Thanks for visiting my blog. I’m documenting my quest to have 60 adventures - one a week for 60 weeks - leading to my 60th birthday. Enjoy!
All in Outdoor Adventures
What could be better than taking a walk in the woods on a crisp November morning with a good friend? Not much, except maybe walking with a purpose.
And that is exactly what orienteering is: walking in the woods with a purpose.
What made me think I could ride my bike nearly 60 miles, with no training?
For many of you, swimming a mile ranks at about the same level of challenge as walking around the block.
For me, though, it is a big deal.
I think horseback riding is a bit like riding a bicycle; while I had a lot to learn, I definitely didn’t feel like a first-timer.
Snowboarders look so cool surfing down the slope, effortlessly shifting their weight to turn one way and then the other. I used to ski; surely the skills transfer. How hard could it be?
Hard. Very, very hard.
Dog people will understand the joy of hanging around with 15 gorgeous, friendly Huskie mixes. Aside from the experience of spending the day outdoors in a beautiful setting and the feeling of having these furry athletes pull you along a snow-packed trail, I wanted to go dogsledding so I could meet the dogs. Nothing quite equals the feeling of saying hello to one of these beauties and having her hug (yes, hug!) you.
The older I get, the more I feel like Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing as he zooms into hyperspace. The world seems to be turning at warp speed: childhood ambles along, young adulthood moves into third gear, then middle age starts to zip by in a turbocharged frenzy.
So I’m trying to slow it down, especially when I’m with my kids.
Some parents rejoice when their children leave home - Yay! Freedom! - but not me. Maybe because I’m single, I feel the loss of my college kid’s presence pretty deeply, even as I’m thrilled with her independence and emerging adulthood. My high school daughter is hardly ever home, between school and dance, and I’m acutely aware that she’ll be leaving in less than three years. Tomorrow. A second. A nano-second …
All this to say that when she accompanied me on my first of sixty adventures, to Lost River Gorge in Woodstock, New Hampshire, spending time with her felt sweet.
