Stephen's Story
Day 2
Today we woke up early to be the first ones at the adventure course. They said it was going to take 4 hours so we wanted to be done before lunch. We went even earlier because it said to be there 30 min early and mom is a rule follower. The first 3 parts all felt the same difficulty even though there was a small hanging wooden tunnel that you had to crawl through. Then after the first 2 greens and the 1 blue following it, the challenges started coming. It was pretty balanced when it came to the variety of obstacles and keeping them the same difficulty. When we got to the red which is the second to the last section, our upper body strength was starting to go as we were using it a lot the last 2 sections. The red had one obstacle which was very difficult but all of the rest were hard but fine. The black or last section was very difficult and required lots of strength and passions. With that in MY mind, the first couple of obstacles were not too terrible, mom was not the same. She was running really low on strength and was not being very passionate or focusing on balancing. She had a hard time with almost all of the obstacles. The 3rd and 2nd to last obstacles were very hard and tested both upper body strength and balance. The 3rd obstacle was doing monkey bars with no platform under you, halfway up a big oak tree. This was very hard for mom but she made it across. This was very good for me because I got a little break before the obstacle and since I have been strengthening my upper body for the last 2-3 weeks it was not as challenging. All of that said Mom and I both finished the obstacle course without any help from the workers and we didn’t need any savings. Dad and Kyle decided that they were done before the red and black sections. We ate lunch right after we were done because we had used all of the nutrients from breakfast on the course. After lunch, we went back to the place and rode on a BMX jump/pump track that Kyle really enjoyed and that I tried out. I brought the GoPro for some POV video but it decided not to work so you will just have to take my word for it. Then we came back home to clean up and get some dinner. I also never went for that run because we did a lot of exercise with little to no break. Tomorrow is the day. Also, tomorrow is when we start our 4-hour drive to Durango Colorado.
Amber's Story
June 27, 2021 - Sunday
Day two in Flagstaff did not disappoint. Of course, I continue to wake up at 4:00am so I have plenty of time to ponder life while laying in bed waiting for the family to wake up. The boys decided they wanted to get tickets to Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course for 8:00am so I didn’t have to wait long to wake everyone up. We grabbed a quick breakfast at “home” and headed out for this adventure. We’ve been wanting to go for years but I wanted to wait until Kyle was 12 so he could do the adult course with us. We got suited up and were the first group out on the course. No slow people in front of us and nobody waiting behind us to go. The weather was a perfect 70 degrees when we started and 75 by the time we finished a couple hours later. This is a must do while in Flagstaff. It was so fun and challenging. We had lots of laughs, screams and it was great exercise. It was priceless watching the family try to climb through the little tunnel at the beginning of the course. Mike and Kyle made it through the first three courses and Stephen and I continued on to the tops of the trees to conquer the red and black obstacles. Oh my. I did not think I was going to make it past the monkey bars and the hanging stirrups but I somehow mustered up the strength to drag my tired body across the last two obstacles. I’m too damn competitive to not finish. The payoff for Stephen was a t-shirt touting his mastery of the course. For me, I left with about 10 new bruises and a big smile knowing this old lady still has some athleticism left in me.
While at the adventure course, Kyle saw the mountain bike park next to the course. He insisted we go home and get the mountain bikes so he could ride the park. When Kyle has his mind set on something, God help us! There was no way we would have any peace on this vacation if we didn’t go back to the mountain bike park. We grabbed lunch and headed back there. Kyle loved every minute of tearing around on the wooded platforms, jumping the ramps and as he says, “doing the technical portions of the course”. Stephen rode around for awhile also but didn’t dig it like Kyle. Mountain biking is just not as fun to him. After Kyle was all tuckered out (which takes forever since he has so much energy), we left and decided to drive around at NAU. Stephen is considering going there for college so I wanted to see the campus. It is beautiful. Mike and I are graduates of ASU, UofA and GCU so we’ve seen all the other Arizona schools but NAU is so much nicer. I would be happy to come up here to Flagstaff often if he decides to make this his home in a few years. After touring around for awhile, we went back to the RV park. The weather is so beautiful that we sat outside and just enjoyed the surroundings. Fortunately, the smoke is being pushed another direction so the skies are clear and besides an occasional hint of the smoke smell it was easy to forget that our state is on fire.
We spent the evening playing an intense Mexican training game out on the picnic table and we made spaghetti and meatballs. It’s weird not grilling while on vacation but no propane stoves of any kind are allowed due to the wildfire danger. We didn’t finish our game. We made it from the 12’s to the 7’s but we have a long way to go to determine the winner of our game. It will be continued at some point in Colorado, our destination tomorrow.
Favorite things: Kyle loved the mountain bike park, Stephen, Mike and I loved the Adventure Course.