Get Outdoors: My Adventure Partner

I live life with adventure. I’m blessed to have a group of friends that are always up for an adventure, whether it be a simple hike with a view or a more complicated adventure trip.

Recently, I was going through an old box of photographs. Over and over again, I came across photos of myself with my adventure partner. In every season, since 2001, there are photos of us together in every season you can imagine doing recreation & leisure activities.

So, meet Miss M – my partner in adventurous crime.

I consider myself truly blessed to have drawn Miss M as a roommate back in 2001, when I headed off to college. I could tell you so much about the wonderful qualities of my adventure partner. But honestly, there’s only one that truly matters – ATTITUDE.  Miss M has a kick-ass, take no prisoners, let’s do this attitude. 

Since we met, we have been getting together and vacationing all over Canada. No adventure is too active, and we endeavour to try out a new activity each time we get together. It can be new to both of us, or one that we teach each other. Other than that, anything goes.

Here’s a few of our favourite adventures that we still reminisce about:

Snowboarding at Devil’s Elbow:

We started to snowboard, did a couple runs and literally smacked our heads on the slope on the way down the bunny hill. Whoops. Switched back to skis after 1 run.

Trip to the Cottage:

Although horseback riding through Algonquin Park was fun, it wasn’t memorable. What was was when M and I decided to swim from one side of Hay Lake to the other (about 12 km round trip). Unfortunately for me, I ended up stepping in a sink hole on the other side, and picked up a leech. About 500m into the swim back, I realized I had a leech attached to my leg, and started to panic. M kept her head and threw a juicy steak into the bargain for anyone who made it back. Absolutely exhausted, we hoisted our tired bodies on to the shore and M ran for the salt.
 

 

Hiking & Ice Caving:

Feeling our oats in the winter, we did a little winter hike, followed by winter caving and ice climbing. To end it off, we had a snowball fight in the backyard. It might not have been a huge adventure, but it’s still one that I remember as a great day.

ATVing at Top of the Mountain Tours:

Booked our tour on a day where we ended up getting wacky crazy rainstorms. We sat at the tour house waiting for the rain to pass and eating freezes on their lawn. Eventually, it passes and we were able to go out & through the giant muddle puddles. Both of us ended up getting drenched in mud from the waist down.

White Water Rafting at OWL Rafting:

Booking a tour of rafting – turned out to be the most miserable day possible with driving rain that made it a little chiller than normal. We sat at the very front of the boat and almost fell out several times, but man, the rush was worth it & the beers on the cruise home were well earned in the flats.

Got Married at Camp Kawartha:

We’re a little left of center, and we LOVE being outside, so my husband and I tied the knot at a summer camp back in 2009. We elected to do high ropes and rock climbing before we went to get into our fancy clothes, and you can guess who was climbing that wall right next to me – yep, Miss M. (I think we clean up pretty well too!) 

Road Trip (while I should be unpacking) to Canmore, Lake Louise & Banff:

A week after I moved into our new mountain playground, Miss M and G came for a trip to check out what Alberta had to offer. We drove down the Icefields Parkway as they closed the highway behind us in the storm. I fell into our hotel bed gratefully in Canmore while the other two ordered pizza. We had a great weekend away. We learnt why all the windshields on Alberta trucks are cracked and stood in awe of the beauty of the mountains.

Geocaching in Kelowna, BC:

After a long absence (Miss M was in Korea for two years), she did a cross Canada tour on her way home. I picked her up in Kelowna and we road-tripped our way back to Alberta. Much fun & many stops were had a long the way geocaching. I got attacked by bees, M waded a creek for her first geocache (we found the trail on the way out) and we froze our butts off camping in Clearwater.

So after all these great adventures, you can imagine how pumped I am to see Miss M again in a few short weeks! I am already dreaming & planning the latest adventures that I want to propose for her visit.

Do you have an adventure partner? Tell me a little more in the comment section!