!!!  It's absolutely adorable. I believe she's now on the last block. There's still a lot of work to be done, but it's looking super cute!!!

Road Trip block  

 When the embellishments are on the blocks, those little guys are zip lining!!!

A few more of the cute cute cute blocks

 And here's the pattern. It's by McKenna Ryan.

Road Trip by McKenna Ryan

 I have several of these patterns (not Road Trip - different patterns) and every time that Liz brings this, I so want to start one of mine. I even pulled the pattern out yesterday after everyone left. As if!!!  But I could try to do it in the evening after I've shut down the sewing machine. But I like reading in the evening.

Joyce was finishing up an amazing tote bag! She'll be teaching this bag at The Hobby Horse in May. It's called Brooks bag by Auntie's Two. She used foam for the body of the bag. It's got a magnet closure and gorgeous buttons on top.

Brooks Bag

 I would say that if you're interested in taking the class, you had better call soon because a number of us were interested in taking the class!!!!


Pam was working on these cute little blocks from Happy Hollow.  Oh, my god - they are the cutest!!  Do you know what this is??

Ruby red slippers!

These are Dorothy's ruby red slippers from Wizard of Oz. She still has to put the bows on the shoes, but they are adorable. 

Diane was working on half square triangles on a quilt that has a very nice block. I didn't get a picture, but the block was super nice. Do I need to make it? No, but I liked it! And Sharon was working on a Border Creek mystery. One that I don't have and I'm NOT starting another one!  No way!!!! 

Hmm - while I like sit n sew days, there's a huge danger here. Do you see what I see?  I want to make what the others are making and I don't even have time to finish what I have! But I was good - I'm staying focused and I got loads done. I'll share tomorrow.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!