One Person Talking at a Time. Don’t Panic. Have a Plan. Trust and Support.

This week Team Building Virginia had LOTS of visitors.  Yesterday, we had a school group from Charlottesville Day School visit the Park for 1.5 hours of Team Building and 1.5 hours of Zip Lines!  They had QUITE the day!

The kids started out very excited about the chickens that live on the farm.  We quickly moved past that when they realized the Ropes Course was happening.  The first leg of the adventure began on the Low Ropes Course, where Team Building Virginia works its magic.

After warming up with the Wiggle Game, and learning about Challenge By Choice, and the High Five Contract, the middle schoolers got their first real challenge.

Step One: Hold the Rope in your Hands.

Step Two: Close your Eyes

Step Three: Transform the Rope into the best Circle (next came Square, and then Triangle) that you can possibly make…keeping eyes closed until it is time to see the final product!

We must admit, the first attempt was rough.  But it got better.  During our breakdown of the challenge, the kids came to several conclusions.  “Not being able to see is hard”.  “Shapes are stupid”  “Geometry IS important to real life” and “Working together helps”.  After a thorough and thoughtful conversation, the kids came to a conclusion.  When everyone talks at once, it is hard to hear, frustrating, unproductive, and can even lead to people accidentally getting their feelings hurt.  Their take away from the challenge: One Person Talking at a Time.

Keeping this new philosophy in mind the group moved on to Whale Watch.  A challenge that involves balancing a “boat” while allowing the entire team to board and find a place to stand without “flipping” the boat.  This one took some time, but our facilitation staff loved hearing the kids say “one person talking at a time!” when it began to get out of hand.   During the process, the children were asked to answer questions like “What is working well?” “What isn’t working” “What causes the boat to flip” and “What can we do differently”.  After discussing several options, the kids decided that the boat was most likely to flip when they panicked.  Philosophy two for the day was born… “Don’t Panic”.  Sure enough it began to work.  Now that they were getting somewhere, and their behaviors were no longer getting in the way of their success, it was time for one more realization: they needed a plan.  Once they figured this step out, they were unstoppable!

Moving right along, the group next became Computer Technicians.

You are computer technicians and you are here to help us.  The Adventure Park website has been HACKED!  But since you are super great computer people, you know that if you enter in the code (the numbers 1-25 in order) you will SAVE our website!  Once you begin, you will have only 2 minuets to successfully enter the code, as quickly as possible before all data is lost! This means you need to go as quickly as you can!  To help you with this, we have set up a simulation lab.  You will have 5 attempts to get your quickest time and SAVE THE WEBSITE!

Before the first attempt began, the group was given a 5 minuet planning period in the main office.  The kids took great advantage of this time, one person talked at a time, the took turns sharing ideas, the stayed calm, and then, tested out their first plan.  The best part?  They no longer needed the teachers or facilitators to step in and lead the conversation!  They were operating independently this time.  Their first try took 1:51. They needed to get better.  Several ideas later, the group earned an All Time Sandy River World Record and saved the website!  How did they do it?  In their own words: “We tried lots of ideas” “we had a plan” “everyone had a job and we trusted each other”….thus philosophy 4 was born… Trust and Support.

After a lunch break, the group was ready to take on the obstacles and zip lines in The Adventure Park!  Now they were armed with their 4 philosophies….

               One Person Talking at a Time

               Don’t Panic

               Have a Plan

               Trust and Support

In The Adventure Park, several kids conquered fears while others went for time trials, but they all worked together, helping each other to make their belay connections, allowing the facilitators to have a turn to talk and explain the safety rules, staying calm in the face of fear, setting goals, and making a plan to achieve them, and encouraging each other the whole way.

Did they learn though play? We think so….

We are on a Journey.

Of getting back to our roots.  Of playing more.  Of finding a life that truly makes us happy.  Of inner peace and security.

