Adventure #31: Finishing the Blog

When I started this journey, I didn't really think about how much work the blog itself would take. While I am a decent writer, I'm not someone who immediately enjoys the process. I am proud of my ability to write well, but it frequently seems like more of a chore. Additionally, with a piece like this, I've struggled to identify with who my audience is (besides my mom) and how to connect in a way that makes it compelling to other people without just having it read like a list of yelp reviews or bragging about all the cool stuff I do.

The more I wrote, though, the more I realized that this writing isn't actually for anybody else-- it's for me. My writing didn't have to be about pleasing the audience (although it's nice when it does) but more about recording my honest experiences over the course of a year. I've struggled with diaries, journals, and blogs in the past (never knowing how to start or having the fortitude to make it to the end) but after I forced myself to keep a journal on the Wonderland Trail I realized how nice it is to be able to look back and re-visit my experiences from that specific perspective and in the moment that I experienced them.

I also liked that this had a clearly defined end. 30 Adventures. 30 blog posts. That's it. This was a self-imposed obligation and nobody I know would have criticized me, or pulled my funding (not that anybody was funding this other than me), or stopped being my friend for not finishing. However, having a deadline encouraged me to keep up with my work--both of writing AND adventuring. I may have gotten to many of these events or activities at some point in my life, but a big factor in making this decision in this year was convincing myself to stop waiting for someday to happen. I want to celebrate the moments that we have EVERY day by taking advantage of the new opportunities that are presented to us without trying to make it something "special". When I get a new notebook I usually skip the first few pages, afraid to mar them with something less than perfection. I had my first LUSH bath bomb in my bathroom cabinet for over a year because I felt like it was a luxury that had to be saved for a special occasion. What I've taken away from this is that special occasions like birthdays (especially ones that end in 0s) or anniversaries should certainly be celebrated and honored, but the ordinariness of any given day shouldn't hold us back from the extraordinary or the special. Any day can be extraordinary if we only find the courage to make it so.

I recently had the idea to look into publishing this blog in a small book, as I think I would like to have a physical copy to put on my shelf and look back at many years from now. There will likely be typos, and photos I may find unflattering, and I will likely be more critical of my work than anybody else would be. But it would be tangible, and it would be permanent, and it would be mine.

I've toyed around with the idea of continuing an adventure blog-- a place to post about spectacular hikes, or my travel and hiking adventures. If I do, I will likely start it on a new page, as I like the sense of completeness that comes with this final post. I will not likely set any deadlines or obligations (unless, of course, I feel like I need it for some reason or another) but I hope that I will be able to carry this sense of adventure with me for many more years to come, and remember the gratification that comes with revisiting my adventures through my own written lens. None of us know exactly how long we have here, so I might as well make the most of my time while I've got the chance. And while I'd much rather spend most of my time hiking, or traveling, or taking opportunities as they present themselves to me, maybe it's not so bad to slow down and reflect on it in writing every once in a while.

A few approximate statistics: 

• Waivers signed: 6
• Airplane rides: 11 
• Calories in one deep fried butter ball: 114
• Miles hiked:141.7
• Money raised for SheJumps (as of May 5th, 2019): $2,702.90 
• Axe throwing games I won: 2
• Total blog posts: 32
• Total word count: 19,728 (copied and pasted into a word document, it's 115 pages, single spaced, size 12 Times New Roman Font!)

Future Adventure ideas:

• Climb Mt. Rainier (to be done July 2019)
• Rafting the Grand Canyon (to be done in August 2019)
• Going to Portugal and Spain with students (to be done in June 2020)
• Going to the 2020 Olympics in Japan (to be done in July 2020)
• Visiting all the National Parks (this one will take a while)
• Taking a trapeze class
• Complete another "challenge" (See 50 plays in a year? Read 50 books in a year? Take at least one camping trip every month?)
• Go to a rock climbing gym
• Zone out in a float-tank session
• Paragliding and parasailing (yes, they're different)
• Attend performances at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
• Get a Master's Degree
• Hike the Tour du Mont Blanc
• Walk the Camino de Santiago

This will be an ever changing and growing list, and I'm definitely open to suggestions

Thanks to all 42 of you who adventured with me: 
Mike C.
Mike C. (a different one)
Kris C.
Nathan C.
Chris D.
Margaret E.
Derrek G.
Sandy H.
Briana K.
Joe K.
Tim L.
Adriana L.
Alison L.
Shannon M. L.
Spencer M.
Leslie N.
Frank O.
Mattie O.
Cassondra S.
Reece S.
Henry S.
Rebecca S.
Steve S.
Rebekah S.
Mike S.
Jessica S.
Russ S. 
Nikky S.
Jed T.
Rob W.
Alex W.
Kate W.

And my 10 students who came to London with me:
Gage B.
Gabe B.
Payton C.
Molly L.
Esperanza M-V.
Marilyn M.
Jason P.
Gabriella R.
Julia S.
Kyle T.

Adventure #30: Ziplining

I did it! 30 Adventures in 365 Days!

The final adventure was going ziplining! While I had a great afternoon whizzing through the trees at top speed, this is definitely something I'd look forward to doing more when I travel, so I could learn more about the natural world of a place that I didn't grow up in.

Canopy Tours NW is quite the operation, and was a great place to give it a try for the first time though! We started by signing a liability waiver, which always sets the mood for what you're getting into. Part of the orientation included reassurance that the lines are designed to carry 26,000 pounds (yeah, you read that right) and that we'll be clipped into two separate lines at the same time as a safety precaution. Definitely nothing to worry about here. We all stepped into our harnesses, buckled on our helmets, and loaded into a vintage Swiss army vehicle called a Unimog. We rumbled our way up through the Kristoferson Family Farm land to the top of the hill where our adventure would start.

