Where you going, Gator?
One perk to being a student of the University of Florida is access to a lake the university owns just eight miles south of campus called Lake Wauberg. Wauberg offers a variety of water activities from swimming, canoeing, paddle boating, and sailing to challenge courses and wall climbing.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I did not visit Lake Wauberg until my final semester when I took these photos. It was a beautiful, crisp and sunny December day. Carley and I planned on doing some boating but once we got there we no longer felt like it and ended up laying on a blanket by the shore and chatting for a few hours. 
Saturday February 22, was basically the best day ever. Carley and I woke up bright and early to participate in a coral ardisia pull, had brunch at Ivy’s and then headed over to Wauberg for a chance to participate in their brand new ropes course.
Distracted by other delicious looking food around me
Breakfast burrito, soba noodle salad, cranberry orange scone
Usually, these courses are for student groups to learn how to bond and trust each other or whatever, training them to become the future leaders they are bound to be and they were open to us non-future rulers of America this one Saturday since they are usually booked by said groups all semester long.
We had arrived just in time and secured one of the last spots on the list. We then had a couple of hours to kill before we could do the ropes course. During this down time I rock climbed for the first time in a very long time. Since it had been a very long time since I climbed I told Carley we were doing the easiest climbing wall. This was fine with her. The wall was pretty easy up until right before the top where I wasn’t tall enough to reach the next rung of the wall and the rungs my feet were resting on and the position I was in didn’t give me enough confidence to try and jump up to the next one. So, I hung out in this spot for a few minutes, not wanting to get down because I was so close to the top but not wanting to bruise my entire body by attempting to jump up to the next rung and slamming my body into the wall. I decided to attempt a jump. Little did I know that when I attempted this jump that Shirley my belay was basically going to pull me up to the rung that I felt was too far out of my reach. I felt like I was flying for a moment, there was no way I should have reached that rung on my own. And I didn’t. So, thank you, Shirley for pulling me to the top and allowing me to feel victorious over the easiest climbing wall of Lake Wauberg. A crowd of twenty people clapped for me when I finally got my ass off the wall. They were probably just happy they were closer to their turn. Carley completed the wall with ease and was upset when no one clapped when she finished. She demanded a clap. They clapped.
Closed section of the ropes course
We finally had our turn on the ropes court but were disappointed only three sections of it were open. The pirates crossing, suspended log incline and gravity zip line. Carley did the pirates crossing after watching a guy complete it and say, “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life”. Carley did not find it quite as challenging. I did the log incline.
It was the best day ever. Giving back to Gainesville, delicious food from Ivy’s, recreation at Wauberg, beautiful weather. Couldn’t have asked for a better day. #blessed
Gainesville Guru 