Friends get you to try new things!

By Kitty Lapin Agile on October 22, 2013 • ( 1 )

I actually had time to get out my camera from my backpack!

Bret is a friend I first met online at the JREF forum, and then in real life at TAM2. He’s from Texas and terrific, like most Texans.

He’s a lover of cats, and has traveled and lived around the world growing up in a military family.

Most of all, he’s very generous, however he also got a sense of humor. We were both on one of the wonderful JREF Amazing Adventure cruises, which was organized and put on by Jeff Wagg when he showed both is generous and humorous side. This cruise was to Alaska and the first time I had ever been on a cruise ship.

It was also the first time I ever had tequila. I had mentioned at some point I had never had any, Bret decided that I needed to rectify that immediately. He bought me two small glasses of that deceptive drink. We won’t talk about what happened later. Somewhere there are photographs of me impersonating a walrus with bread sticks.

The ship stopped at a wonderful island with all sorts of fun thing to do, if you paid extra. I was considering what I might want to take part in when Bret suddenly appeared and asked if I would like to go on a “zip line”. I had no clue what a “zip line” was, but agreed it seemed like fun. He insisted on paying for it. It was his treat. No, he wasn’t going with me.

I then was hustled onto a small school bus and driven for about half an hour, up up up up up UP UP UP UP UP.

The other people in the bus seemed nervous and there was a jug of orange juice and vodka being passed around. The higher we went, the more I decided to join in the drinking.

Finally we stopped at the top of the entire island and I discovered just what a zip line was. The bus drove off. We were the last group of the day, and it was zip or stay.

I decided to go for it, even though I dislike heights. I was securely strapped in and did not look down, until I was suddenly whizzing through the air. I opened my eyes and it was, simply wonderful. I was so happy, I even managed to pull out my camera and take a photograph. It was truly one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had. I later found out it is the longest zip line in the world. It’s truly well run and exciting, even for people that are afraid of heights.

I can’t thank Bret enough, because if I had known what a zip line was, I would never have gone. While I’m not sure about the tequila, the zip line is one gift he gave me I’ll never regret.