Urban Adventure

TUBING IN THE HILL COUNTRY. HIKING THE ROCKIES IN A cooler Colorado. Running barefoot on a beach. In May, the indulgences of summer spread before us like a ripening garden of divine possibilities. But suddenly it’s August, and our summer days are numbered, their opportunities fading rapidly. Not to worry. There’s still time to squeeze out some summer pleasure, even if you’ve only got one afternoon. Urban adventures beckon all ages. We’ve got seven to get you started, so get going and get ready for summer’s last gasp.



River (not so) Wild

NORTH TEXAS CANOE RENTALS

AGREAT WHITE HERON UNFOLDS ITS WINGS AND TAKES OFF, languidly flapping along the river’s path. The banks are crowded with elm, hickory, and giant oaks, forming a dense canopy of green above our heads. Suddenly the river slows and the trees open-our canoe is passing under a bridge. 1 look up and read a road sign: “Highway 635. Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.” Canoeing the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, it’s possible to escape the city of Dallas while gliding through its heart.

For $30 a canoe, Rich Manning of North Texas Canoe Rentals runs shuttle trips down the Elm Fork, which flows in a ribbon of green from Lake Lewisville south to downtown. Paddlers can design their own trip-from a two-hour float along unspoiled river that the whole family will love to a trip through the heart of downtown.

With a long summer Saturday before us, my partner in adventure, Peter, and I decided to put in at Hebron Parkway and paddle to California Crossing, an estimated six-hour trip. This would include a portage around the dangerous Sandy Lake spillway at McInnish park-a 15-foot drop into churning waters that don’t spit up victims.

The hour and a half paddle from Hebron Parkway to Sandy Lake Road put us immediately in touch with nature. We saw egrets, herons, and turtles and enjoyed a symphony of songbirds. The flooded river was running high and fast.

Eventually we heard noshing water, and I began to get nervous. I told Peter it was time to head for shore, Peter said we could go to the second clearing along the bank. My heart started to pound. “No, we’ve got to pull over now.” He obliged and we paddled hard to make the first clearing. No problems. I exhaled.

We carried the canoe well past the spillway, then we were off again. After about an hour, we spotted a giant pipe stretching across the river. (We later found out that when the water is at normal levels, canoeists can easily go under the pipe.)

Peter suggested stepping onto the foot-wide pipe mid-stream and lifting the canoe over it: “You said you wanted adventure,” he reminded me. Yes, but I didn’t want to lose the canoe and all our equipment. I began to urge him to head for the shore, but on closer examination saw that it was steep and covered with brush. Worst of all, looking ahead, there was some kind of short drop 20 feet after the pipe and only two places to paddle through.

We scrambled part way onto shore and lifted the canoe over the pipe. Then we were on the river again, moving toward the drop. My heart started to pound. The rushing water sounded torrential. Then the how was going over, and we started to move sideways. “Paddle hard,” Peter yelled. I watched the bow dip into the water and pictured the canoe tumbling over. Suddenly we were through it. “I never knew you were such a scaredy-cat,” Peter mocked. Well, no one calls me a scaredy-cat. Next time, I resolved, I would brave a waterfall without blinking.

We passed under I-635 and alongside the new Doubletree Hotel, and into a small lake near Las Colinas. Then it was back into the trees and under Northwest Highway. Our shuttle driver had told us that a quarter mile after Northwest Highway we would come to a dam, where we would need to get out and walk around unless the water was high enough, in which case we could just go over it. We soon heard the rushing water.

Against all resolution, my heart jumped into my throat. I told Peter I wanted to pull up the boat and just look at the drop first, then we could go over. “It’s nothing.” Peter said, exasperated. “He said to walk around only it the water isn’t high enough.”

“I’ll go through if we can just look first,” I insisted, and we headed for the bank. Two scornful teenage fisherman reeled in their lines and watched our as I slipped and landed hard in the mud. Now Peter was embarrassed. Everyone in the small park was staring at us.

“Let’s just look and we can go hack in,” I said. “No way,” said Peter, who hates to disturb anyone. “You were too scared. Now we’re walking around it.”

“But you were right, we can go over it,” I said. Too late.

We launched the canoe again and looked behind us. It would have been just a little bit of fast water with no drop at all. I felt disappointed and silly about my fear, “Next time,” 1 thought. “Next time I’ll go over without looking.”

