I want to live every day to the fullest. I want to travel and explore and attempt new things. To me, that is the essence of living. Let me ask you a question. Are you still experiencing adventures, or, as you age is life becoming boring and predictable?
Recently while we were in CA, our daughter-in-law, Jenn, told us of a place she had heard of called Potato Chip Rock. She said it was supposed to be a cool place to hike and also would provide a great opportunity for some good photos. Jane and I both like potato chips so we thought let’s check it out. 🙂
The drive took us just outside of San Diego. Potato Chip Rock is a very thin rock that juts out into space at the top of Woodson Mountain. The elevation is only 2,800 feet. Because of the steep hike, it would feel much higher.
Before we got off of the main road to begin our hike, we stopped at a pharmacy to get a few things. The pharmacist was a nice young lady who appeared to be in excellent condition in her early 30‘s. I mentioned we were headed to the hiking trail to ascend to Potato Chip Rock. I asked her if she’d ever tried it. She hung her head slightly and told us she had tried it but had not been fit enough to complete the hike. Our whole mood suddenly changed. If this lady couldn’t do it, how in the world were we, at least 20 years her senior, going to do it? This was beginning to feel like a bad idea.
We got back in the car and with very little confidence, drove to the foot of the mountain and started up the trail. It was the hardest walk of our lives. It took us over two hours and it was all very steep. Sadly we passed no one coming down who looked like they were remotely our age. But, we kept walking. At times our speed was sloth-like, but we continued up the path. When we arrived at the top, then we realized we would have to jump from one rock to another to get to Potato Chip Rock! At my age, I don’t jump a lot. My wife doesn’t jump at all. What were we going to do? We contemplated just turning around and heading down the mountain but we had come too far. We would not let this problem beat us. I navigated the jump and some nice young men from Italy helped Jane get across the divide. Mission accomplished! We were able to get the photos. It was a magnificent day!
We had accomplished something that few our age were even attempting. In fact, most people on the mountain that day were in their 20’s and 30’s. Jane and I had tackled a challenge. We are not great athletes who are in incredible shape. We just have a burning desire to attempt more, dream more, and try more than most. It was difficult but we did it!
As we drove back to our son’s house in Orange County, I remembered a quote from the late great motivational speaker, Jim Rohm. Jim was famous for inspiring hundreds of thousands of people to live their biggest and best life. He said, “Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.”
That day on Potato Chip Rock we both felt our lives grow a little larger. While others sit in easy chairs and watch endless hours of television, Jane and I are looking for our next adventure.
How about you?