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| Dave, me, and Kevin, second day of summer 2013 |
See that beautiful blue sky behind us? Well, that is one of the reasons I was at the Drop Zone (DZ) today. Linny has both days to skydive, and she suggested that we come out today and play, which I was happy to do. Last Sunday I made four skydives with Linny and friends, and today I made three. It's only 6:00-ish or so on the second day of summer, so I know Linny is still skydiving while I sit here writing this post, wine glass in hand.
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| George wrestling his recent purchase into the bag |
George has 55 skydives and was busy packing up his recent new (to him) canopy back into the bag so he could go out and make another skydive. It's a usual thing to make more than one jump each day, but you DO have to get that piece of fabric designed to save your life back into the little bag it came out of. Once Linny arrived, we made a four-way skydive out of the Caravan, but because the weather was so fine, by the time we got back down and packed up, the wait for the next Caravan load we could take was an hour and a half away. Linny suggested we make a "vintage jump," meaning that we would jump out of the Cessna instead of the bigger airplane.
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| The Cessna with some students and instructor |
Now, I never grew up as a skydiver near a place where Cessnas were used regularly. In Colorado, the higher field elevation means that these little guys just can't make it up to altitude in a reasonable time. But I was willing to go today, and although instead of 13,000 feet of elevation, we only got 9,000, it was still a lot of fun, and I was nervous because it was different.
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| Loading up the Caravan |
We made one more jump out of the Caravan, had a great time, and I packed up my parachute and headed back up north to Bellingham. The I-5 bridge that has been out for weeks is now fixed, and it was a non-issue getting home, but it was still an hour and a half before I arrived. If the weather is fine tomorrow, I will go again, but it is not predicted to be good.
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| My dear friend Linny |
However, even though it's been more than two decades since I first learned to skydive, I cannot stand to think of my friends having a wonderful time in the sky without ME, so I'll be obsessively watching the weather in the morning to see if I might have a chance to play again this weekend with my friends.
:-)
you make me laugh. :) very cool that you had a good weather, good jumps, and even a new experience today w/ the cessna!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, DJan. Too bad there was no one there to photograph you making the dive from the plane. That would have been spectacular!
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping for great weather tomorrow.
Weather looks beautiful. Sounds like it was a great day.
ReplyDeleteha. i hope you get plenty of opportunity to jump this summer...and vintage eh? heh...is it much different jumping from the cessna?
ReplyDeleteAlthough jumping out of a plane would only ever happen under the direst of circumstances for me, you inspire me to forget my age and go for the things I want to tackle! Thanks for sharing your adventures.
ReplyDeleteApparently there is nothing you won't try. Your friend Linny is apparently equally daring. We have showers today in Portland.
ReplyDeleteCloudy skies here today - Wonderful that you got to jump with those lovely blue skies in the background. I am wondering about your jump of 9,000 compared to your usual. Is it that different with ?timing ?opening your chute ?judging distance etc. That would be interesting to compare the differences. Your friend Linny kinda looks like you. Lovely smile too. Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteYou create the coolest playgrounds and share them with fine playmates. That says so much about you. :)
ReplyDeleteWe had storms. I thought about you and am glad you got your knees in the breeze!! And did something new, too, with the smaller plane! Kudos! :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see that blue sky...and I am happy to know that you are happy.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend, my friend!
You certainly do look happy D-Jan and who wouldn't with that sky! I know you like to jump on Sundays...
ReplyDeleteThat small plane takes me back to being a kid. My grandpa was a pilot and owned a single engine plane, a two-seater, named "Champ."
ReplyDeleteI have blurry - but dotted with very vivid detail - memories of flying as a girl with him. My dad has had his pilot's license since he was 17, but hasn't flown in as long as I can remember. Champ sits at my parents' place in a machine shed, needing repair. Oh, what fun it would be to fly in that plane again someday!
Hope you had a great weekend of safe jumps! :)
ReplyDeleteMy smiles reading this post are (almost) as wide as those of you and your intrepid friends. I am thrilled that you had a wonderful day - and hope that you get another jump (or three) today.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got to try something new. Kind of adds an edge to things though I don't suppose you need much added to the edge of jumping.
ReplyDeleteI think there may be some sort of past life connection with the group of skydivers, too, or, at any rate, with the sport! Love living vicariously through your jumps.
ReplyDeleteKeep on playing. Keep on jumping. It's what it does to your head that is the most important.
ReplyDeleteThe weather looks perfect. I hope you got to jump on Sunday too but here the weather was dark and cloudy all day.
ReplyDeleteI have been in several Cessnas so I can see how that would have been a very different type of jump. Sounds like you enjoyed it.
You have nerves of steal DJan. Next stop walking the Grand Canyon on a wire. Opps. That has been done now!
ReplyDeleteUm, wow! I'm speechless. I love to WATCH skydivers and I myself was a paratrooper with about 25 jumps in the Army. But now that I'm out, I don't think I can imagine doing it again for FUN! Lol! You rock!
ReplyDelete...if the weather doesn't cooperate, there is always a clean glass and more wine!!!
ReplyDeleteI would imagine there is a great deal of difference in sky diving in Colorado with such high altitudes!
At the DZ, heh? Could be my house! I took care of that blogroll situation. You are now there. Wonder how I've been getting over here? Maybe from your replies on my blog like I did this time. Anyways, fixed that. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a reply.
ReplyDeleteWow! You are so amazing! You lead such an active, interesting life and are a role model for all of us.
ReplyDelete