OH, &*$S%#!

So, if you hadn't guessed it already, today I jumped from an airplane with our babysitter and friend, Erica. We actually got E a gift cert to go skydiving for her birthday a few months back and i volunteered to go with her, seeing as how I needed to cross it off my bucket list anyway. Because I'm a giver like that.
So today we drove to Plattville, Al'BAMA (because that's how you say alabama in the south) to the Alabama Skydiving Center for our tandem jump. I actually did NOT bring my camera (*gasp, choke, cough from the audience*) but I brought the Flip.

When we arrived, Erica was mildly concerned over the dissarray in which the skydiving "center" looked....meaning, she wasn't very comforted by the fact that the office/"lounge" looked like a college dorm.
After a rave.
Didn't faze me, but I thought the people who were running the place looked like they stepped out of some sort of sitcom. They were all good friends, aged 19-27 (with one guy who looked to be about 35, but acted like a 17 year old), adrenaline junkies, some of whom probably still live with their parents, ranging from very good looking to the guy who looked like he just rolled out of bed (because he probably did) and hadn't shaved in 2 weeks (because he probably hadn't). They looked like those kind of college students who never want to get "real jobs" so they make it their job to go skydiving on the weekends. A bad thing? Whatever. They were cool.
And annoying all at the same time.

When we got there they were taking a group out for a jump, so after we signed all our waivers (can't sue in case of dismemberment, death, etc.) we stood outside to watch the group land.



Then it was our turn.
We suited up, got about 5 minutes of instruction, watched them finish packing up our chutes, and we headed out to the plane.

Here's some still shots from the video camera a few minutes before we boarded the plane....




I thought my orange prison jumpsuit was hot 'n sexy....


so did E....



Then we boarded the plane. The very SMALL plane.

This would be a good time to mention that Erica has never even BEEN on a plane, let alone jumped from one.
So as the plane lurched into a tight angle into the sky I heard Erica beside me say, "oh shit" and I looked over to see her eyes wide and knuckles white from gripping the plane bench.
I wish I had THAT on video.
I kept the video going for a few minutes, but to be quite honest, I have this "thing" with heights. Meaning that they mildly frighten me. Not so much if I'm safely strapped into a seat in an airplane or behind sturdy glass in a skyscraper, but being 2 feet away from an open door of an airplane as the ground gets further and further away... NOT belted in, with nothing to hold on to, straddling a vinyl bench. So after this little video...I turned it off:



Actually, this was only about 45 seconds into the climb and we went up for about 15 minutes, to about 14,000 feet (about 2.5 miles), which looks something like this:


The instructors reminded us what to do one more time: toes on the edge of the door, thumbs tucked in your harness, arch your back, feet up. And just fall out of the plane.

Erica went first. One minute she was at the door, the next minute she was gone.
Then I was up. Oddly, I felt no butterflies, no nerves. Just anticipation. I expected my stomach to drop, like when you're on a roller coaster, but it didn't. It almost didn't even feel like we were falling. It was AMAZING.
Absolutely amazing.

and windy.

and amazing.

and loud. I couldn't even hear myself scream so I figured, 'what's the point?" and shut my mouth in case there were any bugs flying around at 14,000 feet. Erica said that she went through a cloud and she could feel it. FEEL a cloud.

amazing.

We were free-falling for about 60 seconds, then the shoot opened (with a mildly uncomfortable tug of the harness in the hoo-haw area) so I scooted the leg harnesses down under my butt until I was in a sitting position (as the instructor had told me to do). And then we just drifted down to earth for about 7-10 minutes....and it was so quiet, and so peaceful. And did I mention it was AMAZING??

And we totally want to do it again. That....or bungee jumping.

Who's with us?