This was a graduation present to myself. As soon as November of 2010 hit, I turned to my family and said, "I want to go skydiving for graduation." Every one's reaction was a little different, but mostly the consensus was, "have fun with that." However, my one aunt was all for it! I have become a bit of an adrenaline chunky, and after the previous summer of parasailing over Tahoe, seen here:
and rafting down the Truckee River, seen here:
it was for sure time to do something, the number one thing off my bucket list which was to skydive. My partner in crime:
So, we went skydiving. We left at a ridiculous hour in the morning to drive down to a little town called Eloy, where it was ridiculously out, ridiculously flat, and ridiculously ugly. We checked in, signed over our life, watched a video and then suited up. The whole experience from getting there to landing took maybe an hour and a half. Once we were suited up and secured, we got on our plane. We were the only to tandem jumpers, while the rest of the plane was filled with people who just jump out on their own. The flight lasted maybe 25 minutes, and was by far the longest part of the experience (besides waiting around). Once you're at 13,000 feet, you JUUUUUMP!
There really are no words to describe this feeling... You think it is going to be scarier than shit... I mean, helllooooo, you're jumping out of a god damn plane with a parachute. But, as soon as you jump, you don't feel like you're falling at all. In fact, you feel like someone is holding you up, or you're laying on a table... The ground doesn't come at you at all... I looked like a tard for the first few seconds:
It was such an amazing experience, and I was in a "holy crap I just jumped out of a fucking plane" mind set, that my mouth was open. Because honestly, it was the most freeing experience I have ever had. I don't know where I went, but I was feeling it and seeing it, but it was an out of body experience. The memory is still in my head, with great detail, but lordy, do I want to do it again.
You free fall for a minute, and then you just float on down:
At this point, while we are making our decent, I keep telling Kim, my skydiving instructor, "Holy shit, that was amazing. hoooolllyyyyyy fffuuuucccckkk." It's about a 6-10 minute coast down to the ground, and it isn't scary seeing the ground come to you because let's be honest, your parachute opened, and THAT is your saving grace right there.
Then you land:
It really is one of the best experiences in my life. After the jump, we headed to Tucson to see Ms. Brandi Carlile at the Rialto Theatre. Now, she is by far, hands down, my most favourite artist in the world. Her lyrics speak to my soul and can make me weep. I see her at every show I can... and luckily, I get to see her, once again, in the lovely Tahoe, with my partner in crime. I took her to see Brandi in March of... 2010 for her birthday. She was playing in Reno, and I was like, "Hey! I know people who live near Reno, and it's spring break! let's go to a concert!" SO we went, and before it even started, I told my aunt that this show was going to change her life. And sure shit, they opened up with a complete a capella "Oh, Dear" and her jaw hit the floor. And now she is just as addicted as I am. Because, hot damn, she puts on a wicked awesome show.
After the concert in Tucson, which we were joined by my dearest ice ice baby, we stood outside to meet her. Now, I had dreams about meeting her, and being all sly and telling her how much her music meant to me. And as soon as I met her, I stared at her for a second and then blurted out, "I went skydiving today." Totally uncool and not what I wanted to say, but seriously, my idol, my crush, the woman who can make me weep by her voice and lyrics was right in front of me. And god damn, was she beautiful and sweet.
May 12th was for sure the best day ever.
BEST DAY EVER!
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