I rode my bike east today, following Trent and Brianne in her van. We are heading to The Parachute Center in Lodi.
I like this place. It is beyond informal. A bunch crazy thrillseeker types, with green hair, and funky beards, work here. Had a brief orientation, and Brianne and I were harnessed-up. I had not jumped before, and I was excited. Brianne jumped today for her 21st time!
We climb to 13,000 feet, shuffle to the door, and just float out into the wind, tumbling over so that we are looking at the aircraft we just departed, shooting away due to our acceleration from gravity, and it's own flight path.
Then a quick flip so that we are looking down, and we freefall for the next 7,000 feet, whistling downward through the air at 120 miles an hour! The cameraman is 5 feet away, and we are face to face, both pumped up with the freefall rush, high-fiving each other in mid air, plummeting to earth. Just awesome!
We pop the chute at about 5,000 feet, and the guy lets me fly the parachute for a minute, making a few turns. He then takes over and does some more aggressive maneuvers, and we line up to land. A smooth, slide the butt on the grass landing, and it was a blast!
Brianne's landing was a little rougher, as the guy she was with was new to jumping with someone with leg difficulties, and they came in hard on the butt. But Brianne is tough, and she seemed to be ok, and felt better pretty quickly.
I was very glad that she was not hurt. We (Trent, Brianne and I) went and had some dinner and talked, and said goodbye.
I really enjoyed meeting them, and wish them all the best. Thank you Brianne - The jump was incredible!
The photos are:
1 - The aircraft we jumped from.
2 - Brianne about to land (in the Red parachute).
3 - Me (with the Blue Parachute)
4 - Me, Brianne and Trent, and Brianne's assistance dog Haley, before the jump.
