What a rush!! Skydiving was something I have always wanted to do, yet never had the chance. Well, this is the year to try new things! I have always known that I loved heights and never would have a problem with them. I have bungee jumped with one leg attached into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, para-sailed and taken the random roller coaster. WOW!! Talk about child's play!! That was nothing!
I finally said, enough is enough and this is the week. On Wednesday afternoon, my niece Sarah and my two oldest children came to watch my foolish adventure. I would like to say that I was cool and casual. Not really at all! I had to stop twice on the way to the airport to get some air. When we got there, the thought of what was coming next, turned me white as a ghost. This was very unlike me.
Either way, I was jumping today! The other four jumpers and I sat through a short safety video and then we were ready to go. I went first. It was CRAZY! Apparently, we all decided to go without jumpsuits and had to wear what we had on. I would have dressed differently if I had known this. My tandem master was named Chad. Cool guy who does about 10 jumps a day. He understood my freaked out vibe and mellowed me (or tried to).
You get in the plane and it goes straight up - no messing around. We kept climbing and climbing and Nicole (the videographer) told me we were only halfway up, I turned a "whiter shade of pale". I was surprised because we had already passed the clouds a long time ago (no lie). The moment of truth is coming up...
Nicole opened up the door and hung out of the airplane with one arm clinging on. Chad told me, this is it, let's go! The wind in the airplane was whipping around like crazy. It is a lot colder (obviously) than at ground level, the clouds are thousands of feet down and the ground is 13,500 feet down! I was slightly stressed out, but there was no turning back now. 1..2...3..GO! A little crazier than jumping into a cold pool! I made the leap. We free falled for one minute going 125 mph! It felt like 5 minutes (not 5 seconds)! After a few seconds of massive fear, it was pretty cool and the biggest rush of adrenaline I have ever had (or will have hopefully)! We actually passed through some clouds. Also, going from 125 mph straight down, then the chute is pulled and immediately moving just as fast in the opposite direction gets your attention. The 5 to 7 minute parachute ride down was calming, except the sideways spins Chad put me through. If you want to take your own jump check here : http://www.skydivemilwaukee.com/index.cfm?area=videos
I was glad I went first because during Chad's next tandem (minutes after me), the original parachute didn't open and they had to discard it midair. From what I heard, the emergency chute only opened partially and they landed about a half mile away from the original landing zone at a faster than wanted pace.
I am glad I took THE JUMP and equally glad it is over. Massively outside the comfort zone this week! I would like to thank my niece Sarah for being super cool during our ride to the jump and watching the kids while I was 2 1/2 miles above them.
Pictures and videos pretty much speak for themselves. Sorry for the video quality, I videoed the DVD playing on the TV. Hopefully soon, I will figure out how to download it directly.
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