At the next register a lady about my age (closer to 50 than I like to admit) was being helped by a young girl and they were talking about boyfriends, children, getting married, that kind of stuff. My clerk was busy with the computer so I passed the time eavesdropping on the other conversaton, adding a smile or a nod as appropriate.

The topic of the conversation wasn’t important, what I found interesting was how much the young clerk reminded me of myself when I was a young 20 something. She was talking about life, children, and relationships with the absolute certainty that she had it all figured out.

I remember feeling that way. I distinctly remember thinking that it was all pretty simple, I didn’t know why other people had so much trouble with their children, their relationships, life in general. It was easy! Just do what I was doing and it would all be a piece of cake.

Fast forward 25 years and I seem to have forgotten most of what I knew back then! The kids seem to have turned out OK, but I think that was more luck than skill or knowledge on my part. Relationships don’t make any sense to me at all, either it is working or it is not, Lord only knows why. And the meaning of life? Now I know that no one has that figured out.

I remember when I was young, telling my parents and other “older” relatives all about my opinions on life. I remember them listening and smiling, and even agreeing with me, just like the “older” lady in the phone store. Not once did they ever try and burst my bubble. No one ever said to me…”Live a little sweetie, let life slap you around a bit, throw you a few curve balls, and then come back and tell me about how you have it all figured out.” I love them for that.

So I finish my business at the phone store, happy with my new phone. I smile at the clerk and wish her the best. I hope it is a long time before she “forgets” how simple life and relationships are. I hope no one ever bursts her bubble, and one day she will be listening to some young girl, smiling and thinking to herself… “I remember when I had it all figured out”

Tevas and Kayaks

Today is my birthday and this is a picture of some of my favorite things.  And not just my toes.  On my feet are my Teva sandles.   I have had them for over 3 years now and when I am having fun they are usually on my feet.  They have climbed Mayan ruins in Belize, and hiked up side canyons in the Grand Canyon.   Sometimes I just wear them around town.   Today I was kayaking.

My other favorite thing in this picture is my kayak.   Well, the very tip of my kayak.   It is short and squat, a little like me.  But very stable.  It has yet to dump me in the lake when I don’t want to go swimming.  It is getting a little banged up and faded, but that is because I use it a lot.

In this picture is also the little lake near my house where I go kayaking. I am not going to tell you the name of the lake or where it is.  Not many people know about this little lake and so it is usually empty when I want to go kayaking.

My Kayak

Here is a better picture of my kayak.  And the pretty little lake I like to kayak in.   You can also see another one of my favorite things inside my kayak.  Right up front there is my camelback.  It is my little backpack that holds water, lunch, and a few odds and ends.  It has gone a lot of the same places my Tevas have gone.

So today has been a good day.   I started with a nice walk in the local park.  The flowers were beautiful. I didn’t have my camera with me so you will have to take my word for it.   When I got home I showered and then went to lunch with my mother-in-law.  We had Mongolian BBQ at the local Asian buffet.  Then I went through the buffet and picked out my favorite foods.  Sushi and cream cheese wontons.   For desert I had soft serve ice cream with chocolate sprinkles, peanuts and bananas.   Then I went kayaking.   Now hubby is making BBQ for dinner, and I hear that dear daughter is bringing home chocolate cake.

I hope your day has been as nice!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I wish this was a picture of me climbing the wall, but I have climbed to the top of that wall!  The climber in the picture is my daughter, and she made it all the way to the top.
She took the hard route.

Unlike outdoor rocks, the rocks at the indoor gym are color coded to show different tracks up the wall. Some tracks are easy, some are hard, some have special challenges. I am still working on the easy ones.  My daughter skipped right to the intermediate level routes.

You would think that you would need a lot of upper body strength to climb.  But at the beginner level you really don’t.  You use your legs to move up the wall.  Your arms and hands are just for balance and stabilization.

It really becomes fun when you learn to trust your rope.  When you trust your rope (and your belayer, the person who is holding the rope for you) you know you really can’t get hurt.  If you fall you will just swing a little bit, and that is all.  So you can try for tricky moves, or even jump to get over an obstacle, and if you miss it is no big deal.