Three years ago, we decided to take a leap and make a change.  We had visited other canopy tours and adventure parks in other countries and states, and felt the local area could really benefit from such a fantastic experience.  And so could we.  So we decided to build one. On our own. In the backyard.

Luckily, we have a really big back yard!

Our farm, Sandy River Retreat, sits on about 16 acres of land.  It houses 4 log cabins, 1 cottage, a workshop, several pastures, a little pond….and now….an adventure park!  We dedicated 3 acres of our land, our home, to our new business.  We enlisted the help of some friends in the ropes course industry, and began building.  Planning started in October of 2011, running around the woods, scouting trees and planning obstacles.  9 months later, in June of 2012, we opened! At the time The Adventure Park at Sandy River Retreat had 4 courses.  1 each of Yellow, Green, Blue, and Black, starting with the children’s course and getting progressively harder and higher as you moved on.

In the early stages, it was just Mark and Candice, owners, and a very small staff operating The Park.  Quickly though, we grew.

In the spring of 2013 we decided it was time to expand. We wanted to take our Adventure Park, and help it find its roots, they way it had helped us find ours.

Adventure Parks and Canopy Tours spring from the traditional Challenge Course, or Ropes Course.  Developed originally as a training ground for military personal, they quickly began to gain popularity in the outdoor education industry and began to be used by organizations such as NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) and Outward Bound and others in the group and team development arenas.  To make an entire history a little shorter, know that the whole concept is centered around the thought that one learns best by doing.  In a natural setting, faced with challenges that are both physical, emotional, and mental, great change can happen.  We wanted to be a part of THAT.  We wanted to help groups and individuals realize and develop their full potential, over come obstacles, and learn through play.  We wanted to take our Adventure Park, back to its challenge course roots.  So we developed Team Building Virginia, a group centered program and built a low ropes course.

That winter, before the opening of our 2014 season, we grew some more.   First we built a new course.  We now have 6 courses in The Adventure Park, 2 yellow, 2 green, 1 blue and 1 black.  Next, we wanted to be able to offer MORE adventures.  To expose people to more types of outside play, and make it easy to spend time outdoors adventuring.  We began the Canoe and Kayak Outfitters, with guided or non-guided rentals on either The Sandy River Fishing Reservoir or The Appomattox River.  And, we opened High Bridge Bikes; Rentals and Repairs, allowing folks to finally rent trail cruiser bikes or mountain bikes for High Bridge State Park’s 30+ miles of trail!  With these additions to our adventure options, we re-branded, and Sandy River Outdoor Adventures was born.

At the same time as our outfitters and rentals services were taking off, we began to take a long hard look at our town, our goals, and our mission.  We felt something was missing. We wanted a space, a place, where like minded people could gather for, and supply, their adventures.  We needed a central hub. An adventure headquarters.  A gear shop.  We found one.  Right on Main Street in Downtown Farmville, in the middle of the Green Front Furniture complex, next to an entrance to High Bridge Trail, across the street from the Appomattox River, and neighboring several great locally owned shops, cafes, and restaurants, stood our new home.  All it needed was a little TLC.  We began the renovation process in the late summer, and turned the once North Gate Service Station, into The Outdoor Adventure Store.

Our Journey has seen many twists and turns.  There have been some bumps and hills, but there has also been stretches of flat, easy, and exciting terrain.  It has been and will continue to be, an adventure.  We don’t know yet whats next for us.  But we know it will be grand.  Through it all, our Journey IS the Destination.  And we are thrilled to see where ours goes next.

The Journey IS the Destination

At Sandy River, we believe that The Journey IS The Destination.

That it’s not about where you’re going, but about how you get there.

We believe that the experiences, places, and people you encounter…. the mark they leave on you AND the one you leave on them are what matters.  That life is about what you do with your existence.

Life is a process.

A voyage.

A JOURNEY.

We believe that that process is what makes us, what builds us into who we are meant to be, and to who we have always been.

THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION.