We initially planned to fly the day after my birthday. However, the weather wouldn't cooperate and ever since then we've had to keep pushing it off. We finally found the time this week to go and the weather was just fantastic!
We took all of our pictures before and after the jump because to the photo/video package would have been another $100+ which was definitely not in our budget.
We got suited up and given quick tutorials of what positions we needed to be in before the jump, and right after the jump out of the airplane. I was overly excited so they had to repeat because I didn't actually take it all in. Once suited, we were brought to another waiting area. There we waited for the airplane to come back after dropping off the last load of divers. While we waited, we got to see the previous group fly in and it was just amazing to see. One tandem in particular did a near vertical drop until the last 15-20 ft I'd say before coming in for a perfect landing.
My instructor, Jesse, was very awesome. We had a quick chat going up and I told him I was up for anything exciting! Once we were up in the air and got to the right altitude, we were the second tandem of six to jump. We did a back flip as we exited the aircraft and proceeded to free fall. Let me just say that that feeling is indescribable. The wind is full on in your face and you see everything below you coming closer and closer. Before I knew it Jesse deployed the parachute. This is when I really got to enjoy the scenery. On a nice day like today Mt. Baker looked extremely majestic in the distance. We did a few spins and drops that just reminded me a lot of paragliding! We touched down for the most perfect landing too! The whole thing, from the plane taking off to landing took us maybe 20 min. It's also the best 20 minutes I've ever had. I told Jesse he had an amazing job, because right after we landed, he and the other instructors ran off to take the next group of jumpers. Imagine skydiving over 5-6 times a day and getting paid to do so!
This experience is one that will be hard to forget and I'm glad I got to do it with someone I love. That made this experience all the better. It's also another thing I can cross off my bucketlist and share with those around me.
