Adventures on the Gorge

Our adventure that we were suppose to endure on Thursday was moved to today. Thankfully we were able to reschedule with out any issues. 

We were going Zip lining yall, I've never been. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous at first. We were doing two different tours Gravity first then Tree Tops. Going EXTREME then MELLOWING out a bit. 
Here's a brief bit of info on Gravity that I got on line to help better explain what we did. 


~~~~On Gravity, you're zipping from mountain ridge to mountain ridge. The views are stunning and so is the height and speed. Gravity climaxes with the 3100-foot long Adrena-Line, the longest and fasts single zip line in the eastern U.S. Adrena-Line zippers routinely hit speeds of over 55 mph! And the best part? There are two of them side by side, so you can race your friends!
This open-air zipline soars a jaw-dropping 200 feet above the ground at its highest point taking riders on over a 1.5 mile long tour that zigzags across the ridgeline of a mountain bowl and offers amazing birds-eye views of the legendary gorge and the changing fall foliage in the valley below.
You'll start from a platform on one of the highest points above the valley launching into two consecutive warm-up zips, each about 500 feet long. Then, the real action kicks-in with the third zip crossing a distance of 1800 feet over the bowl of the mountain. The fourth and fifth heart-stopping zips stretch 1,600 and 1,300 feet, respectively, reaching heights of about 200 feet above the ground and speeds up to 50 miles per hour.  Next is the LONGEST zip line on the East Coast - AdrenaLine.  AdrenaLine is 3150 feet long and will get you moving 50-60 miles per hour!~~~~

Here we are getting "schooled" at ground school on the do's & don't of zip lining and how it all works. This one was only 3 feet of the ground from here we went to the next one which was 500 feet off the ground, still in "ground school". After completing and passing through the first zip I was set. I wasn't nervous any more, just ready to get going.

Waiting our turn on the first zip. Don't we just look so cute with our hats on :). I had a blast, the views were beautifully breath taking. So glad I was able to experience this with the Spouse her mom and B, we had loads of fun.

This gives you a idea of how long the zips really are, you can get going really fast if you tuck your knees and lean back. If you look closely at the picture below to the left you can see the deck in the background were I came from. The picture below on the right is the double zip, the spouse and I raced but some how she got a freaking awesome start and beat me out of the water.

All four of us!!!! The last & longest zip AdrenaLine still to come.

S & I coming in on the double zip below to the left. She's on the left & I'm to the right.
After Gravity was over we had a few hours to wait till our TreeTop tour. Lunch was included in our package which we chowed down on while we waited, it was so yummy. Buffet style all you can eat, pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, mash potato's & salad. We all manage to take a little cat nap in the car after lunch, we were so tired from getting up early and making the two hour drive out to Adventures on the Gorge. Our TreeTop tour got going just before 2pm and before the rain started coming in. They told us that they still go through with the tours until it starts to thunder storm and lightening is spotted. All strapped up, we went through "ground school again" (since it was completely different than Gravity we had to go through it again.)
Here's a brief bit of info on what TreeTops is.
~~~~You will complete 10 zip lines. Zip lines vary in length from just over 100 feet to as long as 730 feet, with zip speeds of up to  30 miles an hour! You will walk on 5 sky bridges, take 3 short hikes to gain elevation and end your adventure with a rappel down from the final platform!~~~~

We were about 2 1/2 -3 zip's into our afternoon when the sky let loose, crazy buckets of rain pouring on us. No big deal we kept going on, some of us had jackets on but it was still pretty cold. Sadly the weather got CRAZY!!!!! The wind picked up and literally pushed the trees in over the zip lines causing them to disappear for a moment. We still had a few people on the farther platform that we had to get over to were the rest of the group was. As we heard them communicating over their walkie talkie about what needed to be done, we hugged the tree as tight as we could. You could see the platform swaying back and forth as the wind picked up. Finally we were all on one platform crouched down together as our tour guides fixed up the rappel ropes. It was unsafe to keep going on, with the tree branches closing in on the lines we had no choice but to rappel down a 30ft something high tree. To say I was freaked would be a complete understatement, I was terrified to no end. One by one we rappelled down the tree, my thing all day was I couldn't go first and I couldn't go last, just something about it made me uneasy. Finally it was my turn, leaving S & B behind me, the instructor hooked me up and I lost it. Yup, I cried like a baby I was terrified, I just knew I was going to go crashing to the bottom. After about 3 attempts I finally somehow made my way to solid ground, tears running down my face and all. I think if the whole situation was different and we weren't having to "emergency" evacuate I wouldn't have been as freaked. Sadly this was the end of our tour :(, we were given two options. We could either sit it out and wait for the rain to pass and start over or we could get a rain check. We went with the rain check, I was heading back to DC for the night and S & B were heading to Ohio for the weekend, we both needed to get on the road. Thankfully the rain check is good for TWO YEARS so we will be able to come back next summer and make a weekend out of it. There is so much to do there at the facility Whitewater Rafting, Walking the Cat walk of the New River Gorge Bridge and more. I couldn't help but think that none of this would have happened if I wouldn't have hit that tire the day before. I know it wasn't my fault and I didn't seek it out to hit but still it through a wrench in our plans.
(the picture below to the right is one of the very few I got from TreeTops)















We were soaked from the rain but that didn't keep me from snapping one last picture of the spouse & I before we headed out. I HATE hate HATE goodbyes, even if its just a see you soon it still SUCKS major!!!! We'll be back together in October for our week long trip with the Mistress aka Nancy but that seems like forever away. I had a fabulous trip so many new experiences and memories made that I will never forget. I can't wait to come back for our weekend here at the park, and since we will have plenty of time to plan the hubbs will get to come as well.

Back on the road for me to the DC / VA area, it was a LONG AWFUL 5 hour drive, more on that one to come along with my day back in the city tomorrow!!!! 

~DAY 232~