Favorite Adventures

My Adventures!

BY RICH KIRKHAM

What do you think of when you hear the word ADVENTURE? What comes to mind? Thrill seeking? Bush whacking? Dare deviling? Yes, I suppose all those things are forms of adventure. But in broader, more inclusive terms each life is an adventure and adventure is life. One's life adventures or stories, when complied and connected to one's accomplishments, crisis and tragedies, form the life story that we each leave behind to our posterity.

Adventure is in the eye of the beholder. Adventure is what you make of every choice put before you in life. Do you take the common road or the road less traveled? Do you have adventures to share?

Here is a list of some of my favorite adventures and hopefully some of them will inspire you!

  1. Surviving a plane crash
  2. Riding a bike on the Great Wall of China
  3. Seeing the pyramids of Egypt from the back of a camel
  4. Floating in the Dead Sea covered in mud
  5. Serving a mission to the Guarani Indians in the jungles of Paraguay
  6. Seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa at Midnight
  7. Participating in a Sevu Sevu ceremony in Fiji
  8. Exploring Mayan Ruins in the Yucatan
  9. Drift diving along the coast of Cozumel, Mexico
  10. Riding across Ireland on a bicycle
  11. Swimming in the sacred cenote at Ek Balam, Yucutan, Mexico
  12. Watching a Toyota automobile being built in Toyota City, Japan
  13. Backpacking through the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho
  14. Surviving an airplane crash
  15. Holding my firstborn son for the first time
  16. Holding my first grandson for the first time
  17. Dancing Tango in Argentina
  18. Cycling "The Way of St. James" Pilgrimage route through Spain
  19. Fishing piranha off a floating house raft on the Amazon River
  20. Walking through a slave plantation in the deep South, Jonesboro, Georgia
  21. Riding the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh, PA
  22. Attending mass at the Church of Holy Sepulture in Jerusalem Holy Land
  23. Eating Beijing Duck in Beijing, China
  24. Scuba diving with giant turtles in Hawaii
  25. Sleeping in an underground in a volcanic vent
  26. Reading the Bible in Hebrew
  27. Visit the ancestral home of Sacajawea & retracing the steps of Lewis & Clark
  28. Watching giant electrical turbines spin inside Hoover Dam,
  29. Witnessing the cherry blossom season in Japan
  30. Climbing the giant rocks at City of Rocks, Idaho
  31. Eating 'carne asado' with long lost friends at a 40-year reunion celebration in Lambare, Paraguay
  32. Riding a double decker bus in London
  33. Visiting Golgotha and the burial sepulture of Jesus, Jerusalem
  34. Parasailing in Cancun, Mexico
  35. Watching Mayan Indians play Pok-A-Tok on a ball court in Mexico
  36. Visiting the burial sites at Mountain Meadows & Bear River Massacres
  37. Exploring the mound-building cultures in Europe, Korea, Mexico, Africa, and USA.
  38. Witnessing the sacrifice of a lamb at a Samaritan Passover Sacrifice on Mt. Gerizim in the West Bank, Israel
  39. Crossing London Bridge in Havasu, Arizona
  40. Surviving a typhoon near Mt. Fuji volcano, Japan
  41. Gazing into the Sacred well at Chichen Itza, Mexico
  42. Selecting 5 stones from the brook in the Valley of Elah where David slew Goliath
  43. Soaking in a natural hot springs near the Continental Divide
  44. Resting my head on a granite stone in a Jjimjilbang (찜질방 public bathhouse) in Seoul, Korea
  45. Watching a cock sacrifice at the Mayan ruins in Guatemala
  46. Spelunking through a volcanic lava tube near Craters of the Moon National Park, Idaho
  47. Photographing the rice terraces in Banaue, Philippines
  48. Celebrating Russian Orthodox Easter in the Ukraine
  49. Visiting Corregidor island by canoe and sighting down barrels of the World War II guns placements
  50. Crossing through the Panama Canal
  51. Watching 15 Chinese Acrobats ride 1 bicycle in China
  52. Visiting cousins at my ancestral home in Stewarton, Scotland
  53. Riding the Bullet Train through Japan
  54. Kayaking the Salmon River in Idaho
  55. Discover my Great Grandfather's homestead cabin in Ebla, Idaho
  56. Getting mugged while wandering through the Old City of Jerusalem
  57. Watching Israeli KFIR pilots practice bombing raids in the valley of Armageddon
  58. Fly fishing in the Copper Basin of Idaho’s primitive area
  59. Burning incense at the Golden Shrine in Kyoto
  60. Retracing the trail of the Bataan Death March, Corregidor to Cabanatuan, Philippines
  61. Starting an outdoor advertising business
  62. Seeing the mummies of the Pharaohs in Cairo, Egypt
  63. Canoeing down the Snake River in Idaho
  64. Strolling the streets of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China
  65. Cruising the Caribbean for free on a luxury cruise liner
  66. Snowmobiling in the Idaho wilderness on the shortest day of the year
  67. Testing the solstice theory at Stonehenge, England
  68. Publishing a book
  69. Singing chants in the Bell Caves of Beit Guvrin, Israel
