4 New Things - In One Day!

At 46 years old sometimes I am reluctant to try new things.

Quite frankly, at 46 years old there are not that many new things that present themselves in the course of a day to try.

At 46 years old I know the consequences of trying new things and, while I hate to admit it, I know that my body doesn’t bounce back as quickly in case the new thing I try doesn’t turn out as expected.

An incident involving a push scooter, a bottle of wine, an unexpected pothole, and a heroic save of a certain son on a promenade in Paris that ended badly still haunts me.

But then there was Thursday.

We were at Bromley Mountain in Southern Vermont. In the winter it is a lovely place to go skiing. In the summer for the past 30 years they have put up an Alpine Slide where you take the chairlift up the mountain and then throw yourself into a small cart on wheels to plummet your way down the mountain in a graphite chute to the tune of 30 miles per hour. But I have done the Alpine Slide for years –nothing new there.

Over the past 10 years or so they keep adding new, better, faster, more exciting things to do to entice the ADD crowd.

So here is what I did:

1. Space bike. I strapped myself in, with my trusty husband at my side, to a bicycle and got whipped around upside down on a circular track. Ride time – about 3 minutes. Recovery time – about 2 hours.

2. Rock wall. Sure I have seen these all over town. My kids have been to birthday parties where this was the activity. But for me? The harnesses alone are enough to turn me off. And the answer is, yes, your butt looks enormous in the rock climbing gear. But one of the benefits of 46 is is that I don’t care anymore. I climbed the wall! There were 4 options ranging in difficulty. I started at 1. Mastered on the first go. I continued up 2. Check. I thought about 3 but no! Saved by the bell. It was time to head up to the 3rd NEW THING of the day.

3. Sun Mountain Flyer

“It cost $1,000,000 to build. It soars as high as a five-story building. It approaches speeds of 50 MPH. At one-half-mile long, it’s the longest thrill ride of its kind in New England, one of only three on the east coast, and one of only ten in the world. It’s the Sun Mountain Flyer, the Sun Mountain Adventure Park’s new double-line ZipRider®, and it’s like no ride you’ve experienced, anywhere. Prepare to meet thy zoom!” – taken from the Web Site.

What this means is that you take the chair lift up. Climb a fire tower. Strap yourself into a diaper/chair thing with lots of hooks with the help of a mostly together, however slightly disinterested, 18 year old with assorted tattoos. And then they push you out the flap of a door so you can zip down the mountain, building up speeds to 50 miles an hour. It is fast, it is beautiful overlooking the Vermont valley, and not too scary. I felt like I was flying…until the end when the swing catches on a stopper, you get whipped up and flung back and poured out onto a platform. Ride Time - about 30 seconds. Recovery time - an hour.

And then…and then…

4. The Red Fox Inn. www.redfoxinn.com This old road house has been a steady friend over the past 15 years or so. It is a beautiful 1.2 mile walk from our Holiday House and in the summer is very casual. The bar serves food and kids are welcomed and on Thursdays it is Open Mic Night.

Do you see where this is going?

Honest, we didn’t know it was Open Mic Night until we got there. We sit up next to the stage, we talk with Mike the guitarist for the house band. The drummer Adam let the kids have a go on his drum kit. My husband, friend Mary from London, and the 4 kids encouraged me, rallied me. I couldn’t ignore the growing drum beat any longer. Mike gladly relinquished his guitar. Adam gave me a back up beat and I PLAYED PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON ON THE STAGE AT THE RED FOX INN! And the best part was that Simon did his interpretive dance as I played. Playing time – 5 minutes tops. Recovery time – 3 days and counting.

Phew. What a day.