Good Monday morning all! This past weekend was unlike anything - ever! On Friday evening, my wonderful son, Brad, emailed me and said, "Hey, momma, wanna go skydiving tomorrow?" And me being the kind of mom not to let my boys do something crazy by themselves, said, "Yeah, let's do it!" And then I thought, "Good Lord, I seriously must be losing it..."
I barely slept that night thinking I was going to jump 15,000 feet out of a perfectly nice airplane, and possibly to my demise. Holy crap! But.....why not? I always wanted to feel the wind "beneath my wings" so why not try it with my son! And let me tell you - as far as bucket lists go - PUT THIS ONE ON YOURS!
It was amazing!!!! Did I say amazing? I meant to say freaking fantastic!!! After almost wetting my pants when the plane took off (because precisely at that moment you realize there is no backing out), I was terrified on the plane, and at the door, but once I actually jumped with my awesome tandem instructor Cris, everything changed. It is an indescribable feeling, but I will try to explain it.
You know when you are dreaming and feel like you are falling and you shake and wake yourself up? It does not feel like that at all. LOL It is quite the opposite actually. You are indeed falling at 120mph towards the ground, and the wind is rushing through your ears and hair quite loudly as you try to grasp the magnitude of everything around you. With all that going on, you still almost feel like you are being pushed up from the wind, instead of actual free falling. We spun around in a few flips and circles and Cris even let me "fly" our parachute. Of course, when the parachute opened, I wasn't ready for that part, and *whoosh* it pulls you back....and then you just float. The whole thing lasted about seven or eight wonderful minutes and Cris, who was so awesome, touched me down as light as a feather, and I just walked right out of the harness (really!!) Having said that, if you are in Florida, I highly recommend Skydive Space Center in Titusville! I kid you not. I was so psyched. My adrenalin was still going at full speed several hours later.
Honestly, other than the initial boarding of the plane and looking out of the door before the jump, it was absolutely spectacular. So spectacular, that I do hope to do it again. Oh, and did I mention, that because Brad and I were jumping with the seasoned jumpers who had more than 20,000 jumps, they took us to 18,000 feet. Not that we would have hit the ground any harder (you're still going 120mph), you just get a longer ride.....ahhhhh.....
THAT was worth the check and check mark.....
WooHoo!! That's a HUGE check mark off the bucket list :)
ReplyDeleteLooking out the door right before you jump was the scariest part for me too!
Thank you so much for the wonderful post Arla. We had a wonderful time with you as well. Come see us again soon.
ReplyDeleteHello Arla, Wow, I want to try it. I think I'll plan a skydive sometime next year. Thanks for sharing your experience! Miss you. Good to hear you are living life to the fullest!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you and your family.