  70. Crushing my Lincoln Continental in a car crusher
  71. Bonding with a Rotary GSE team (Group Study Exchange) in Argentina
  72. Flying over ancient Acre Israel in a two seat airplane with Bassam Halabi
  73. Leaving a written prayer in Western Temple Wall, Jerusalem
  74. Riding a snowmobile across a frozen lake in Island Park, Idaho
  75. Burning burning candles to the Virgin Mary in the Church of the Dormition, Old City Jerusalem
  76. Rafting the white water in the world's deepest gorge - Hells Canyon, Idaho
  77. Fishing for Marlin off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
  78. Exploring the underwater cliffs off St. Lucia Island, Caribbean
  79. Eating Thanksgiving dinner on the rim of an active volcano in Hawaii
  80. Exploring ice caves in Idaho
  81. Trolling for fish in a boat with my dad on the American Falls reservoir, Idaho
  82. Boarding an old Landing Craft with my father who spent 3 years aboard LCI222 during World War II
  83. Crossing the equator and the International Date Line on the same day
  84. Setting my watch in Greenwich England
  85. Visiting the tombs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Hebron, Israel
  86. Driving a Model T the "Oakley Days Parade" in honor of my Great Grandfather, Oakely Idaho
  87. White water rafting through Hells Canyon, Idaho
  88. Listening to fiddle and penny whistle players in the streets of Temple Bar, Dublin
  89. Diving the ship wreck SS Stavronikita in Barbados, Caribbean
  90. Watching a Shakespearian play in Stratford upon Avon
  91. Gazing over the Sea of Galilee from Mt. Arbel in Israel
  92. Exploring the Chesterfield ghost town near Soda Springs, Idaho
  93. Listening to serenades played on bandoneons in Argentina
  94. Solo flying in a plane for the first time over the Utah desert
  95. Body sledging down a glacier on Mt. Timpanogos, Utah
  96. Riding the EuroRail train through every country in Europe
  97. Visiting the Eiffel Tower in France and the Space Needle in Seattle
  98. Attending an Indian Wedding Ceremony on Suva, Fiji
  99. Catching crocodiles on the Amazon River at night in Manaus, Brazil
  100. Following the Jordan River from Galilee to the Dead Sea and baptizing my son there
  101. Retracing the steps of the Civil Rights March through Birmingham Alabama
  102. Shopping in Ginza District of Tokyo, Japan
  103. Searching for amethyst geodes in Uruguay
  104. Building a house completely out of concrete
  105. Smiling back at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris
  106. Eating freshly-baked bread in my grandmother's kitchen
  107. Witnessing Danza de Los Voladores in Cozumel, Mexico (Descending Pole Dancers)
  108. Climbing the narrow switch-back trail to the summit of Masada, Israel
  109. Looking up at the Spirit of St. Louis airplane in the Smithsonian Institute
  110. Shopping at an authentic pulperia in the campo of Argentina
  111. Sitting in a seat below President Lincoln's box in the Ford Theater, Washington D.C.
  112. Wading 1/4 mile through the ancient water conduit of Hezekiah, beneath Jerusalem
  113. Having a grandson born on my birthday
  114. Climbing through the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in Qumran, Israel
  115. Drenching myself with mist rising from both Iguazu and Niagara Falls
  116. Cliff diving in Acapulco, Mexico
  117. Riding folding mopeds around Israel
  118. Diving into the Lion's Den on Viti Levu, Fiji
  119. Pinning the Eagle Scout rank on all four of my sons
  120. Hiking 50 miles through the primitive area to Old Faithful at age 12
  121. Following the Via Dolorosa to Golgotha in Jerusalem
  122. Exploring Tel Megido, Jezreel Valley, Israel.
  123. Discovering Great Grandfather's name carved in a rock cliff in St. George, Utah
  124. Completing the 'Galena Grind Bike Chase' to Galena Summit, Central, Idaho
  125. Cycling the Jesus Trail from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee
  126. Motorhoming with grandkids in the Grandpa-mobile
  127. Eating Milanesa at the Plaza del Sol in Montevideo, Uruguay
  128. Witnessing a total solar eclipse with my entire family in Idaho Falls, Idaho
  129. Riding horses in the Campo of Colonel Suarez, Argentina
  130. Visiting the birthplace of Doc Holiday
  131. Watching Guarani Indian craftsmen make handmade jewelry in the jungles of Paraguay
  132. Experiencing the gaucho culture at a traditional Argentine rodeo
  133. Meeting a Mormon Prophet at age 17
  134. Visiting the burial place of Martin Luther King
  135. Surviving the midnight ferry from Bohol to Cebu, Philippines
  136. Exploring graffiti art in the streets of Buenos Aires and Belfast
  137. Eating a old-country Welsh meal with 5th cousins in Wales
  138. Peering down into the coal mine near where my 3rd Great Grandfather perished in Dudley, England
  139. Walking the flight path of the first manned flight in Kitty Hawk, NC
  140. Visiting the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia
  141. Ascending the Mayan temple pyramid at Ek Balam, Yucatan, Mexico