The hardest part about indoor rock climbing, when you are forty something and have a few extra pounds, is that it is not a skill you can work out in private. Lots of people may be watching you, and not from the most flattering angle if you know what I mean! At the very least your belayer will be watching your every move. And then there is the fact that it seems like most of the people in the gym seem to be really lean and really fit. Rock climbing is a great sport for overall fitness. But for the most part everyone is the gym is really supportive of the newbies. They really seem to enjoy sharing their sport, and offering tips on how to get over that next obstacle.

You don’t really need to buy anything to get started with indoor rock climbing. You can rent everything you need at the gym. Wear clothes that are comfortable that you can mover freely in. The price for indoor rock climbing is pretty reasonable. For 2 hours of climbing, harness and shoe rental I pay around $15. The gym I go to includes a belay class for free, so you can bring a partner and take turns climbing and belaying. (The belayer is the person that holds the rope, their job is to make sure you don’t fall so be sure to bring someone you can trust will pay attention!)

Climb On!

As is typical for our group, there were almost as many adults as kids.  My daughter was sick, so she didn’t go but I did.  Another member of the crew wasn’t able to make it, but that didn’t keep her mom from coming either.  All in all we had 9 adults and 8 Venture Crew Members and 3 guests.

Our crew is working on visiting local waterfalls.   We are alternating biking and hiking. You can read a little bit about last month’s bike ride to Feather Falls in this post. Today was a much dryer hike to Hidden Falls.  Hidden Falls is not a large waterfall, only about 30 feet, but it is located  in a nice park, just about 5 miles out of town.  We had to hike 2 miles from the parking area to the falls, but the trails were well marked, and for the most part, not difficult at all.  We had lunch at the falls, and then headed back to town to do some Geocaching.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

Thanks to geocaching.com for the definition!

For today we had the co-ordinates for 3 different geocaches.   The first was in an old cemetery.   You would think, that with the co-ordinates it would be no problem finding the cache, but that is not the case.  The GPS units that we had were only accurate to 30 feet, so even when it said we were practically on top of the cache, we still had quite a bit of looking to do.  Eventually we found the cache in some bushes near the edge of the cemetery.   It was just a small green container. Opening it up we added our crew’s name to the list of those who had found the  cache, and then carefully put it back for the next person to find.

Our next cache was in a nearby residential neighborhood. Our clue told us that the cache was for an 8 year old boy, and that he was watching it all the time. Having just come from the cemetery this was a little spooky.  We were also told that the cache was on private property with permission of the property owners.   We narrow the area down to the front yard of a home, but we are reluctant to search too carefully.  Then a girl of about 10 comes out of the house, “are you guys geocachers? ” “We sure are!” She runs into the house and comes back with her mom, and then goes running down the street to get her brother. (The little boy in the clue!)  The kids are so excited we are searching for their cache.  It turns out their grandparents are avid geocachers and set it up for them.   We find the cache inside a small path light and add our names.  Here we leave a small toy soldier.  We have a great time talking with the mom and kids, and then we are off to find our next treasure.

Found the cache! Nice hiding spot!

We were not able to find our last cache. We know it is near the local In-N-Out Burger and our clue is In OR Out, but with the freeway nearby, and all the cars going in and out of the In-N-Out, it just wasn’t much fun to look for. We console ourselves with burgers and animal style fries and reflect on a day well spent.

You see, it wasn’t that many years ago that I would have been too afraid to go whitewater rafting, rock climbing, or mountain bike riding. When I think about it, it even seems a little silly to me that a slightly overweight, late forties woman would suddenly think she is mountain woman and start doing all these outdoor things. But still, just last weekend, I rode my mountain bike 3 miles, and then hiked another 1/2 mile just to see a waterfall. In the rain, and mud. On a trail on the side of a cliff. Mud is very slippery, and the brakes on my bike don’t work well when they are wet. But the waterfall was beautiful, and I had a great time!

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t do any of these things well. In fact, I do them pretty poorly. On my bike ride I got my pants caught in my chain…twice! Fortunately I was going so slow I didn’t crash.

Hopefully, by sharing my adventures with you, maybe I can make you believe that you can be too overweight, and too old, and too out of shape, but you can still do all this cool stuff, and have fun. And by having fun, you find you are losing weight and getting in shape, and you don’t feel so old after all!