This morning after eating a breakfast burrito at McDonald's, I drove to Makanda, Illinois. It was way back in the woods, so I had a beautiful drive.
I arrived at Shawnee Bluffs Canopy Tour about 9 A.M. and chilled until 9:30 when I checked in for my 10:00 A.M. tour. I met the owner, Marc Miles, and enjoyed hearing about his zipline.
My two awesome guides were Becky and Jose. They did a wonderful job keeping us safe and were very entertaining.
The terrain under the 8 ziplines was spectacular with many cool rock formations. We also traversed 3 suspension bridges and walked 3 short hikes. All spans are tree to tree; no poles!
Their longest zip is 1,016 ft.
Shawnee Bluffs Canopy Tour
635 ROBINSON HILL ROAD
MAKANDA, IL 62958
Facebook
855-386-9477
No pictures
This morning I drove to the library in Cadiz, KY, where I spent 4 hours catching up on computer stuff.
I then drove to Makanda, Illinois to Shawnee Bluffs Ziplines. They had already closed, but I spoke with them and they told me to come back the next day.
I drove to Anna, Illinois, about 15 miles away and found a 24 hour McDonald's where I used the WiFi for 6 more hours. Didn't get caught up, but mad some progress. Worked until midnight.
I arrived at Adventure Works about 11 A.M. and hung out for a while. I got to meet Anthony Curtis and later Jennifer Halbertson. Really enjoyed talking to them; they have been in this business a long time and know everything about it.
Located in Kingston Springs, Adventure Works in only 30 miles from Nashville, TN.
At 2:00 P.M. I did the aerial ropes course; what a workout! I did about 3/4 of it. Cary was a great help on this course. He is Jennifer's son.
At 4:00 P.M. I did the canopy tour of 10 ziplines. It was awesome; way back in the woods like I like them, in a beautiful old-growth forest! Cary was also my guide on this tour.
On this course, we have one guide who watches us mount our trolley and sends us off. We land on the ground after zipping over valleys and then unhook ourselves and holler "clear!" It was a great time. I usually landed sliding in on my back!
Drove to the Kentucky Welcome Center.
Sue Zipping
Adventure Works Ziplines
Kingston Springs, TN
Facebook
615-297-2250
I drove down to Nashville, TN in the morning to Fontanel, the former home of Barbara Mandrel. Matt Lark had also called Anthony Curtis who owns, as well as, builds ziplines. He and his wife, Jennifer Halbertson own Adventure Works and Fontanel.
I was able to get on a tour at Fontanel and zipped a 7 line canopy tour with a bunch of other people. Our wonderful guides were Wesley and Kevin.
It was a great ride with beautiful scenery.
I then drove to Adventure Works in Kingston Springs, TN, but they had already closed for the day. I drove to Dickson and spent the night.
Fontanel Ziplines
4225 Whites Creek Pike
Nashville, TN, 37189
Facebook
615-724-1600
Toll Free: 877-357-8094
Matt Lark had called his friend Jeff in Springfield, TN and set up a zip for me. I talked to Jeff on the phone and he told me that they were having fireworks and a salute to the military on Saturday so I headed south. Springfield is near Nashville, TN and a little back to the east for me, but I took advantage of the contact and figured I would just head west from there.
There were two long ziplines and six canopy lines. My guides Cory and Hunter were great. Jeff also accompanied up on a few lines; I really enjoyed meeting him. I also met Layne and Dawn.
I very much enjoyed my self as I zipped through the canopy and over a pond. Wonderful experience.
Later that evening they had an awesome fireworks display with lots of military and others in attendance.
After everything was over Jeff let me camp there! Thanks Jeff!
Honeysuckle Hill Zipline
1765 Martins Chapel Church Rd
Springfield, TN 37172
Facebook
615-382-7593
After a nice night in a cabin at Lark Valley...thank you Matt and Ashley, I drove to the zipline. I decided to hang out at Lark Valley Zipline today and see how the operation goes. They were very busy so I met a lot of people.
About 3:00 P.M., Matt, his xmil Teresa and I drove up to Brown County, so Matt could check out Explore Brown County Ziplines. I think I may have found some people as crazy as I am!
We spent about an hour walking around and then went to a very quaint little village called Story. The town was founded in 1851 by Dr. George Story when he received a land patent from President Millard Fillmore. Matt bought us lunch at the Story Inn...the place to eat when you are in Story!
It was late when we got back to Lark Valley Ranch, so I spent another night at the cabin with Ashley!
Lark Valley Ziplines
Located 7 miles from French Lick, IN on Hwy 150 between Shoals and French Lick. Look for signs on Hwy 150!
Facebook
info@larkvalley.com
812-295-9000
The owners of of Valley Branch Retreat, Gary and Patricia Bartels, gave me a nice cabin for the night. I slept very well! Very reasonable rates.
At 1:00 P.M. I went on a 5 zipline canopy tour with a great bunch of people. I had very informative and funny guides, Kyle and Brett, who entertained us the entire time!
The 2nd line is a dual line and there is only one guide to catch us on the other side so they told us to grab the red rope when we got there. We would be stopped by a block brake. Well, I wasn't paying attention and started going backwards to the center of the zipline. Since i didn't have any gloves, there was nothing I could do, but hang out and take pictures! Brett zipped out to get me and with gloves pulled me in; everyone got a good laugh on me, but it made them all paranoid about grabbing the red rope; even though that was the only line we had to do that! Without gloves, I couldn't even show off my sloth crawl!
I was with a large group and we had a great time. Love the Indiana terrain!
Later in the afternoon I went on their Screamer Line. It was fast and about 1220 feet long.
They have a total of 15 lines.
They also have Paintball, ATV tours, Mountain biking, camping and cabins.
After zipping and hanging out a while, I returned to Lark Valley and stayed at a cabin there.
Explore Brown County
2620 Valley Branch Rd
Nashville, Indiana 47448
812-988-7750
info@explorebrowncounty.com
www.explorebrowncounty.com
