MY BEST DAY IN 2019

WE ASKED READERS TO TELL US ABOUT THEIR BEST DAY IN 2019. SEVERAL RESPONDED, AND HERE ARE THEIR STORIES

- MIKE TIPTON

Oh, what a high after talking my wife into parasailing

It took some groundwork and persuasion over the course of several years to set up my best day of 2019.

There were a handful of days in the running for my best day (e.g. kayaking with grandkids, a B-17 ride in Yakima) but after some thought, I chose one I was able to share with my spouse.

While I had parasailed a couple of times over the years in Mexico and also at Lake Chelan, my wife Patti had not. Nor is Pat a huge fan of heights.

We had seen visitors parasailing here on the lake for several years and occasionally I’d (gently and hopefully) remind Patti that it was something maybe we could try together sometime.

I would describe my own experiences — the feeling of freedom, the beauty of the surroundings as you follow the boat’s path below and of course the kid-like enjoyment of floating in the air.

Well, early this past summer she really appeared to be warming up to the idea. A couple of weeks later I suggested a date on which we could take our ride… and this time she agreed.

We awoke on the day we’d chosen to find just a few scattered clouds on another sunny Lake Chelan day. There were, however, some high winds in the morning, which, we could see, had kept the boat from running its normal routine on the lake. This was a little disconcerting but we continued to hope for the best.

Thankfully, by the time we arrived for our scheduled afternoon ride the weather had settled down nicely.

The highlight of the day occurred shortly thereafter as we went aloft, celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary.

The people at Chelan Parasail were great as we took our tandem ride together, dipping our feet in the warm end-of-July waters near the end of the ride.