Solid Rock

Summer 2014 

Rock Climbing is not for the weak... Of ANYTHING 

As we are counting down the days for our cruise in August we are also getting prepared for some of the adventures we will be taking during the length of our cruise. We are cruising on Royal Caribbean and on our particular ship there is a rock-climbing wall. 

June 2014 

While we were in Norman, OK on our family vacation in early June we went to an adventure park for the kids which included an outdoor Rock Climbing Wall. Chris decided he wanted to try it to get in some practice before we got on the boat! This was a very good idea since neither of us had really done this type of thing before. 

I consider myself pretty adventurous and I am not at all scared of heights or anything of the such. However, I got up to that outdoor rock wall in Norman and it was like my whole body got stiff. Unfortunately, I did not pack tennis shoes for that trip so I had to rent "Croc" style shoes to climb up the wall. This did not work out well at all and I thought that was where some of my nervousness came from since I was not in tennis shoes. I tried to climb up the wall 2 times and only made it as high as 2/3-3/4 of the way up... on the EASY SIDE! As I am attempting to climb up the wall there are 10-12 years on each side of me just climbing as fast as they can like it was nothing! In the meantime my palms and whole body is sweating and I am just sitting there holding on for dear life and saying "End of life" like prayers asking Jesus to just get me down! Looking back it is kinda funny because that is just not my personality! 

Chris was able to make it up to the very top and push the siren button on his very first try! But the 10-12 years beat him up to the top in their speed too! He went back and climbed the Easy side again before attempted the Medium side but his upper body strength at that point had given up! 

Chris getting all geared up for his climb! 

Chris's 1st attempt at the Rock Wall. He did GREAT! 

July 2014 

We got so eager to get on our cruise ship and climb their rock wall that we decided we might need some additional practice so we went to an indoor rock climbing place in Spring called Inspire Rock. This was a very interesting and intense place with several options of rock climbing on varying difficulty levels! In fact, this was the exact company that came to my school in April to reward our 3-5th grade testing students. At tha time I thought rock climbing seemed pretty easy and since all of my 9, 10 and 11 year olds were doing it with such ease, I'm sure I could do it "no sweat". Haha... I must have been dreaming! This was NO PIECE OF CAKE! In fact, it was incredibly difficult! 

I had tried it in Norman with no success so this was my chance to prove myself. I started with some very easy levels and still had no luck at getting up to the top. I was, however, getting more used to repelling down afterwards and I actually was starting to enjoy it! The owner of the company came and offered Chris and I some special rock-climbing shoes at no charge. These shoes tremendously helped both Chris and I with the climbing process! In fact, with the help of these shoes I was able to climb to the top of the easiest level in just 1 try. I felt as if I actually achieved something. 

My 1st attempt at the "easy" level... I failed! 

My 4th attempt... I defeated the "easy" and made it to the top!
Thanks to the special shoes...Yeehaw!

In the meantime Chris was climbing to the top of medium and even hard levels. However, we had been climbing for well over 3 hours at this point and our upper bodies were about to give out so we called it a day! 

Chris defeated the "easy" too... In his 1st attempt, of course!

Rock climbing is not for the faint of heart and it is a true test of someone's faith! I don't really know if it is "my cup of tea" but I am enjoying this new adventure with Chris! I cannot wait to get on our cruise ship in a few weeks and climb above the ocean! Less than 2 weeks to go! 

God is good... ALL the time!