sky diving!
Yesterday we did it! It was the longest day ever, but worth it in the end. I went out on Friday night (since it was my birthday I had a few free drinks from my favorite bar tender, including one he made up that had cucumbers in it and tasted just like cucumbers... weird). Anyway, we went to Lodi for the jump because my friend is licensed to jump alone there and also it is cheaper than anywhere else.
We got there at 1pm and the lady said it was a 4 hour wait. She wasn't kidding. We didn't get our jump on until almost 6:30! And after waiting around for our pictures, we finally left at 7pm.
So the jump! Yikes! When we finally got called up to go get our gear on, we headed to the back and everyone had their tandem jumper helping them get their gear on and telling them what to do when they jump. I was chilling and heard a two minute warning, yet my guy still hadn't shown up. Here I am, wondering how I am going to survive jumping out of a plane with no one to help me. Finally in the last minute my guy, Will, shows up. He quickly tightens my straps, but definitely doesn't seem interested in me or what he's doing. I asked one question: "hey, um, this doesn't feel very tight, is it supposed to?" And his response was, "Just pretend like I've done this before." OK, got it.
Then we headed outside and jumped on this golf cart thing that was going to take us to the plane. I hopped on, the last one since I was a little behind, and my instructor didn't follow. So again, here I am alone while everyone else is with their instructor. The ride leaves and they say not to worry, that he'll catch up. Yeah, very promising for a new jumper.
Will finally comes strolling over by himself and I tried to talk to him, but decided maybe he was better off alone. The plane showed up and we all piled in and sat straddling this bar in a line. It took off so quickly, and then we began to rise. And rise. And rise. I couldn't believe how high we were going (13,000 feet!). As we were rising I looked back, and Will was sleeping! Some guy returning from a jump had warned us about the sleeper, and of course I would be the one to get him. So here I am, looking out the window, and I started to get really nervous! Will hadn't told me what to do when we jump, I didn't feel comfortable because my belts felt loose, and he was literally sleeping behind me. I could tell, because you know how people sometimes twich when sleeping? Like maybe a dream makes them twitch? Yeah, well he had his twitch happening.
I could see everyone else starting to tighten their gear, put on their glasses, and I didn't know what to do. Should I wake my guy up? Shouldn't we be gearing up too? Finally he came to and tightened my straps, and just as I was putting on my glasses I looked up and saw that my brother was already gone!
Next thing I know I saw my friend (the one going solo since he has his license) jump out and my heart sank, thinking oh my god he's going to die. Then before I even had a chance to think we were out the door. I am so glad he didn't ask me if I was ready or pause at the door, because I would have died if I had to initiate the jump. I was scared to death as we first got out of the plane, but after I calmed down it was amazing! I just looked around and realized that I was falling way fast, as I could definitely feel with the air rushing in my eyes, through the glasses, and into my mought as I smiled.
The freefalling was amazing, but eventually he pulled the cord. As soon as he did he gave me the controls to steer the chute. He then took off my glasses, and loosened the leg straps until I was in a comfortable sitting position. So he did know what he was doing by not tightening the leg straps too much! Right after he did that he taught me to turn and also how to spiral, so we did a few of those. I also talked to him a little and found out that he has been doing this for 15 years, and he hadn't had a day off in 30 days. No wonder he was so tired. Not a day off, and those are long days! I understood why he wasn't too thrilled to be there.
Once we got close to the landing strip he took control and we came in for a safe and smooth landing of me just standing up. He quickly unlocked the chute and disappeared. I seriously had the most blocked ears I've ever had, and it took almost a full hour until I could hear fully again. I don't know if that's normal, but I don't think so. We got our pictures and then got the hell out of Lodi. It was SO hot waiting there all day, but so worth the jump! I would definitely do it again, but I don't think I would ever do it alone.
I am still trying to figure out how to get the pictures onto my computer, and flickr isn't working, but as soon as it works I will post them!
We got there at 1pm and the lady said it was a 4 hour wait. She wasn't kidding. We didn't get our jump on until almost 6:30! And after waiting around for our pictures, we finally left at 7pm.
So the jump! Yikes! When we finally got called up to go get our gear on, we headed to the back and everyone had their tandem jumper helping them get their gear on and telling them what to do when they jump. I was chilling and heard a two minute warning, yet my guy still hadn't shown up. Here I am, wondering how I am going to survive jumping out of a plane with no one to help me. Finally in the last minute my guy, Will, shows up. He quickly tightens my straps, but definitely doesn't seem interested in me or what he's doing. I asked one question: "hey, um, this doesn't feel very tight, is it supposed to?" And his response was, "Just pretend like I've done this before." OK, got it.
Then we headed outside and jumped on this golf cart thing that was going to take us to the plane. I hopped on, the last one since I was a little behind, and my instructor didn't follow. So again, here I am alone while everyone else is with their instructor. The ride leaves and they say not to worry, that he'll catch up. Yeah, very promising for a new jumper.
Will finally comes strolling over by himself and I tried to talk to him, but decided maybe he was better off alone. The plane showed up and we all piled in and sat straddling this bar in a line. It took off so quickly, and then we began to rise. And rise. And rise. I couldn't believe how high we were going (13,000 feet!). As we were rising I looked back, and Will was sleeping! Some guy returning from a jump had warned us about the sleeper, and of course I would be the one to get him. So here I am, looking out the window, and I started to get really nervous! Will hadn't told me what to do when we jump, I didn't feel comfortable because my belts felt loose, and he was literally sleeping behind me. I could tell, because you know how people sometimes twich when sleeping? Like maybe a dream makes them twitch? Yeah, well he had his twitch happening.
I could see everyone else starting to tighten their gear, put on their glasses, and I didn't know what to do. Should I wake my guy up? Shouldn't we be gearing up too? Finally he came to and tightened my straps, and just as I was putting on my glasses I looked up and saw that my brother was already gone!
Next thing I know I saw my friend (the one going solo since he has his license) jump out and my heart sank, thinking oh my god he's going to die. Then before I even had a chance to think we were out the door. I am so glad he didn't ask me if I was ready or pause at the door, because I would have died if I had to initiate the jump. I was scared to death as we first got out of the plane, but after I calmed down it was amazing! I just looked around and realized that I was falling way fast, as I could definitely feel with the air rushing in my eyes, through the glasses, and into my mought as I smiled.
The freefalling was amazing, but eventually he pulled the cord. As soon as he did he gave me the controls to steer the chute. He then took off my glasses, and loosened the leg straps until I was in a comfortable sitting position. So he did know what he was doing by not tightening the leg straps too much! Right after he did that he taught me to turn and also how to spiral, so we did a few of those. I also talked to him a little and found out that he has been doing this for 15 years, and he hadn't had a day off in 30 days. No wonder he was so tired. Not a day off, and those are long days! I understood why he wasn't too thrilled to be there.
Once we got close to the landing strip he took control and we came in for a safe and smooth landing of me just standing up. He quickly unlocked the chute and disappeared. I seriously had the most blocked ears I've ever had, and it took almost a full hour until I could hear fully again. I don't know if that's normal, but I don't think so. We got our pictures and then got the hell out of Lodi. It was SO hot waiting there all day, but so worth the jump! I would definitely do it again, but I don't think I would ever do it alone.
I am still trying to figure out how to get the pictures onto my computer, and flickr isn't working, but as soon as it works I will post them!