Monday, June 30, 2008

High Ropes with CIA & ETM

It was with much anticipation that 22 of us set out from Calvin church way back on May 10 and set our sites on Lafleche Adventure Park in Quebec. The air was with thick with excitement and apprehension as we drove with our Grade 7 & 8 group, our small but wonderful youth group, some of their friends, and some parents as well.


We arrived in tact and proceeded to view several people repelling from great heights seated in harnesses and grasping a carabeener while traveling along a steel cable zip line. A combination of shrieks of delight, as well as screams of terror surrounded us. This, in turn, produced feelings of exhilaration in some of our group, and terror in others.

Abigail is calling home to let her mom know she's going to conquer this course.




Once we finally were registered and given our gear, we proceeded in two groups. Each group was instructed on how to put on their harnesses. Some grasping on quicker than others. After an exhausting uphill climb (at least for me since I'm so out of shape) we arrived at the first of 4 High Ropes courses we would endeavor to conquer. Before being allowed to tackle the courses, and in some cases our own fears, we needed some instruction on how to properly travel through the course, and connect and disconnect from the different sets of obstacles.




We had wonderful weather and a lot of fun. Wilma D got so into what was going on that she received a warning right off the bat (two warnings and you are off the course). She disregarded proper procedure when it came to the zip lines, forgetting to use her hands to slow down. I was shocked.


This often quiet, behind the scenes person has showing a side of herself I had not yet seen. Amazing!! Several others of the group received warnings early into our journey, so don't feel toobad Wilma.



It was neat to watch those with a fear of heights overcome that as we moved foward (I too suffer from this, but this was my 2nd time doing this, so it was better for me). It was also fun to watch how different people tackled the different elements of the course. One part requires you to go through two barrels, separated in the middle. The best way to acheive success on that part of the course is to go on your back and pull yourself along. Well, not Hannah B. She decided to go stomach first, and she paid for it by getting hopelessly stuck. Eventually finding her way out.





Megan Datema forgot to tie her long hair up, and it often got caught in the lines. Ouch.





All in all, though, everyone had fun, we all made it through safely, and hopefully we'll do this again. There are still the extreme zip lines to conquer and that cave to explore.

More pics to view


Christopher, that can't be comfortable!!




Everyone hard at work getting through the course



Yes, we love you too, Ben!



Kevin's thinking that this is getting awfully high now : )



Leah K and Rosalynn B waiting on the course. The rules were, 1 on the ziplines, 2 on the course, and 3 on the tree.


Kevin just zipping along....determined!



Ken holding on for dear life (tee, hee)


Bethany V & Holly V (sisters) just hanging out together.



The dreaded and difficult stirrups. (I cheated on that one)





Thursday, June 12, 2008

stay tuned, more to come

Greetings all who read my blog. I've been really busy the past couple of weeks, so no updates. In Montreal right now taking some R & R. Next week there will be some updates on events that have happened since May. So, come back soon to check out the happenings of ETM, CIA, and our upcoming Special Needs SERVE project.