Safety first!

The Unimog!

The day included six different lines, all with their own unique designs to consider--line one introduced us to the breaking system, and line two included a running stop. Lines three and four both had the highest platforms which causes your gut to drop just a little as you step off the edge trying to convince your stomach that you don't weigh more than 26,000 pounds. Line five was the longest (660 feet long which is larger than the Space Needle is tall!) and line six required a very tight cannonball position to make it all the way across.

We also got two brief walks through the woods where our guides--Paddy and Jenna-- spoke about the local flora, and even gave us a taste of Miner's Lettuce (Mike and I both agreed it needed some ranch dressing). They also spoke about Trilliums, Nettles, Douglas Firs, and Western Red Cedars. This is where I think I'd enjoy learning more about a place I'm not so familiar with, as I had already learned a lot about the plant life in the area. It was still a very nice way to see the forest from a different perspective than I normally do.

Miner's Lettuce: better with ranch

The final descent from a cedar tree involved stepping through a large hole in the platform, and using a DEUS controlled descent device to slowly lower us to the ground. This device was like a cross between belaying and using an elevator--while we hung only from our harness, the machine did all the work to slow us down to a manageable speed. All of the rides were very smooth, and required little to no technical skill from the riders. If the weather was better around here, I would love to commute to work via zipline!

A nice break in the middle of the woods!

At the end of the day, I went to meet my family for drinks at Bell Harbor Marina and dinner at Red Cedar and Sage in the Pike Place Market. I highly recommend the prime rib! All-in-all, an excellent end to a fantastic year.

Stay tuned for one more post wrapping up all my experiences this year!

Adventure #29: Escape Room

I have long stated that I'm not a huge fan of puzzles, so why I decided to do an escape room, I'm not sure, but something about it felt different, and I'm SO glad that I leaned into that feeling!

The evening started out a little rough, as I struggled to even to find the entrance to The Escape Artist in West Seattle. I definitely walked by the door about three times before I found it...not a good omen for the evening.

The sign isn't subtle. I'm just oblivious. 

Usually, my aversion to puzzles is that I see no point; I find them to be time wasters, with no real reward. A jigsaw puzzle yields a pretty picture, but the picture is also on the front of the box. A metal ring puzzle yields a ring, but the entire purpose is then to put the ring back into the puzzle. See? Pointless. A piece of Ikea furniture is often like a puzzle, but you usually end up with a functional and stylish piece of furniture, which is much better than a picture, or a metal ring (and there are usually meatballs and delicious lingonberry sauce involved).

In the escape room, however, each puzzle solved is incredibly gratifying, because it leads to the next puzzle, which ultimately leads towards a team focused goal--"escaping". And I am ALL about collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving. As a theatre teacher and improvisor, most of my career is collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving, and I love getting to work with a variety of people to find the best way to solve a problem (whether that problem is how to design a set with multiple locations that will fit on one tiny stage, how to push a student off of a "building", or just how to solve a problem like Maria). Challenging ourselves to work together to solve a variety of puzzles (physical wooden puzzles, math problems, mazes, decoding symbols, riddles, and more) was a fascinating way to get to know each other better, and think outside the box a bit. While I was not feeling terribly optimistic about escaping at first, I was optimistic about having fun, so success was inevitable.

The leaderboard for each of their three games: Trapped in Space, The 13th Floor, and SpellStruck

The time limit also added a bit of pressure, and encouraged us to move quickly. There is a leader-board with the best times for each of their three rooms, but that was the least of my worries. The instructions we were given made it seem like I should be more focused on keeping my temper in check, and not kicking, hitting, punching, yelling or biting (yes...biting) my teammates. I hate to think of the scenarios that the game masters have had to deal with as people struggle through each challenge.

Our adventure started as our game master set the scene--we were playing the role of avid campers who had gone out to explore in the forest of West Seattle, and while there have been rumors about a coven of witches that may be involved in the disappearance of people through the years, we paid no heed. Suddenly, we found ourselves TRAPPED in their cabin, with only an hour to escape before our souls would be gone forever!

There is a major lack of photos in this post, despite ALL of the adventure we had, because the people who create these games work very hard to create a variety of challenges, and revealing those secrets online is a big no-no. I can state though that the room was beautifully and intricately designed, with great attention to detail, and crafted in ways that you can't tell if something is supposed to open or move, or light up until (like magic) it does. They also sneakily added a personal touch, with a personalized "Happy 29th Adventure" sign in part of the room!

In the end...WE ESCAPED! And, not only did we escape, but we actually took the 5th position on the leader board with a time of 39:38! We had a few hiccups along the way and used two of our three offered clues, but in the end, our recorded time beat out the previous holder by 20 seconds! This room has a 30% success rate overall, so I'm very proud of what we were able to do. Going with a group of people that I knew and trusted was a huge part of our success. We were able to divide and conquer the puzzles, so we were working on multiple aspects at any given time. Trying to do this with only two brains (rather than five) would have made it much tougher. There's also something to be said about having too many cooks in the kitchen though, so it was great to have the perfect balance.

SUCCESS!

The Escape Artist has two other rooms with two completely separate themes, and I would love to go solve them too, so if anybody wants to join me, let me know! I'm definitely hooked! I've already started trying to think of other potential scenarios that would be fun to "escape" from (A Soviet war bunker? A sinking ship? One that requires complete silence like The Quiet Place or blindfolds like Birdbox? A prop/furniture storage room in a haunted theatre?) and the designer in me would love to be in on the ground floor of planning something like this. Additionally, they'll update the rooms with new themes and new challenges in about a year, so there will certainly be more to come!

ONE MORE ADVENTURE TO GO!