Category: adventure

adventure, friendship

Soul Refreshment

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I read a comment recently on social media.  It went something like this: friendship can be soul refreshing. That’s it. Simple. Clever. Clear. Refreshing the soul can be as easy as 1-2-3. Take the time. Gather your friends. Make room on the calendar…

Smile. Giggle. Do silly things. Take pictures. Share life updates. Repeat. Why? It’s refreshment for the soul. A recharge to the doom and gloom of the ordinary day. It’s a new outlook on the day even if it’s for a short time. I enjoy my time with friends and my refreshment spills over into other areas of life. 

For me today it was about the insert in the Jenga box. The cardboard piece that looks like an electrical outlet. It really wasn’t part of the game but it turned into part of my game. A photo session of sorts. For those few moments, we giggled and embraced our silly side. Not for any particular reason. The outcome is one for my memory book.

Below is a glimpse of my candids. These people are real. The smiles are genuine. These are a few of my pals and I very much enjoying doing whatever with them when we can get time all together. Fit friends all separated by different careers, family lives and social circles yet our passion for fitness has bound us to true pals. 

Time and distance can separate us but our bond is strong. One of these gems is training for a marathon. One is building endurance for a triathlon. One is conquering workouts at home to avoid Covid blah. A couple are die hard morning girls hitting the gym in the wee hours when they don’t want to get out from under the covers. One is challenging herself with 75 hard. Special. Unique. Amazing. Women of power in many ways.

In the end we all cheer for each other. By text. Video chat. Email. In-person. These friends of mine are refreshment for my soul. No matter the day, they are some of the strong women I lean on.

This is yet another adventure with rainbow sugar socks and rainbow fancy feet however this time bubbles pixie duster joined in along with some others. For those of you read my last adventure post, you would know where the name aliases came from. If not it might be worth a look back. I’ll try to mention some names in my upcoming adventures, friends edition.

adventure

Brave Enough

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“What are you doing tonight?”

“Um….. why?”

I was walking out of work.

“Tennis clinic. You should come.”

Pause….

Then the textual parade of excuses… It’s my only night at home this week. It’s my laundry day. I don’t want to wait around for two hours. I’ve never played before. I don’t have the right shoes.

(Inside, the mental parade of excuses…I don’t like looking stupid. I’m uncoordinated and awkward. I don’t like not knowing what I am doing. Shit, I’m just scared to be bad at something.)

The the opposing thoughts chime in…I’m always grouchy when I’m not invited to things. (I call it a case of the “pouty-pout left-outs.”) But how can I be mad if I don’t take people up on it when they include me?

I took the long drive home, started my laundry, got my stuff together for the next day, then changed my clothes and headed back out to go to tennis. I’m not gonna lie, my mental soundtrack was a long grouchy list of complaints. I was not fun to be around, so it was good I drove by myself. “Will there be other beginners?” I asked in text. “Yes” my friend said. Ok. Now to just jump into something completely new. Deep breath and go.

I felt kinda thrown in the deep end. Drills started without the “this is the racquet, this is how you hold it, this is what the parts of the court are called” ‘Tennis for Dummies’ I expected and needed.

But, I just hopped in line, asked some women their names, cheered for them when they made a good shot, laughed at myself when I made (many) bad shots, felt sort of accomplished when I made the occasional good one…and just kept going. I laughed. I moved. I listened. I tried. I did something entirely new. And then, miracle of miracles, I did it again the next week.

It does take bravery to take on new things. For some reason, it feels especially brave to do it when you can just be old and set in your ways. But learning continues at all ages, or at least the opportunity to learn does. Keep those bravery muscles fresh and limber. Keep friends around you who push you to keep trying things. Be adventurous. Be willing to suck at something new. It’s the only way to eventually get better.

adventure

It’s Time to Roll

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Rolling out on a plush set of new wheels is my newest project or vision. It’s 2022 and I decided to try some new things, see some new places, meet some new faces and fill up my memory bank with a bunch of adventures. I’m aiming for 50 new-to-me adventures this year and of course I will blog about a few as time passes or maybe while I’m passing time in my RV.

