If you are not bothered by heights, there is an attraction in Branson, Missouri, that can give you plenty of thrills and challenges. It is called Fritz's Adventure and advertises itself as "80,000 square feet of explorable space, that brings outdoor adventure into The Great Indoors."
When you first enter the building, you will use the touchscreen computers to complete the liability waiver that is required of all participants.
Then you will head to the cashier to pay the entrance fee. You can go to their website (www.fritzsadventure.com), to see the fees for your specific needs, since the fees vary, depending on your age, and several other categories of discounts one might qualify for. There was a small group ahead of us in the cashier line, so we took advantage of the "waiting opportunity" to get our picture taken in the "Campsite Photo Opportunity" they have set up in their gift shop, adjacent to the cashier line.
Of course, the gift shop sells tee shirts, and they have very clever designs:
One of the tee shirt displays, shows a Branson banner, with tee shirts suspended on large industrial hooks.
After that, Diana asked another spectator, who was more mobile, to take some photos of us with her phone, once we got up on the Sky Trail course. (Phones/cameras are not allowed on the challenge floors or ziplines, so I am indebted to a kind gentleman spectator, who walked around with Diana's phone below us, taking these photos)
Photo below shows Peggy on the platform, ready to start a ropes challenge. Our harnesses were tethered to a pole, with metal slots on it, and one could only go where the slots were connected to a challenge obstacle. It gave me a new meaning to the phrase "playing the slots"!
I followed Peggy attempting the rope wall, as she started the balancing act, required for the "wobbly stepping stone" maneuver:
This photo below, of Diana and I on the platform, shows you how the harnesses are fitted on sturdy tethers, attached to metal sliders, that move along the slots in the metal beams:
In the photo below, all three of us are on the platform, with the understanding that we could not stay there indefinitely! We were going to HAVE to trust those harnesses to be our "life line", as we slowly inched a our way, across the shaking suspension bridges,
Our (anonymous) photographer took this "long shot", that shows the maze of obstacles that one can tackle on the four-story Sky Trail. Since the photo does not show my feet, I have no memory of which obstacle I was on. Participating in these challenges took every bit of concentration I had, so I was oblivious to anything going on around me!
There is one spot on the Sky Trail, where there is an automatic camera that will take your photo! Then you type in your cell phone number, and the device will text you the photo! I took a "trial shot" to practice, not realizing that my uplifted arms were covering up Diana in the background!
For the next attempt, we scrunched up together, so we could all three be in the photo:
After we finished the mid-level course, we paused to re-hydrate, visit the ladies room, and look around to see what was available to do next. We discovered they have a great meeting room/dining room for large groups, that looks out over the entire recreational facility, as well as windows to the outside.
There is a walkway where you are on eye level with an airplane. (Peggy took this photo of me on the walkway). One of the activities guests can do, is crawl through a maze of small metal cages, that will eventually get you into the airplane's cockpit (a 1959 Twin Beech) where you can listen to air traffic controls.
The entrance floor is also where group photos can be taken, and instructions given. Fritz's Adventure routinely promotes days that are designated "Home Schooler Days", and we happened to be at the Home School Day promotion for August.
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Here is a gal about to land:
I did not have a time constraint, so I continued on with the treetops course, and realized that one of the activities I had seen when I was on the easier course, but could not access, was because it was a part of the more difficult treetops course:
It was when I saw this photo of a participant with gloves and a helmet, I realized why I had not been able to access that portion. I had not yet been through the safety course, where the gloves and helmets were issued.
One activity to "save your energy" for, is a climb to the "Crow's Nest", outside near Highway 76. After your first outside zip line, you will have the option of climbing the pole that leads to this, as pictured below:
One climbing activity I have been wanting to try for a long time, is a Via Ferrata. The first time I saw a Via Ferrata was on a massive granite bluff in Quebec. I asked my rock-climbing son about it, and he said they were very common in Europe, and consisted of metal pegs hammered into rock walls, that allowed the climber to traverse a vertical wall, without having to rely on cracks in the rock to get footholds and hand holds. There was a simplified version of this on the treetops course, and it is pictured below: (I was able to make the traverse successfully, although there are no photos of my very awkward movements to "prove" it!)
This climbing obstacles, which had a certain WAY, they had to be completed, serves as the visual aid for one of my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) memory verses that says: "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.' ."(Isaiah 30:21) There was only ONE WAY to access the ziplines that led you outdoors, and if you did not go that way, you could not access the outdoor zip lines. Thankfully, I had a voice behind me telling me how to access that outdoor zip line! I was baffled because I was at the upper story door that led to the outside, but it was closed! The voice behind me said, "This is the way, press this button." And voila! The door opened!
