On a bright and crisp Sunday morning, 7 participants joined Alex and I as we led them on the first Outdoor Adventures (OA) trip of the fall semester – ziplining with family-owned New York, Texas Zip Line Adventures. Departing in the OA van, Rafiki, we began to the hour-and-a-half drive to our destination to the soothing sounds of house jazz. Before we knew it, Rafiki was winding his way through the trees up a small mountain. Atop we were greeted by the kind staff and their two adorable dogs. We took a moment to take in the sights during this refreshing summer day, and then were thoroughly suited up in all the gear necessary to hit the lines.

We began our adventure with a brief tutorial of the zip-lining process, and then quickly made our way up the stairs to the first zipline. It proved a fun introduction – but only a taste of what’s to come… We continued to tear through the treetops, with some of the more adventurous participants flipping off the platform before launching down the zipline. Our adventure ended with the fastest zipline, and participants had the joy of flying down the zipline at 45 miles per hour! After the final run, we went to enjoy the much-anticipated PB&J sandwiches we had packed for lunch – only to discover that the crucial peanut butter and jelly were missing. Fortunately, the incredibly kind owner, Connie, offered to provide us with peanut butter and locally made-jelly for our sandwiches!

After a wonderful lunch, we packed back into Rafiki and headed back to campus. The tuckered-out participants took the opportunity to rest up on our way home, and we managed to make it back by 3 pm – making for a fun-filled half-day of ziplining for our participants. The participants, many of whom were first-time zipliners, all had positive experiences – so we’re already looking forward to our next trip of the season.

Sasha Falenchuk- SMU OA Trip Leader.