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serendipitous reflections

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Our skydiving adventure

Jeni and I went skydiving on our 17th wedding anniversary (our air-iversary). This was my 40th birthday present from September 21, but we didn't get a chance to go until November 25. This was such an incredible way to celebrate our anniversary.

Jeni and I were so excited to be able to do this. There was never any fear, just excitement, determination, and eagerness to go. We had a perfect, crisp morning for our jump. We went up to Skydive Carolina in Chester, SC, and checked in around 9 am, then had a little bit of a wait before jumping around 11. When you are waiting, they will announce when jumpers are in the air so you can watch the others come down. Everyone was great to work with and made it a wonderful experience for us.

Skydive Jeni and Dean in the plane on the way up
This is Jeni and I in the plane on the way up. This picture was taken at about 6,000 feet. The jump is at 14,000 feet.

Skydive Jeni
Here is Jeni during free fall. She jumped with Peter.

Skydive Dean
And here I am free falling with Danny.

The free fall was an amazing and surprisingly calming feeling. But coming out of the plane is probably the coolest feeling of everything. For me to leave the plane, because of my height, I sat on the floor of the plane instead of standing at the door. This was really cool, because for a few seconds I was sitting on the edge of a plane with my feet hanging out of the door, just dangling in the air. It was very surreal.

We had a pretty full plane. There were three of us doing tandem jumps with videographers, three people who were jumping together in what appeared to be a stunt jump, and someone getting certified to do solo jumps.

We have already purchased our next jump, and have a year to do it. Next time we'll be going with a bunch of friends, I'm pretty sure. We can't wait!

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