I did it

I work with the most adorable 21 year-old that has been trying to convince me for a year now to jump out of an airplane with her.  She skydives as a hobby and has made over 100 jumps so far.  For some reason I decided to just do it.  Maybe because I'm leaving my job and moving from Florida so I thought this would be a fitting end to my Florida chapter.  For whatever reason, I gave in to  Julia's nagging and 5 of us drove out to Palatka yesterday and jumped out of an airplane.

I wasn't nervous until they showed us the video beforehand and you see footage of them opening the plane door and people just whooshing out the back of the plane.  Then I was like "Holy Shit."  You can see in my face in on the plane that I was a little nervous.    Of course I ended up with some hot ass instructor, which was a little intimidating, as you are strapped to these people tighter than white on rice.  

When they opened the door to the plane and I watched my friend John whoosh out, I knew I was next.  Before I knew in the instructor nudged me off the bench to the door, I looked out and have never felt so terrified in my entire life.  Before I could have a second though, whoosh, out I went.  The minute of free fall was terrifying (as seen by the look on my face).  It was loud and cold and disorientating.  You spin and flip for a few seconds until you end up belly down falling, when I was able to compose myself a little.

Here's Julia next to.  That crazy 21 year-old.  She flew up next to me and held my hand for a minute. So cool.

After they pull the shoot, you slow down from 120mph pretty quickly and then float feet down.  You can finally hear again. The instructor pointed out the Atlantic ocean, and the St. John's river which you can see in some shots.

The landing was something I was worried about. I had heard stories about jammed knees and broken legs. I landed in my ass in the dirt. Kind of like sliding into home base.  Good thing I wore the snazzy jumpsuit right?

I felt kind of whoozy and sick when I was done.  Maybe the swaying at the end, maybe the adrenaline, who knows.

Was it fun? Well, I would say it was a pretty awesome experience, but I don't wish to repeat it.