? North Texas Canoe Rentals, 1325 Whitlock Lane, is loaned two blocks east of 1-35 and Sandy Lake Road in Carrollton. 214-245-7475. Canoes are $30 apiece; children of any age may ride, though boats are rented to adults only.-Elizabeth Robbins



Video Game Nirvana

VIRTUAL WORLD

COOK, DARK, AND INTERDIMENSIONAL, VIRTUAL WORLD LOOKS to be the perfect escape from summer in Dallas. Claiming to be “the world’s first digital theme park,” Virtual World takes familiar video game genres and pushes them one step further by constructing elaborate stories around the action. There are currently two different scenarios, Battle Tech and Red Planet, with a third promised later this year.

The more you like to pretend, the more fun you’ll have at this video game heaven. The fictional Virtual Geographic League and all the accoutrements of the Victorian-styled Explorers’ Lounge are an open invitation to join the fantasy. When you sign up for your missions, a tech (as Virtual World employees are known) asks you to choose a nickname, so think up a good one before you go. Caught off guard, I blurted out a school mascot-so I’m stuck with the moniker of Tiger forevermore.

Soon enough, my first mission was called. Five “pilots,” all of us rookies, were herded into a briefing room to watch a short film featuring Judge Reinhold. Despite a somewhat cheesy plot, the movie filled us in on the basics, which were reinforced by the tech. Then it was off to the cockpits, which are surprisingly complex. My first mission in the Red Planet simulation, basically a race, was 10 minutes of confusion and collisions. (Hint: When you take on the wall, the wall wins.) This was followed by a debriefing that included a computer replay and a printed play-by-play analysis.

My second Virtual World experience was a BattleTech mission. Each player is a humanoid tank, trying to blow all the others away, a classic shoot-’em-up. After getting toasted, I decided I didn’t like that idea so much, so I chose to race again for my third mission.

Here I got a glimpse of what hooks people on the Virtual World experience. (The company claims that half of its business is generated by repeat customers.) While my two adversaries endured their four minutes of Judge Reinhold, I got to choose in which of 15 vehicles 1 wanted to race. As a pilot becomes more proficient, he or she gets more and more choice and control, and learns how to use buttons and pedals beginners are instructed not to touch. Special events like “site links” where groups from Dallas’ Virtual World compete with teams from other locations around the country, and various “master” player qualifying tournaments heighten the competition.

? Virtual World is inside the UA Theater Plaza at 9330 North Central Expressway. 214-265-9664. Kids should be at least 6 years old in order to reach all the controls. Prices: $7 before 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday; $8 after 5 Sunday through Thursday; $9 Saturdays and holidays. A 3-for-2 introductory deal is offered to all first-timers.-Jeff Amy



Jonathan Livingston You

parasail dallas

Ever since Icarus soared too close to the sun, almost everyone, children and adults alike, has pondered the notion of flying. Nobody has mastered the technique yet, but a local company, Parasail Dallas, is getting close.

Operating out of the Eagle Point resort on Lake Lewisville, Parasail Dallas sends people up among the birds. Owner Steve Alvarado straps his customers into a harness, then connects the harness to a parachute-style sail and to a line from his boat. Once Alvarado lets out the 300 feet of line, the wind carries his guests skyward for a virtually silent ride and distant views of both the Dallas and Fort Worth skylines.

While many parasail operators start and stop from a beach, or dock, or directly out of the water, the line from Alvarado’s Paracraft Winchboat is attached directly in front of a large platform from which the passenger takes off and lands, And Alvarado has a surprise in store for most of his customers. During most rides, he will slow his boat nearly to a complete stop, causing the airborne to drop. Just before the falling flyer kerplunks in the lake, Alvarado guns the engine, sending the passenger back to the heavens.

While other parasail operators often have to deal with injuries caused by running starts and landings on a beach, the strength of Alvardao’s winch allows increased safety, he says; he reports no injuries in the 11 years he has been in the business.

Parasailing is about views, calm serenity, the breeze, and the silence. A family picnic to the lake becomes a true adventure. And when you’re done, you can all cool off in the water below.

? Parasail Dallas operates out of the Eagle Point resort on the shores of Lake Lewisville, at the Highland Village exit off 1-35. For reservations call Steve Alvarado at 214-357-SAIL. Children can sail, but there are some restrictions based on size rather than age. Prices: $39 (plus tax) for one person and $60 (plus tax) for two. Tips for Alvarado’s crew are appreciated, but not required. -Steve Lansdale

Defying Gravity

THE SKYCOASTER

AT THE EDGE OF TOWN IT RISES. A HULKING, PSEUDO-SURREAL oil derrick-like structure with two 160-foot arching towers joined by a cable to third tower set 100 feet back. Behold Zero Gravity Inc.’s Skycoaster, the next evolution of bungie jumping. Skycoaster provides the thrilling freefall of bungie jumping with a 50-foot initial drop but then adds the sensation of flying by swinging you into a 180 foot arc, topping speeds of 60 miles an hour in under 1.5 seconds.

