But it sounded like such a good idea?
Have you ever heard a song that really inspired you? For example “Live Like You Were Dying” I’m not 100% sure of the words but it goes something like this,” I went sky diving, Rocky Mountain climbing, rode 2.7 seconds on a bull named old man shoes”... I don’t teally get that last part. What’s so special about a bull named “ old man’s shoes “?
Anyway, I have been craving adventure the past ... well... awhile. But there’s been nobody to “play” with. Nobody to ride horses with, four wheeler, do stuff outside the box of everyday living with.
So my mom and I went to “Silver Dollar City “ in Branson, MO. We had the usual plans, go to shows, see the Christmas tree lighting and watch a parade. Doesn’t that sound nice?
But... when we walked through the turn stiles adventure called my name ,” mam have you taken our tour through the cave?” I’d wanted to in the past but was never quite up to climbing down over 300 stairs. But adventure called my name. ( I guess my name was “mam” that day.). Get this.. it was free! There might be bats, it was dark and we had a guide and 60 people could go! “My peeps”. Finally someone to have an adventure with and it was free! Doesn’t that sound like a marvelous plan? I thought so. It was only supposed to last an hour and half of the cave was under water and we couldn’t go any further than 300 + steps.
The guide warned people with weak hearts, knees or fear of the dark or enclosed spaces to step out of the line. Well I didn’t have any of those problems so, yeah! There’s only one thing he either didn’t say or I didn’t hear. Lung issues. Didn’t even cross my mind. I wasn’t having lung issues if I had heard him say that. My greatest concern was my knees. Not because anything is wrong with them but because that was a lot of steps.
The guide told wonderful stories about the history of the cave and we rested a few times. When we stopped to turn around I thought “that was it?” What were they so worried about?
So we turned around to go back up 300+ steps. The first hundred were a breeze. No problem. It was stuffy and damp and warm, but that was no big deal, right? Then it happened. About time we started up the second set of 100 steps I started breathing harder. No big deal. The guide stayed with me. After all, he said he had an 87% success rate on returns.
By the third set of steps I was thinking that Santa must have one more reindeer that nobody talked about. His name would be " Panter". No big deal. I slowed down and let people pass me. By the last 25 steps the guide got worried. He said “take it slow. It’s easier to get you help if you walk out of the cave by yourself “. So, it was a bit harder than I thought.
We came out of the cave and I sat down and couldn’t catch my breath. I’ve had lung failure before and this felt like that. I was getting enough oxygen but my blood pressure and heart rate were through the roof and I was breathing too fast.
I’m super woman. So I didn’t panic but I knew it was bad. The EMT worker stayed with me coaching my breathing. She went to get my rescue inhaler from my purse and guess what? It wasn’t there. I still didn’t panic, can’t say the same for the EMT or my mother , but I just focused on breathing. After an hour or so I could feel my feet again. When your body is starved for oxygen it takes it from your extremities to support your vital organs. Fun fact.
I told my mother to go see the lights and watch the parade. The EMT had her phone number and I didn’t want her to miss the very thing we went to see. She had a package to pick up and after making sure I was okay, she saw the lighting of the tree and came back. I could feel my feet again and the EMT suggested we get out of the park before the parade started.
She wheeled me to the exit and sent my mother to get the car. There was only one problem. I parked the car when we got there and she didn’t know where it was. I tried to explain it to her but didn’t do a very good job because she couldn’t find it She walked down the row with her keys in her hands pressing the button for the alarm to sound and... nothing.
She said, under her breath, “Jesus help us”. A man overheard her and got her help. They drove around until they found her car. By then the temperature had dropped and so had my body temperature. Not good. Asthma attack and freezing weather do not go well together.
I had to stay under heated blankets for a couple of hours to get my body temperature back up to normal.
I survived , but I decided that I needed to live like I wanted to keep living instead of dying.
So, next time I have a brilliantly adventurous idea I think I’ll go watch the Christmas tree light up. It’s much safer. Have a safe and wise New Year!
Anyway, I have been craving adventure the past ... well... awhile. But there’s been nobody to “play” with. Nobody to ride horses with, four wheeler, do stuff outside the box of everyday living with.
So my mom and I went to “Silver Dollar City “ in Branson, MO. We had the usual plans, go to shows, see the Christmas tree lighting and watch a parade. Doesn’t that sound nice?
But... when we walked through the turn stiles adventure called my name ,” mam have you taken our tour through the cave?” I’d wanted to in the past but was never quite up to climbing down over 300 stairs. But adventure called my name. ( I guess my name was “mam” that day.). Get this.. it was free! There might be bats, it was dark and we had a guide and 60 people could go! “My peeps”. Finally someone to have an adventure with and it was free! Doesn’t that sound like a marvelous plan? I thought so. It was only supposed to last an hour and half of the cave was under water and we couldn’t go any further than 300 + steps.
The guide warned people with weak hearts, knees or fear of the dark or enclosed spaces to step out of the line. Well I didn’t have any of those problems so, yeah! There’s only one thing he either didn’t say or I didn’t hear. Lung issues. Didn’t even cross my mind. I wasn’t having lung issues if I had heard him say that. My greatest concern was my knees. Not because anything is wrong with them but because that was a lot of steps.
The guide told wonderful stories about the history of the cave and we rested a few times. When we stopped to turn around I thought “that was it?” What were they so worried about?
So we turned around to go back up 300+ steps. The first hundred were a breeze. No problem. It was stuffy and damp and warm, but that was no big deal, right? Then it happened. About time we started up the second set of 100 steps I started breathing harder. No big deal. The guide stayed with me. After all, he said he had an 87% success rate on returns.
By the third set of steps I was thinking that Santa must have one more reindeer that nobody talked about. His name would be " Panter". No big deal. I slowed down and let people pass me. By the last 25 steps the guide got worried. He said “take it slow. It’s easier to get you help if you walk out of the cave by yourself “. So, it was a bit harder than I thought.
We came out of the cave and I sat down and couldn’t catch my breath. I’ve had lung failure before and this felt like that. I was getting enough oxygen but my blood pressure and heart rate were through the roof and I was breathing too fast.
I’m super woman. So I didn’t panic but I knew it was bad. The EMT worker stayed with me coaching my breathing. She went to get my rescue inhaler from my purse and guess what? It wasn’t there. I still didn’t panic, can’t say the same for the EMT or my mother , but I just focused on breathing. After an hour or so I could feel my feet again. When your body is starved for oxygen it takes it from your extremities to support your vital organs. Fun fact.
I told my mother to go see the lights and watch the parade. The EMT had her phone number and I didn’t want her to miss the very thing we went to see. She had a package to pick up and after making sure I was okay, she saw the lighting of the tree and came back. I could feel my feet again and the EMT suggested we get out of the park before the parade started.
She wheeled me to the exit and sent my mother to get the car. There was only one problem. I parked the car when we got there and she didn’t know where it was. I tried to explain it to her but didn’t do a very good job because she couldn’t find it She walked down the row with her keys in her hands pressing the button for the alarm to sound and... nothing.
She said, under her breath, “Jesus help us”. A man overheard her and got her help. They drove around until they found her car. By then the temperature had dropped and so had my body temperature. Not good. Asthma attack and freezing weather do not go well together.
I had to stay under heated blankets for a couple of hours to get my body temperature back up to normal.
I survived , but I decided that I needed to live like I wanted to keep living instead of dying.
So, next time I have a brilliantly adventurous idea I think I’ll go watch the Christmas tree light up. It’s much safer. Have a safe and wise New Year!
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