Zipping Through the Trees, Cheaply

One of the adventures on our summer list was to head out to the mountains and zip our way through the trees for some amazing views. I'd already enjoyed my first "flying" adventure when I got my feet wet for the sport at the coast. In my mind, the mountains offered the polar opposite of my coastal experience, so I specifically wrote "Zip line in the North Carolina Mountains" on our Summer Experiences Checklist.

However, when I began perusing websites for mountain region canopy tours, sticker shock knocked me into reality. While the views are no doubt spectacular, we did not want to drop $200 just on admission fees to tick off one thing on our list. We did have other things we wanted to do this summer and we also wanted to be able to buy groceries.

Therefore, I checked out zip line venues in the Piedmont. I found one much closer to where we live, so we would save on gas. Admission would cost less for both of us than the cost of one admission anywhere else. And we would save even more by eating lunch at home rather than at a restaurant. I made an executive decision to zip line close to home and called for a reservation. When I explained to Hubby that we were not headed to the mountains, but we were saving over $150, he was perfectly content. Saving money is never bad news. 

Lessons learned from this particular adventure: 

• It's not necessarily where you go, but who you are with and how much you can save. 
• You don't need to empty your bank account to be adventurous. 
• Wear jeans when you head out to the zip line (anything else, like yoga pants, and you are subjecting yourself to chafing).
• When they ask if you want to bounce, say YES!

Here are some pictures from our zip line tour.

Ready to get up in the trees.

Hubby on approach to landing spot.

Exploring Richland Creek during our break.

A little butterfly hung out with us at the creek.

Heading to a higher platform.

Micki Bare, mother of three, wife, daughter & writer is the associate editor of Piedmont Parent and author of Thurston T. Turtle children's books. 

Email: mickibare (at) gmail.com

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Copyright 2016 Michele Bare