Blog Family Drawing

by Anya

Monday, November 5, 2012

Flying Squirrel

On Halloween, my good buddy Pete kidnapped me for an unknown adventure to belatedly celebrate my birthday.  After picking me up in the morning, grabbing coffee (a necessity for ANY adventure), we made the trek up to Ogden, UT.  Along the way, we talked about a lot of stuff, except about where we were headed.

Pete was familiar with my sincere disappointment several years ago, documented here, that Utah weather harshed on my skydiving groove and prevented me from experiencing the wonders of falling several thousand feet.  So, he decided to unharsh my groove by taking me to an indoor skydiving experience.
 
There would be unruly weather in the specially designed wind vortex, only the glorious sensation of free falling!  And also, none of the uncomfortable binding straps of a parachute, as described in the skydiving fail.

Sweet!

After watching a short training video and getting tips from my wind-tunnel buddy, Ben, I was ready to hop into my suit.
Stylish, yes?

Next, I added goggles and ear plugs, as the vortex of wind is bracingly loud.

Add a helmet to keep my noggin from splitting open should I fly into the plexiglass walls...
 And I'm ready to fly!  First some instruction from trainer, Ben.
What you can't tell clearly from the above picture (but which is quite evident in the video below) is the instructor Ben is wearing fleece footie pajamas with dinosaurs on them.  It was Halloween after all.  He informed us that he was dressed as a paleontologist.

Ben was one of my favorite things about the whole experience.  You couldn't help but be happy and enthusiastic around Ben, and even more so as he sported the dino-laden sleepwear.

So, I was ready.  Ben stepped in first and helped me as I leaned in to fall into the forceful updraft.

And next thing I knew, I was flying!
It was quite a rush.  Not really scary, just exhilarating.  It's a strange thing to float like that, and I never had the sensation that I was going to drop or fall.  It was just extremely fun -- like a roller coaster on steroids.

Here's the video...





Awesome day with an awesome friend!  Alas, Pete could not share the experience as he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.  Greater love has no man than this:  that he would take his friend to indoor skydive even though he is on the injured list.

Thanks, Pete, for being Bullwinkle to my Rocky.

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