When deciding what to write about in my blog this week, the idea of ENJOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES came to me. One of the things I look forward to the most every summer and greatly enjoy is whatever company outing I get to go on that year. Through the years of working here I've gone on many outings, from trips to Dale Hollow Lake to jet ski and boat, trips up to Cedar Point, white water rafting/kayaking, high ropes courses, caving, and more! In 2010 our employees had the opportunity to go caving and white water rafting or kayaking down in Kentucky. This blog will mainly show pictures of that adventure.
Above is a group photo of the employees that went on this trip. I'm sorry for the dark image. This was taken at about midnight. After a long day of work, our employees climbed into several livery vans and headed down to Kentucky. Our fearless leader likes to go caving, or more properly called "spelunking," in the middle of the night when we don't have to worry about running into others at the caves. Whether you go in the day or night does not matter since the caves are pitch black either way.
The entrance to the cave is always fun. You begin by "duck walking" into the mouth of the cave, and then eventually have to crawl your way the rest of the way. For our bigger guys, they were often scraping both bellies and backs to squeeze in. When you get into the first larger room you're already feeling the thrill. The temperature drops, the carvings in the rocks made from streams and floodings times ago are fascinating, and then there's the fun of sliding and climbing through the mud.
One of the greatest things about these company outings is that they really do create group unity and a company bond. I hate to sound like a summer camp slogan, but this experience that was made to reward all our hardworking employees ended up also benefiting our relationships among each other, our work environment, and our trust in each other.
There was not a moment in the cave where we weren't helping each other up, supporting each other so our friends could climb to get a better view, or helping each other across slippery paths.
The picture shown on the right is one of us lifting and pulling each other up to a small nook that overlooked a large room in the cave from a view of about 30 feet up. In order to get up you had to be supported from below and above. The guys supporting us from below had to stand around a hole opening in the floor, but they willingly did this in order for us to have the experience of seeing the amazing view. Whoever was pulling up from above had to lie down flat on their belly and hang over the edge to pull us up. What I'll probably remember most about this task was not the great view, or even the accomplishment of getting up there, but rather how much my fellow employees cared to push, pull, sweat, and bruise themselves so that I could fully experience the cave.
The next morning we woke up early and headed to the Cumberland River for some white water rafting and kayaking. Our employees take a combination of rafts (my preference for safety and socialness), inflatable kayaks, and white water kayaks. The days on the river are so fun. We spend them swimming, jumping off of rocks, swimming through smaller rapids, and praying through larger ones. The following are pictures from our day on the river.
The entrance to the cave is always fun. You begin by "duck walking" into the mouth of the cave, and then eventually have to crawl your way the rest of the way. For our bigger guys, they were often scraping both bellies and backs to squeeze in. When you get into the first larger room you're already feeling the thrill. The temperature drops, the carvings in the rocks made from streams and floodings times ago are fascinating, and then there's the fun of sliding and climbing through the mud.
One of the greatest things about these company outings is that they really do create group unity and a company bond. I hate to sound like a summer camp slogan, but this experience that was made to reward all our hardworking employees ended up also benefiting our relationships among each other, our work environment, and our trust in each other.
There was not a moment in the cave where we weren't helping each other up, supporting each other so our friends could climb to get a better view, or helping each other across slippery paths.
The picture shown on the right is one of us lifting and pulling each other up to a small nook that overlooked a large room in the cave from a view of about 30 feet up. In order to get up you had to be supported from below and above. The guys supporting us from below had to stand around a hole opening in the floor, but they willingly did this in order for us to have the experience of seeing the amazing view. Whoever was pulling up from above had to lie down flat on their belly and hang over the edge to pull us up. What I'll probably remember most about this task was not the great view, or even the accomplishment of getting up there, but rather how much my fellow employees cared to push, pull, sweat, and bruise themselves so that I could fully experience the cave.
The next morning we woke up early and headed to the Cumberland River for some white water rafting and kayaking. Our employees take a combination of rafts (my preference for safety and socialness), inflatable kayaks, and white water kayaks. The days on the river are so fun. We spend them swimming, jumping off of rocks, swimming through smaller rapids, and praying through larger ones. The following are pictures from our day on the river.
This is just one example of the enjoyment opportunities I've had from working at Mohican Adventures. With hiring time for our season quickly approaching, I thought it'd be a good time to butter up new recruits. ;)
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