Well the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter. What does that mean to some people…summer outdoor activities here I come! My favorite summer outdoor activities include water skiing, wake boarding, and hiking.
I first learned to water ski when I was around 10 years old. I remember my parents throwing me in the water with all of my ski gear on and saying “Grab on to the rope!” Little did I know that my little body would be blasted out of the water by this huge boat! It took me a while to get good at water skiing but it is just like riding a bike. Once you learn how to do it, you never forget. You can get out of practice, don’t get me wrong, but once you have the general idea you can come back to it for years to come. Now that I have been water skiing for 17 years of my life I have to say I am pretty good! I slalom now and have not used two skis in years!
Now wake boarding is a whole other story! When I first learned to wake board it took me 10 tries before I was able to get up and stay up out of the water! It is very much like snowboarding but you have a much softer ground to land on, water! Not to say that it does not hurt when you fall, but wake boarding, if you can control yourself until you are ready to take a rest, you can let go of the rope and slowly sink into the water. Now if you fall, it is the worst if you fall face first and smack into the water! Trust me I know by experience!
Now hiking has to be the safest outdoor activity I know! I love to hike and I started hiking when I was around 9 years old. My dad and I would research different places to hike and then once we had decided on the right spot we would hop in the car and we were off! One of my favorite places to hike is “Multnomah Falls”. Even though it is a pretty easy hike, it is close to home and I always get a good work out from it. To this day I love to hike!
