A definition of "adventure"

From my travel journal: 

July 20^th , 2006

Denali National Park

Today was a great day.  In 1969, man first walked on the moon on this day.  In 2006, I was in a tiny plane flying over glaciers!!

It all started when we played Beautiful Day by U2 as we set out.  It was so sunny and clear and when we got to the national park we were able to see all of Mount McKinley clearly- doesn’t happen very often. We boarded the park bus (old yellow school buses!) for our trip into Denali. At the first rest stop our tour guide suggested we go and organise a flight for today.  He acknowledged it was a risk- we were giving up one of our 2 days in the park on the possibility of a flight.  I hadn’t planned on doing the flight over McKinley, but seeing it in the park- I decided to go for it!  The five of us were quiet as we waited for the bus back to the park entrance - would we even be able to get on a flight?  Maybe we'd be hanging around the campsite for the afternoon!

It worked out perfectly: we were able to make a reservation AND still had enough time to go and get icecream at a weird little roadside diner.

The flight was bumpy and scary but so amazing and at a certain point I forgot my flight fears and was so into the scenery I thought I would cry- a turtle moment! * The snow covered ranges, fault lines and glaciers- and just being in Alaska in a tiny plane with oxygen masks  on because the cabin wasn’t pressurised.  The pilots did cool aeronautical tricks so we could see things- like pointing out peaks with the wings.   We saw where the Into The Wild’s guy’s bus was. Then...I was  SO HAPPY to be land!   Some days seem too perfect and I worried about us getting back down.  But no- a perfect, BEAUTIFUL DAY!

* A "turtle moment" is my personal shorthand for any overwhelmingly awesome or beautiful moment while  travelling.  The original turtle moment happened at the Turtle Islands, just off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia.  Seeing the sea turtles making their way in the world was an amazing sight.  

This to me is an adventure.  I don't (knowingly) take dangerous risks.  I'd usually rather take a chance, rather than stick to the path.  How about you?  When did you take a risk that paid off in a nice little adventure?