They Say It's Your Birthday

This past Sunday was my birthday. It wasn't a major milestone birthday - but I celebrated it in a major way - I went skydiving. Why? It's simple: I've always wanted to, so my birthday was the perfect excuse. We sky-dived up from 13,000 ft and it was incredible. Amazing. So freaking fantastic I can't even explain it. We have video documenting the entire dive (from start to finish) but DVD keeps shutting down our computers. But, as soon as we figure out a way to download the DVD onto our computers, I'll put the video up. For now, here are some pictures and a short video clip that Sean took with my camera.Have a safe flight, indeed.
Sean kissing his wife good-bye and good luck.
The plane I jumped out of was very similar to one of these planes.
And here I am getting all harnessed up. After I got strapped into the harness, Jack (the guy I would be strapped to) and I went over to our plane. There was another girl jumping, so in total there were 4 of us sitting in this itty bitty plane. I hop into the plane and sit on the floor. I put a seatbelt on and then the plane starts taxiing. Did I mention, that the door to the airplane is still open? It is. At this point, I've had no training whatsoever. No one's told me what to do. So as we're taxiing, I thought we were simply going to a different part of the airport. Then I noticed the plane going faster and faster. Jack leans over to me and says, "see that yellow line? that's the point of no return and no refund!" I laughed, thinking it was a funny joke, and still believing that we were going to a different part of the airport for training on how to jump out. Then I notice the plane IS IN THE AIR!! And the only thing keeping me from falling out is this little seatbelt. A SEATBELT! I'm in a plane, right in front of an open door. Like any sane person - I start to freak out internally. At that point I realized there was absolutely no turning back.

Jack was great - he saw that I was getting nervous so he kept talking to me and telling me lame, but funny, jokes. Pacific Coast Skydiving is located in south, south San Diego - we were really close to the Mexico-California border. So up in the plane, I could see Tijuana and all the way into Mexico. It was a gorgeous site. Jack pointed out a bull-fighting ring to me and I started to actually relax a little bit. But then, the plane banked hard right, so the plane tilted over the ocean - and THE DOOR WAS STILL OPEN! And I was still in front of it!! Needless to say, I was getting more and more nervous the higher we flew. I was pretty proud of myself for not freaking out out loud. Like I said, it was all internal.

Once we were halfway up, 6500 feet high, Jack started to strap us together. It was at that point that I FINALLY relaxed and went completely calm. I was now connected to a guy who knew exactly what he was doing and I had no control over the situation - it was actually pretty liberating.

Then, the moment I was waiting for happened. Jack and I scooted our butts to the edge of the plane. I tucked my legs underneath the plane and I looked outside. It was as if my brain shut off. I was blissfully calm. Then we threw ourselves out of a perfectly good plane.

The free fall was the most exhilarating feelings. The adrenaline just shoots through your body and you feel like you can conquer the world. I felt like I was flying. Not falling, but flying. After we fell for a while, Jack pulled the parachute and I was chucked up into the air (or at least it felt that way). Jack let me hold onto the parachute reins for a little bit and guide us. Then we did these crazy spins in the air. The float down was pretty amazing to - I felt so calm the entire time. And happy - freaking happy.

And before I knew it, I spotted Sean and my friends on the ground. We came in for a landing, and true to my klutzy nature, I totally boffed the landing and came in on my ass instead of my feet. But, it didn't matter because I just jumped out of a plane on my birthday.

Here's some video that Sean took with my camera - turn your speakers on because there's a little bit of sound. As soon as I figure out how to transfer the DVD onto my computer, I'll upload the FABULOUS video of my entire jump.



Afterwards, we went to the Turf Club for dinner and drinks. The Turf Club is awesome because 1) they haven't changed the decor since around 1967 so it's like sitting in someone's awfully decorated basement and 2) you grill your own meat.