Friday, July 01, 2005

Skydiving... Rocky Mountain climbing...

David and I like that song from Tim McGraw called "Live Like You were Dying" from which the "Skydiving, Rocky Mountain climbing..." Originates. I was working on a scrapbook about our lives together when I got the idea to do a layout on the 101 things we want to do in our lifetime. (I will post it when I finish.) Lately, we have been discussing when to start a family. And we have had to face the fact that children will make us put on hold many of the things we want to do, so we decided for 4th of July, we would strike one major one on the list - skydiving. This is something I always dreamed of doing. While at Duke and away from the prying eyes of my parents, I wanted to skydive since it was something that was completely out of character for me. But just as I was considering going with some friends, an MBA student was killed when she lost control of her chute on descent. She was blown into oncoming traffic and hit by a truck on the highway. I was so upset by the tragedy that I eschewed all thoughts of ever going skydiving. When we were deciding what to do for the 4th of July weekend, we had to take the 4 days to do something different. Between our jobs and business, we have had very little time to make any progress on our list of life goals, and now is the time. After a few nights of discussion and a pact that we would not back out, he made reservations for Saturday for our first tandem jump. He even hired a second jumper to take video and photos of us mid-air. I joked with him that on the video, he will be able to see my mouth the words "I am never going to forgive you for talking me into this!" I am nervous, but excited. When I am concerned about anything I research, research, research! So I decided that I would find out as much as I could about skydiving. Here are some sites that helped me:
  • Drop Zone - Great information about safety, options and more. I found the reviews from the experienced skydivers the most valuable.
  • US Parachute Association - Non-profit devoted to skydiving. Look for USPA certified instructors and centers since they have high safety standards.
  • Adventure Center Skydiving - Our skydiving center in the Bay Area, CA. Their FAQs are great for newbies and really gave me perspective. Here is a $10 coupon
We are about 24 hours away from our jump. I will let you know how it goes when I get back.

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