FEARLESS AUDREY

 

Granddaughter Audrey, 8, concedes nothing to her father, Andy, when it comes to adventurousness. She is zooming down the zip line with arms outstretched, having no need to hold the cable. After this run she did it again.        

ZIP

One of the overpriced but fun attractions at Union Station is what they call the ropes course. You strap and buckle into a harness, click into a overhead guide channel, and off you go, up to three levels above the floor.

Ellie has been just dying to do this. She is too big for the kiddie course but not big enough for the main event without an adult. Neither of her parents have been comfortable with the heights. My creaky spine and joints are of no use. Son Andy, flying through the zip line section, was the perfect guide. We don't know how he got his athletic ability. Certainly not from his parents.           

ADVENTURE

You have to be 48 inches / 122 cm tall to go out on the ropes and zip line course and our tyke just makes it. Children 12 and younger need an adult to accompany them. No surprise that Ellie made a beeline for the ticket counter. Mom wasn't so crazy about being a few meters in the air, harness or not. The kid would gladly have swung from the rafters.

She's been active lately and I have a few choices for a Madeleine Monday tomorrow.          

HE FLOATS THROUGH THE AIR WITH THE GREATEST OF EASE

Going through some other recent folders until I can get back out on the street.  Besides  the aquarium, Union Station has a ropes course/zip line/aerial challenge feature.It's scary but perfectly safe. People are suspended  in a strong harness, shown here, connected by a heavy cable to an overhead track. You couldn't fall if you tried. All comers are welcome, even if you are not as lithe as the daring young man on the flying trapeze.                                                

Hanging From A Wire

A bit more zip line action. You can see the tower in these shots, roughly three stories tall. I am grateful to whoever set up the cloud explosion for my background in the first and third shots. 

Some of the commentators to yesterdays post said that they would never do this, or they tried once and would never do it again. We've had the opportunity in Costa Rica. Mrs. C tried it once and is done for life. I have some spine and joint issues, plus I'm usually carrying about a twenty pound camera bag, so I took a pass. Which is to say, I weenied out.
                  

Zip Line

When I think of zip lines the image I get is of cables strung high in the canopies of Costa Rican forests. Well, you don't need tropical mountains or even a hill. Flat Delmar Boulevard will do just fine.

The Ice Carnival brought in a mobile zip line contraption. People stood in line to climb a tower, get strapped into a harness and shoot off to a low platform a block away. Pretty cool. I may run some more of these.                    

Temporarily Tamarindo: More Adventure!

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We took a long day trip yesterday with a guide to Rincon de la Vieja National Park on the slopes of a volcano. The name means "the old lady's corner." Never did have that explained to me.

Activities include horseback riding, walking suspension bridges in the canopy, riding a zip line, covering yourself with volcanic mud, bathing in natural hot springs, riding a huge water slide and taking photographs. The only other couple on our trip was Kelly and Ralph from Chicago. Above, Kelly hits the final chute of the slide. Below, the intrepid Mrs. C zooms through the last section of the zip line.

We are heading for the airport this morning and will be home by late tonight. Frigid temperatures and snow await us. I don't have any new St. Louis material so I may post some memories of Costa Rica for a bit.

We inspect a state of disrepair today on Downtown St. Louis 365.