Sky Dive San Diego
Sky Dive San Diego! This past week my best friend AJ celebrated his 35th birthday, and his girlfriend Keiko surprised him with this gift. When asked what he wanted for his birthday he presented the impossible request of wanting to fly. Keiko responded with this present to him and I was the only friend of his who had the nerve to dive with him.
We had the choice of going tandem or taking the accelerated freefall course where you dive alone and pull your own chute. Tandem worked best because it was cheaper and since we didn't know exactly what to expect it was the safer choice. So we all went tandem and paid to have our own cameramen fall with us. It was an extra $89 but it was well worth it in case you want to record the moment. Money well spent!
The freefall lasted for 60 seconds and the descent to the ground after the chute deployed was a 4-6 minute ride. Andre, the guy whose belly I was strapped to, has 12 years experience diving so I felt comfortable and safe. We had very brief instructions on how to position our bodies and then we were off to the plane for out quick ascent. When it was my turn to dive I had to kneel down next to the opening of the plane and then fall with the momentum of Andre and then assume the position as soon as we left. Andre righted us and that's the picture that you see here.
It was a pretty sweet ride, and 60 seconds didn't seem nearly long enough! The cameraman was flying directly in front of me after slowing down some so that we could catch up with him (he jumped from the plane before we did) and stayed there for a pretty good amount of time. The it was time to deploy the chute and he gave us each a high five in mid-flight. The chute opened really freakin hard! Harder than I was expecting, and even Andre was surprised by it. He snapped his neck and handed the controls over to me for the first minute of the descent so that he could stretch his arms and rotate his neck. It wasn't until I got home later and saw that I screwed up my shoulder and my back with bruises and broken capillaries from the harness that I was wearing.
Andre was a little dazed which really freaked me out - should I go in to the reasons as to why that freaked me out? After another minute it was cool and we spiraled left and then right a few times and came in for a landing. I was dazed when we landed because my left ear didn't pop so I became a little disoriented. But it was an awesome experience and one that I will never forget. The feeling that I walked away with was one of capability. The capability to do anything that I want. It was a very good day... 