“Is it safe?” 1 ask “Flymaster” David Putter as his evil assistant, Jimmy, makes me go through a series of aerobic maneuvers in order to get the harness on.

“Sale compared to what?” asks David.

“I don’t know,” I say. “Safer than, let’s say, putting nitroglycerin in my mouth and jumping up and down?”

“Yeah, it’s safe,” he says without allaying any of my fears.

As my body is raised closer to the top, I notice a fairly large group of people gathering to watch my descent. The clasp of the harness reaches the top of the 100-foot tower with a terrifying, metal on metal cling. 1 hang suspended, miles of earth stretched out below me, I hear a familiar voice as the wind rocks me back and forth.

“Pretty high up, huh ? You sure he put that harness on right?” cackles David, who has climbed to the top of the tower to do a last-minute safety check.

“I hope so,” I choke out. Below me I can see that the crowd has gotten larger and the evil Jimmy has gotten out his bullhorn.

“Okay,” he barks up at me. “I’m going to say 3-2-1 fly and you pull your ripcord.”

Rip cord? I glance left to see a bright yellow cord that I vaguely remember him saying will set me into flight. The group begins to boo me, and Jimmy leads them in a chant.

“Fly! Fly! Fly!” they chant.

1 grab the ripcord and pull.

’’Ahhhhhhohhahhheeee!” The initial freefall brings up a guttural scream from the vary depths of my soul. There isn’t much time to think as I enter into my flying arc; the world whistles, literally whistles, by me. I finally regain my senses and a degree of consciousness when 1 reach the top of my arc, stopping mid-air for a glorious millisecond only to have gravity pull me screaming right back to earth. A couple of milder, less mind-jolting swings later and I have my feet hack down on the now sacred ground.

?Skycoaster, Zero Gravity, Inc., is at 11131 Malibu Drive off the I-35 Walnut Hill exit, 214-484-FLY. Open seven days a week. Flyers must be 42 inches tall, though there is no age limit. Prices: $19.95 for the first ride for three people; $24.95 for two; and $29.95 for one. Videos are available for an additional cost. Up to three people can ride together. -Gregory Kallenberg



Climbing the Walls

STONE WORKS CLIMBING GYM

I AM CLINGING TO A WALL 90 FEET OFF THE GROUND, HOLDING on by just a tew nubs-nublettes, really. A noisy tan whirs tar below. The muscles in my forearms, now loaded with lactic acid, bum like hell. Plus, I’m stuck.

Somewhere, back on the ground, there is a piece of white paper with my signature on it. Above my signature appear these words: “I understand and acknowledge that the activity I am about to engage in bears known risks and unanticipated risks that could result in injury, death, illness, disease, emotional distress, or damage to myself, to property, or to third parties.” So I have no one to blame (or sue) but myself.

The folks I won’t be blaming are Stone Works Climbing Gym. Not that they run a dangerous operation, but this is the tallest rock-climbing gym in the world, and when you’ve got clowns like me scampering up to heights of 110 feet, who knows what can happen?

Located in the old rainbow-colored grain silos oft 1-35, the ones that used to have painted on them the inspiring words “Jesus Is Lord” (thanks to Robert Tilton), Stone Works is as close to the real thing as some of us ever care to get. The silos sat empty from the 1967 harvest until November 1993, when the Works people came in and put up climbing routes by drilling into the concrete walls and attaching various manmade foot- and- handholds. Now there are seven silos to climb inside and out, everything from beginner-level climbs that kids would enjoy to an expert chimney route similar to the one on Wyoming’s famed Devil’s Tower.

Climbing inside a giant grain silo is like climbing inside a giant grain silo. You feel small, your voice echoes off the walls, and looking up or down gives you Hitchcockian vertigo. Lots of nylon rope and plenty of instruction keep the whole endeavor safer than a rush-hour commute, but I’ve never gotten to work as sweat-soaked and satisfied.

? Stone Works Climbing Gym, 1003 4th Avenue, Carrollton. 214-323-1047. Open to all ages, though minors must have a release signed by their parents; even preschoolers can climb with their parents, Prices: $8 for a day pass; $5 equipment rental.

