Finally discovered a wonderful way to celebrate Valentine’s/Galentine’s Day. The best part, I convinced two friends to join me.
Actually, didn’t take much convincing on my part. They seemed ready to cross “indoor skydiving” off their bucket list. Just needed someone, such as myself, to make the arrangements.
We were lucky in two ways that I made reservations a few weeks in advance.
First of all, an employee warned me that participants in an upcoming national indoor skydiving competition would start filling all the slots during a “hell week,” which was around the Saturday we wanted to fly. So, I made reservations early and we had the time slot to ourselves.
Secondly, since we arrived earlier than our 2:30 flight time, we watched one of the competitive teams practice. Although watching was free, I considered that entertainment an added value.
Both of my friends had irrational fears of what could happen, which were somewhat quelled when they saw an eight-year-old girl flying and having a ball.
I shared with them that the first time I skydove, I thought that there would be no net and that a wind turbine with blades rotated below the chamber. Talk about someone who’s watched too many movies.
Like my previous experience, we were taken to a classroom, where among other things, our guide explained the hand signals.
One of my friends became very familiar with the “calm down” hand signal, which looks like the surfer’s “hang tight” hand gesture. During her first flight, she kept flutter kicking her legs as if swimming while flying. By her second flight, she was markedly calmer.
My other friend, who I wasn’t sure would make it, since her busy schedule takes her out of town frequently, caught on the fastest with controlling what her body was doing within the chamber.
My friends made me go first since I was the so-called expert, having flown once before. I was the only one who barrel rolled against the wall. For my first flight, I wound up upside down. For the second flight, I did a half twist against the wall. Although I wasn’t supposed to do any of that, those were the most fun moments of both flights.
Then, came the moment I’d waited for on the third flight. Going all the way to the top. That alone was why I’d wanted to go indoor skydiving again after two and a half years. Unlike the thrill ride of an amusement park drop, floating to the top and back down again didn’t make my stomach flutter. Yet, I still felt exhilarated as joy rides are wont to do.
After all was said and done, one friend joked about returning to do it again the next day and the other wanted to jump out of an actual plane. This would be an expensive form of entertainment to do on a regular basis. As far as jumping out of a perfectly functioning airplane, not for all the money in the world.