Monday, September 17, 2012

As promised....more skydiving!

I got my pictures in the mail along with a great video. Here are just a few:

Dan and I on the plane! Dan is strapped to the man right behind him.

Solo jumper and his videographer jumped right before us, I think I blacked out because I don't remember this looking so scary:
 Here we go!
 Camera guy: SMILE!
 The jump:
 I love this shot from below of us falling from the plane:
 And off the plane goes and down we go!
 Little fluffy clouds
 The free fall lasted 60 seconds but it didn't even feel like we were falling. It felt like we were just in suspension with a wind machine keeping us up.
All I remember is not being able to breathe because the wind was insane. I do remember thinking "SMILE, Kyla, this is being filmed!" It was really hard to breathe when I smiled but I did it for the BLOG!
We got to float down for about 5-6 minutes, it was really beautiful and surreal. The only thing ruining this moment was that my ears had some serious popping to do. I felt like my head was going to explode, but I did all the tricks (yawning, holding your nose and blowing) and I could just hear it squeaking when it was coming out of my ears.
 Perfect landing! That was so amazing.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

We skydove!

Last weekend my friend Dan and I went skydiving! Spoiler alert: we both survived!

The whole thing started with a list Dan and I were making because we felt life just needed some more excitement...plus there was a groupon for it! We both signed up immediately and made an appointment for the one and only day in September we could both go.

The night before we celebrated our possible last day of life with good friends Jessica and Melissa by doing 'skydiving shots' (that we found how to make on the internet). I don't think the bartender had half the ingredients for it but his concoction was....great...


In order to actually skydive you need near perfect clear skies. On "dive day" as we experts like to call it, we rushed to Louisberg, NC (about an hour away) and arrived on time at 10am. Well, actually we got there at 10:35 am because Dan was relying on this navagation system on his phone called "Wayz". Lesson learned: be skeptical of any navagation system called "Wayz".

Once we arrived we were met with gloomy overcast. It was predicted to burn off at some point, but we had no idea how long that would take. So just like at every other airport I've been too, we waited.


  


And waited.....



  

And found a frog which means good luck before jumping out of a plane! (no citations found)


2 hours later, after a rushed trip to Sheetz (a gas station/food place) to grab lunch, the sky had cleared enough for us to suit up!

  

Some of us looked cooler than others....


 We boarded a tiny plane with about a dozen other skydivers and made our way up to 13,500 feet. It was one guy's first time ever FLYING ON A PLANE, let alone jumping out of one!

Dan and I both hired our own personal videographers to jump with us. They jumped solo beside us with cameras strapped totheir helmuts to record the whole thing. They gave us amazing video footage of the whole process from before getting on the plane to our landing on the ground. We also got hundreds of still photos.Currently I only have Dan's pictures because mine are being sent in the mail, but here are a few that are amazing.

The most anticipated part: jumping from the plane

After that you free fall for about 60 seconds. We fell from 13,500 feet to about 6,000 feet. Personal videographer capturing every moment:

Then our experienced parachuting guide (that were were very tightly strapped to) pulled the chute at 6,000 feet

 For 5-6 minutes you just glide through the air, seeing all the best views of central-ish North Carolina...



Afterward we celebrated our survival:
 Our friends were happy too:

This comic came out the same day we skydove!

When I get my pictures you can be sure that I will share them, stay tuned!