Off I went to get me a motorized recreational vehicle. Not too big and not too small. Just the right size for a long weekend or a short trip. Small enough fit into a national park but not too small to make me feel like a sardine in a can. The first trial run is set on the calendar to make sure I’m packed and stacked with the essentials and operating efficiently so I can enjoy my trips wherever the road takes me.

My Amazon cart is filling up with the wish list items, the need list items, and a few recommendations from friends to be a road warrior of sorts. A-camping I shall go. How many states will I adventure through or to? Who will I take with me? How many photos will I share? Will a be a camping enthusiast or will I just give camping a go?

Nobody really knows, including me. The point is I’m giving it a try. I’m taking a leap of faith. I’m dumping my piggy bank out to say adventures will pay more dividends than the going rate of interest at the bank. Don’t wait. Today is here. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. 

The wheels are rolling. The mind is flowing. The adventures are about to be growing. If you are an avid camper, van life extraordinaire shoot me a reply and let me know what you recommend for my must haves for my new temporary home on wheels. 

adventure

Mystery Coffee Date

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The adventure begins with the drive. Over the bridge, missed exits, over the bridge again and again. The chaos that ensued on the ride to the coffee house in an unknown city was one for the record books. Giggles galore, but we made it!

The Bold Bean was our destination for today’s adventure. The task was to order three coffees selected by the barista with ingredients unknown to us. A complete surprise to uncover the flavors or fail trying. We sipped and sipped. We took notes on our phone for suspected flavors. We snacked a little to cleanse our pallet. We had to sip and sort out the flavors. We failed miserably.

Coffee 1 was a lavender vanilla latte. We thought it had curry. This was a major failure on our part.

Coffee 2 was curry chocolate cappuccino. We got the chocolate right only because of the darker coloring but we really thought the flavor was nutmeg. Wrong again!

Coffee 3 was iced vanilla / honey / cinnamon. We got the cinnamon right only because of the aroma and the residue on the top of the ice. Also we thought this had oat milk but it was whole milk. We are not good at guessing.

This adventure was super fun. 1 hour of sipping, sorting out flavors, snacking on pastries and lots of photos to prove how bold we were today in trying something new to us.

My partner in crime was my pal Kim who traveled miles upon miles with many missed turns, oh shit moments, and too many bridges to count for this experience. It’s a one of kind Saturday morning episode of KT’s Bad Idea Club. She was a willing participant for the most part.

Before I wrap up this post I must also explain the ambiance of the coffee house. It’s an eclectic and calming place. From exposed ceiling beams to the abundance of brick and simplistic furnishings. The patrons are a mixed bag. We have two cyclists nearby breaking from their morning ride. A few couples out on what appears to be a morning date. A few groups of young ladies catching up on life. The strays on their laptop as a big party of one. The dad who is adventuring with his toddler boys to the coffee shop. Soft background music adds to the calm.

And I can’t forget to give a sweet nod to my barista. The fun girl who helped me with the challenge. The one who took a picture of what she made so she wouldn’t forget after she took 50 other orders. And the name for the order was Frances today. For those of you who know me would giggle as I always use an alias at a coffee shop when ordering.

adventure

Rainbow Sugar Socks

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The adventure has begun. Rainbow Sugar Socks and Rainbow Fancy Feet have joined up for an adventure with Happy Pixie Duster. Who would have thought my calendar flip today would have provided such a spark to my little weekend getaway?

The traveling trio now has fun names or aliases to use on our road trip. Sure we will be chasing rainbows and sprinkling pixie dust on our travel but we also have fun names to giggle about. There really is a purpose for the travel but that’s almost secondary to the fun, companionship, and memories that we will create along the way. I’m in the midst of an adventure challenge of sorts. Many unknowns under this cover, but friends are required for success. The cover below is a sneak peek.

This challenge is a scratch off of sorts with timed activities as well as location specific tasks. A wonderful gift I received this year that will be full of many unknowns which is perfectly fine for me. I guess part of the challenge is coercing my friends to partake in the unknown without being able to back out. The first friend is taking that leap of faith this weekend. It’s going to be epic.

This blog post will be dedicated to the first of many assigned adventures. Wish us luck and stay tuned for a recap if it’s story worthy.