Day two of Brandcation we were up at 6:15 am and hit the ground running by 7am. We traveled a mere 45 minutes from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico up to the Blackwater River State Forest and spent the day at Adventures Unlimited. Upon our arrival we harnessed up and experienced their zip line courses. As a tween, I attended summer camp in Alabama where we did small zip line courses as team building exercises. My previous participation at summer camp led me to think that zipping at Adventures Unlimited would be similar. Boy was I wrong! They runs would prove to be much more intimidating than those I had experienced earlier in my life. Zipping in through the forest at Adventures Unlimited was thrilling and full of laughter.
First we went on a test run to learn how to get on the line and stop properly. For the first couple runs, I grabbed the line with a closed hand, all the while the force of the line kept pushing me forward, leaving my arm stretched behind my body. I learned the hard way to run your gloved hand along the line, not grab it. Each run we climbed higher and higher in the trees. There we were, 11 people piled onto a 7×7 ft platform clipped high in the forest. It was absolutely exciting! We all took our turns zipping down to the next platform and linking up for the next run. Our group was wonderful at cheering each other on and encouraging one another other. The funniest run was the 900 ft run along the coldwater creek.
After zipping we enjoyed a picnic lunch outside the main cabin. The Florida oranges were juicy and gave us the energy we needed to tube the Coldwater Creek!
Adventures Unlimited shuttled our entire group up to the top of the creek. We all unloaded, grabbed a tube and the bonding began. We started off as a large group floating along side one another. But as time passed, we wound up tubing in small groups of 5 or 6 that could even wind down to 1 or 2 people. We lazily floated along the creek chatting about babies, blogging, family life, places we have traveled and much more!
After we finished tubing, we returned to our condo at Pensacola beach. We had some down time, that I spent eating and cleaning up myself. Later that evening we met up with the Escambia Amateur Astronomer’s Association for a star-gazing event along the Gulf. The moon happened the be a super moon that night. The sight of the moon in the telescope was breath taking! You could see each crater and crevice of its landscape. I was in awe of the beauty in the sky.
As the night came to a close Melissa and I spent our last waking minutes exchanging memories from our day. It was exhilarating to climb the ladders, zip line through the forest and tube the creek. I met an amazing group of women from all corners of the America. I have created memories with them that will last me a life time.
Click to read about Day One of Brandcation, Gulf Coast.
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