Yesterday was the final day of this year's Appalachian Trail Days
celebration in Damascus,
Virginia, but the fun and excitement lasted way into the evening! As in
previous days, the town park was packed with hordes of hikers and tourists
enjoying the great live Bluegrass
music, tasty exotic food and well-stocked vendor booths.
Cheria and I had the pleasure of spending part of the afternoon enjoying the
festivities with my aunt and several of my cousins, including Jordan - the
beautiful and adventurous little girl featured in today's picture! During a
break in the music, Jordan whispered to me that she would love to go rock
climbing on the simulated rock wall that stood near the park entrance, so off we
went after getting permission from her grandmother!
There was no line when we arrived at the wall, so the nice young lady in charge
took our money and strapped the safety harness onto Jordon and told her to have
at it. She took off up the wall like a pro, expertly moving from rock to rock
until she made it all the way to the top and rang the bell! That's when the
trouble began...
It seemed that although Jordan had no problem at all climbing up the wall,
coming back down was going to be a bit of a problem. She was apprehensive about
letting go of the wall and grabbing the rope as instructed, so she just sort of
nervously clung to the top of the wall asking for help. But the attendant and I
finally convinced her that the safety rope would lower her gently and safely
back to the ground - but only after I agreed to stand under her and "catch"
her.
Jordan finally released her death grip on the rocks and slowly descended into my
waiting arms. She then proceeded to climb the wall again...and yet again! Her three
trips up the side of that towering wall were quite impressive to watch, and she
had a blast doing it!All in all, it was a fun week at Trail Days 2006
with plenty of exciting things to hear, see and do all over town, but one of the most
enjoyable events of all was spending some time with Jordan. She's a beautiful, sweet
and highly intelligent little girl with a heart of gold - and she sure knows how
to climb a rock wall!
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