In addition to the photos of activities on this blog, there are additional activities that you can try out. There are underground tunnels, laser room, climbing wall, telephone poles to climb, giant treehouses, multi-story slides, and warped walls. Be sure to check out the Fritz's website for more information, including weight and height limitations. For example, for the Treetops Zipline course, the weight minimum is 44 pounds, and maximum is 285 pounds. The height requirement is 55 inches.
I am very thankful for the experience I had at Fritz Adventure. It gave me "MILES OF SMILES!" Tricia
The massive Castillo de San Marcos was constructed in the seventeenth century (1672-95) to defend the ocean inlet that allowed entry into the bay of St. Augustine. In a previous blog (Goliad Expedition, March 20, 2015), I commented on how a fort I visited in central Texas had the same capsule-shaped corner watchtowers, as the fort in Puerto Rico, that serves as the marketing logo for Puerto Rico's marketing brochures. And here it is again---the capsule-shaped "appendage"! So what do all these forts have in common? They were built by the Spaniards, during their era of colonizing the new world!
The Castillo de San Marcos was not the first fort to be built at Saint Augustine. In fact, over the preceding 100 years, there had been nine wooden forts which had been built. However, the high, thick stone walls and numerous cannon of the Castillo de San Marcos was a much more impregnable and permanent fortress for the future security of Spanish Florida. Just a short distance from the stone fort, I was able to see remnants of some of the old wooden forts that it had replaced. The area in the foreground of this photo shows the location of the former moat---a body of water surrounding a fort---that used to be part of the defensive structure of the edifice. 
I read that one reason the moat was drained, and is no longer maintained, was because the constant presence of water on the coquina stone blocks that make up the walls, was accelerating their rate of decomposition. Another benefit of having the moat drained, is that it increases the hiking/picnicking areas for visitors, as well as reduces the risk of mosquito infestation. 
The fort and its grounds are maintained by the U.S. National Park Service, and as such draw thousands of visitors daily. Some may choose to enjoy picnicking and outdoor recreation on the waterfront property, without ever going inside the fort. 
The fort is made of coquina (shell stone) that was abundant, and relatively easy to cut into building stones, at the time of its construction.
To find out more about this relic of our nation's past, visit their official website at 
There is 
I feel like I have a debt of gratitude to the country of Spain, for the role they played in colonizing America. That is because their rulers at the time of colonization, felt called to go out and explore the "New World", for the purposes of "God, Gold, and Glory". I am very thankful they put God FIRST, in their trinity of goals! This leads historians to say that St. Augustine is where Christianity was FIRST established, in what would eventually become the United States.
Mt. Kessler Greenways is an advocacy group that has the goal of helping to maintain the natural character of Mt. Kessler, which is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 
The "Rock City" area of Mt. Kessler is a section of the trail that is a remarkable natural formation, and worth each and every effort to maintain its natural character.
There is a small parking area adjacent to the trail entrance, which is easily filled up on popular hiking days. On the day I visited, it was necessary to park quite a ways down the entry road, due to the parking lot being filled.
When you 
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This photo shows me in the "Rock City" area of the trail. It was a photo of this rock formation that I saw in a magazine this year, that made me want to visit the trail. The author of the article listed the Mt. Kessler trail as one of the ten best hikes in Arkansas. Of course, that made me very curious, since I am a native Arkansan, (who lived in Fayetteville for six years and visits there regularly and likes to hike), yet I had never even heard of the trail until I read about it in the magazine a few months ago!
This 
On the day I visited, I saw many hikers---many who looked to be of college age.
When the visitor gets to the ridgeline near the top of Mt. Kessler, there is an expansive view of the surrounding countryside. 
I 
One of the hikers 
Some of the passages through the rocks are so narrow that most bikers will have to dismount from their bike to keep going, but I observed one biker stay on his bike through even the "skinniest" of passages!
As 
Besides mountain bikers and college age hikers, I saw some families enjoying the trail with their young kids.
Mt. Kessler Greenways is accessed on the main highway leading to Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Once you are near the top of the mountain, you can see for miles in the distance.
Fayetteville has the nickname "Athens of the Ozarks", because of its seven hills. Mt. Kessler is the last of those seven hills that has not been changed by development. 
One of the goals of the Mt. Kessler Greenways is to maintain the trail corridors in a way that will preserve the natural habitat. One the day I visited, I was able to see some evidence of wildflowers starting to blossom, which is always a good sign. Since my visit there, I learned in an email from Frank Sharp, dated April 8, 2014, that the Mt. Kessler Greenways has been successful in meeting another one of their goals, which is to participate in municipal and county planning, regarding development of Mt. Kessler Reserve area. They secured a challenge grant from the Walton Family Foundation ( the charity started by Walmart founders, Sam and Helen Walton: 