Zip Lining!!!!

Phillip took Friday afternoon off from studying and we went ZIP LINING!!!! We drove over to the French side and parked at the top of a huge hill. The parking lot is actually at the bottom of the huge hill, but we knew there was no way our car would make it back up the hill! (Our car hates hills…it goes sooooo slow up the hills!) So we walked down the hill and the first thing we saw was an ambulance! We walked a little farther and saw that they had just loaded someone onto the ambulance! Freaked me out more than a little and I was pretty much ready to back out at that point! We kept going though, figured we’d at least walk to the office and find out what happened. Well we got there and saw another injured person! She had a swollen arm and knee and was icing her injuries! Turns out, she was on a zip line and slowed down too much so she didn’t make it to the end. She would have had to pull herself to the end. Well, the guide didn’t wait for her to get to the end and he zip lined backwards…didn’t see her, so didn’t brake and he crashed right into her! He passed out when he hit her! He was the one in the ambulance. Freaky!!!! I can’t imagine having your guide pass out a million feet above the trees and miles from the office! Not really sure how they got to him or anything…scary!!!

Well, they said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the trails and that makes sense since they just collided…so we decided to be brave and go for it! (Good thing too because I’m pretty sure if it hadn’t worked out that day, I might not have gone back!!!!!!)

Kristy did NOT like the truck ride up another huge hill…it was a little freaky! They drove us to the top and dropped us off with our tour guide, Dion. He explained the basics to us…we each had a harness thingy around us. Attached to that were 3 important things…2 clips and the thing that fit over the zip line wires. He explained that the clips were the most important and that we should NEVER unclip both at the same time. The whole thing was basically a huge obstacle course with lots of zip lines included! So each time we were climbing/walking across a suspension bridge/climbing down a huge wooden ladder we had to move one clip at a time, always keeping one clipped to the wires so it would catch us if we fell! (We were really high, way above the treetops…you wouldn’t survive a fall!) Sooooo…that was a little scary at first. I love the picture Phillip took of Kristy and me at the start of the first zip line. We both have a terrible look on our faces!!!! We were not sure what to think yet at that point!

So I’m pretty sure in the US, a guide would check you before each zip line to make sure you were attached properly…NOT HERE! Here, you just have to double check them yourself. (Or in my case, triple check, at least!!!!) Once we got started though, it was a blast! I admit, I was still scared at the beginning of each zip line…I actually had a hard time pushing myself off. I had to sit there for like 10 seconds each time and then force myself to go. But as soon as I started each one, it was great!!! And the suspension bridges, climbing ladders, etc. in between the zip lines were really fun too. It was actually quite the work out! Our legs were shaking during some of the climbs! The steps on the ladders were really far apart, which made it even harder! Oh, and the guide taught us to tuck into a ball during the zip lines to build up more speed, which you need on some of them in order to reach the end. (Each zip line was longer than the one before. The longest one was 900 feet long and I couldn’t believe how high up we were! You actually had time during it to look down and look all around. The view was unbelievable! And all you could hear was the whirring of the wires. It was unreal!)

Using all of those muscles definitely made us sore! The worst for me is my abs, from tucking into the ball during the zip lines! I’m still coughing a ton from being sick a couple weeks ago. Now my abs hurt like crazy when I cough! Phillip’s legs are sore and Kristy’s arm is sore from braking. (To brake or slow down during the zip line, you squeeze the wire with one hand. Don’t worry, you have a glove on that hand…still burns like crazy though if you squeeze too hard!!!)

Anyway, it was definitely an adventure. It was absolutely amazing and we are so glad we went! But I have to admit, I was totally scared!!!!! It takes a lot to scare me, I think. I’m usually pretty adventurous…this was extreme!!!! (But wonderful!)

Saturday was my Christmas card making class! Seven girls came and made Christmas cards. (I set up in the multipurpose room at AUC…our place isn’t anywhere near big enough!) We had fun and I think the girls really liked their cards! They turned out super cute!!!! Phillip and Kristy went to the fort in Marigot while I was at school. Glad they got to spend some time together and it worked out perfectly since I had the card class planned a long time ago and couldn’t change the date for it.

This morning, Kristy and I went to Grand Case for SEA GLASS!!!! This is one of my absolute favorite things to do here on the island! We found a ton this morning! Kristy even got super lucky and found 2 big blue pieces!!!! (Blue is really hard to find and we normally only find tiny pieces of it!) I was quite shocked by something new at Grand Case Beach! They added a “pool.” HA! They have this floating structure that you can walk on and it has dive blocks and an area in the middle to swim laps. We wondered if they might have put it up for a race or something. We each dove in a couple times and I swam one lap across and back. It was neat!

Then we drove to Orient Beach. We had fun walking the beach and watching the watersports! We walked right up to the beginning of the nude section of the beach and were highly amused when a totally naked old guy walked out of the ocean, holding his snorkel and mask. Kristy got a picture of him…from just the right angle! You can see everything! HAHAHA! Crazy old man…guess that’s what he gets for being naked in public though! We also got a picture of a couple holding hands. We took the picture from behind…they were walking right in front of us. The guy had on a thong and the lady was topless. The guy was holding a plastic bag that says I heart SXM (St. Maarten). Hilarious!!!! It reminds us of a postcard picture you’d find from here!!!!

Kristy and I spent the afternoon floating on rafts at the pool! Then we cleaned up and got ready for dinner. Phillip met us and we went to Sunset for dinner! We were shocked when we got there…there was a band playing and there were TONS of people there! They even had a crab race! It was hilarious to watch!!! They had tons of crabs in a bucket and each one had a number on its shell. People could buy a number for 3 dollars and then the first 3 crabs to cross the finish line…their people won prizes. It was funny to watch! I’ve certainly never seen a crab race before tonight! Phillip went back to school to study this evening and Kristy and I went to the casino. It was a fun day!