On Friday April 12th, several of Turnbridge’s Phase I residents went to Empower Adventure Center in Middletown, CT, for an afternoon of zip-lining. After a brief orientation and safety lesson, Empower’s staff took the residents through five zip-lines and an obstacle course that included a tightrope and an “Indiana Jones style rope bridge.” The course begins only 10 feet off the ground, but the residents were as high as 70 feet before finishing. For many, fear of heights caused a slight hesitancy, but all the residents eventually gave it a shot and ended up having a great time. “It was a lot of fun,” Mike R. said. “Some people have a fear of heights but they got over it. It was a good, sober activity and it was cool to get out there with a bunch of the guys and have fun. I like the activities. Nothing I did before sobriety was fun unless I was high or drunk. Learning to do fun activities makes you feel like a normal person and not institutionalized. You don’t have to feel like you’re being treated all the time. It was raining and we are all kind of shivering and cold, but we still had a great time.” “I enjoyed it,” Vinnie C. said. “I’ve been to too many rehabs and none of them are like this. Turnbridge takes you out to go do things. That’s important because being cooped up in a locked-down facility doesn’t prepare you to go into the outside world.” Johnny M. is “a little afraid of heights” and this was his first time zip-lining, but he didn’t let slow him down. “I liked being high up in the trees on the platform,” Johnny said. “It was scary at first, but it was fun. I would definitely do it again.”