Saturday, September 14, 2013

Skydiving!!!

 Here is the plane...
I have been thinking of doing this in forever.. ever since some friends of mine did it and I could not go as I weighed too much.  They did it as a right of passage and to prove they could DO this... I wanted to prove to myself I could also.... Do whatever I set my mind to do!!!


 Here I am listening to EVERY word he says.. really, he is going to have your life in his hands and you want to do the RIGHT things, when they are to be done.  Was just a tiny bit anxious... so many things could go wrong and you could psyche yourself out of it by thinking of them all, so better to be prepared and know all you can know.  BUT will I remember it all  on the spur of the moment???  who is to know?  Well I did pretty darn good and he only had to punch at me a couple of times for the memory to work and DO what I was supposed to be doing  :)
 More instructions inside the plane.  Where to sit, when to move and what to do when you moved,  getting on my knees and staying that way without (while the plane climbed the last 500 or so feet) grabbing onto something was the worst for me, you are always (or I am always) wanting to hold on to something to brace myself...  there is not much to grab onto in that plane, and some things look like they should NOT be grabbed onto, like the pilots shoulder.... or the steering wheel which is RIGHT there...
Everyone gets really close when in that little plane climbing to 10,000 feet takes about 20 minutes.... there is the pilot, of course :), then the two camera men and the guy that I was going to be hooked to, which was not a bad thing.. quite comforting actually...

 More instructions,  me listening intently....

 And we are off...

 Into the wild blue yonder!!!

 And here I am floating down...
Now let me tell you, I was always concerned about taking that step out of the plane....  yes, right,  THAT step...  we practiced it on the ground.. But then you get hooked up to the tandem guy and get your goggles on, actually put your foot onto the step next to his, this was HARD, the wind is blowing and I felt I was moving my foot, yet I looked and it was not there, had to make a really conscious EFFORT to get my foot out there next to his and then stay low, so we could shove off and NOT hit the struts or anything else and then....................  we were out and there is huge rushing and it goes on & on & on!!!!  And it is a really cool, fun experience to be falling like that, I really LIKED it....  THEN all of a sudden you are sort of jerked up and the rushing goes away and it is REALLY quiet and you get to float about and look at the landscape and talk. Twirl left and right... oh-oh then you get closer and closer to the ground and you have to lift your legs and try to hold them, while the tandem guy (Mark) does all the work and gets you to the ground in one piece and DON'T do a face plant.. like the lady b4 me did....  :)....  I did not do that, did pretty well.  But was having a problem breathing the last 2000 feet or so, don't know if it was the tightness of the  harness across the boobs all of a sudden or the harness settling into the crotch area really tightly or adrenalin working...  but everyone came out to help and I just laid there on top of Mark part ways for a bit  :)    and caught my breath.. he said I could...haha.

 But as you can see I did get up, leaned over a bit to catch the breath-did not really want to take advantage and wobbled by way back to the tent area..

Got a picture of accomplishment with Carol and we were on our way...  Yes, I look a little white and Carol a little red from sitting in the heat while I was enjoying myself... and yes my arm skin does sag that much.  that is life.... Went to Sonic for a burger then to Starbucks for a 'grande iced soy two pump vanilla latte'  and I was happy.....
Went to see my brother and sil and he had been out on a tractor by the airport turning hay and saw the skydivers, but did not know it was me!!!  Weird....
All is well that ends well and am happy I did it, had the experience of a lifetime & had really good guidance in Mark and all the all the guys at Central Oregon Sky Sports!!!!  Thanks guys....
Take Care and  God Bless All.... you CAN do whatever you decide to do!!!!!

8 comments:

  1. Way to go! So glad you did something "way out of the box".
    You should be very proud of yourself and just think...you have bragging rights!

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  2. Amazing, Loree! You have accomplished so much!

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  3. Three cheers for you! I just don't think I could take that big step out the door.

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  4. So proud of you Lori and I have to say I laughed and laughed at how you wrote about your experience. I love how you just say it right out. The part about the harness at 2000 feet had me laughing right out loud - and we were having lunch in a restaurant at the time!!

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  5. I remember way back when you said you wanted to do this. Congrats! to you and your courage. You are living all your dreams now.

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  6. How super, super exciting! My kids both did that, and I'd love to, also. I'm so glad you did this for yourself. Very brave. Now that is off your 'bucket list.'

    You look so slim and trim! It must feel so good to be able to do anything you want and wear anything you want. :)

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