-Tyrone Ragland

High Adventure

SKYDIVE DALLAS

AS I LEANED OUT THE OPEN SIDE DOOR OF AN AIRPLANE AT 13,000 feet with my legs curled beneath the fuselage, the fear was hard to swallow. Deafened by the whooshing wind and the dull rumble of the single-prop skydiving plane, and intimidated by the checkerboard pattern of the ground so far below, I clung to the cold metal bar beneath the wing. But never the type to climb back down the ladder of a high dive, 1 held my breath and somehow flopped over the edge. Gravity was working just fine that day.

I had felt this way once before-in college when I tell off a third-floor fire escape. Except this time, the unavoidable fear was tainted with rare elation. My uneasy scream turned into a triumphant warhoop as the vertigo waned after a few seconds. Spread-eagle, 1 reached a constant velocity of 120 miles per hour. or 180 feet per second. My stomach caught up with my falling body, and 1 no longer felt the downward motion. Dropping into a thick, purplish-gray rain cloud, I became blissfully disoriented, enveloped in the surreal atmosphere. Whoo-hoo man, this was it! This was everything I have ever wanted to feel. I felt like…like…I was flying, flying free as a bird. 1 was on top of the world.

A company called Skydive Dallas, located about an hour north of the city in Whitewright, makes it easy for any aspiring daredevil to take this worthwhile plunge. For $150, first-timers can do what’s called a tandem dive, where an instructor is actually strapped to your back, assuring that your dive goes safely. And believe it or not, jumping out of an airplane is safer than it seems. (In fact, it is statistically probably safer to take the dive than to make the drive to the airport. Of the one million skydivers worldwide who jump each year, there are about 20 fatalities; most of these are the result of experienced divers acting recklessly.) Modern parachutes even come equipped with a tiny computer that will automatically deploy the chute in an emergency.

I pulled the ripcord at about 5,000 feet. As the canopy of rip-proof nylon inflated above me, 1 exhaled with a sigh of relief, Dangling peacefully beneath the parachute, I basked in the tingling afterglow that resulted from the freefall, possibly the most intense minute of my life. After a quick lesson in steering, my jumpmaster and I descended for almost 10 minutes before swooping in for a surprisingly soft landing.

Skydiving is an inspirational experience, to say the least. At the time there was nowhere else in the world I’d rather have been. Floating two miles above the Earth, this new perspective gave literal meaning to many a metaphor. I know now what it really is to be last in the clouds, or to be closer to God. And after feeling what it’s like to fly, 1 think I know why the birds sing.

? Skydive Dallas, Rural Route 2, Box 15, Whitewright, 75491. 214-445-6604. Adults only. Prices: Tandem jump $125; $50 extra for a video tape.-Dan Michalski



Desert Storm for Beginners

PAINTBALL GAMES

AS A BOY GROWING UP IN THE ’60S, ONE of my favorite games was War played with inner-tube rifles. Thirty years later, we have Paintball. The plan is still the same–shoot others before they shoot you-but now we have paintgun semi-automatics, the ultimate in “playing army.” Dressed in camouflage clothing, wearing face masks and hats, preteen boys can now ambush and splatter each other with paint to simulate a “kill.” Though it’s not a sport for the politically correct, kids love it.

“It’s played with an air rifle or gun powered by CO2 or nitrogen,” says Ted Gellert, president of Paintball Games of Dallas. “It fires a paintball that’s a gelatin cap filled with water-based, biodegradable, nontoxic paint.” Outdoors, he explains, the game is played like capture the flag, while indoor games are faster “because everyone’s visible from the get-go.” Gellert’s business emphasizes the family facet of the sport, rather than the elaborate weekend-warrior scenarios more common to Guns & Ammo aficionados. “It’s good way for a dad to get out with his son, a good time for bonding,” he explains.

Matt Kearns, Youth Assistant for the First Baptist Church of Dallas, helped organize an outing tor his church’s youth group not long ago and considered it a huge success. “I thought it was great,” he says. “We wanted to do something different outdoors, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a little hot, but they’re begging us to go again. I’d love to go in September or October.”

There are a number of safety precautions, and if everyone follows the guidelines, it’s a safe sport. “We require you to wear face protection when you’re on the playing surface area,” explains Gellert. “And we have referees who enforce that rule. When you’re nor playing you have to have a barrel plug in your gun.”

So what exactly is the attraction of paintball? “It’s a pretty good rush,” says Gellert. “We have a lot of church groups and families come out. 1 think it’s the fact that this gives them a good opportunity to get out and do something completely off the wall. And anybody can be pretty good. If you shoot enough paintballs, you’ll hit somebody.”

?Paintball Games of Dallas, 6007 Berkshire Lane. 214-554-1937. Kids 8 and up can play indoors; 12 and up can play outside. Prices: $20 per person indoors, half a day, and $25 outdoors. -William J. Cobb