This year has been a year of firsts, or crossing crazy ideas off my bucket list. Didn’t you just love that movie!! I went sky diving! Something I promised myself I would NEVER do, and I did it! Owen Ross, the sky diving instructor for
Three Rivers in Millinocket, Maine . . . you rock! Thank you so much. I can honestly say, even though I was so scared, it was a thrill of a lifetime. Just floating – a bird’s eye view of the world - marvelous.
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| The Pack |
I jumped from 11,000ft with Skydive New England Tandem Jump attached to Owen Ross, my jump instructor. If you go, he’s the one with funny yellow sun glasses. At 8,000ft I was hooked up to Owen. I was so tightly attached that when he moved, I was like a ragdoll, I flopped and moved. At 10,000ft the door seemed to fly open and I thought I was going to pass out. I was told not to look down, and of course I did – then I froze.
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| Owen Ross - the Aussie! |
Hooked tightly to Owen, he moved towards the door, I flopped and felt myself move forward scared to death. Then I heard him say . . . "let’s go” and over and out we went. Our legs were to the right of the strut so thankfully, we didn't have to climb out on the strut, we dropped out the door and did a somersault. I remember being upside down for a brief moment in time. Not a pleasant feeling in the air!
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| The Duck Tape Plane |
If I was alone . . . would I have jumped? NO! Now I know why I was told to cross my arms over my chest – so I couldn't brace myself on the door frame to stop myself from jumping. Tucking my head . . . Owen, best hug I’ve had in a long time . . out we went! Once out, we even did a somersault and continued to free fall . . . it was awesome. I heard Owen say he was going to pull the ripcord and the parachute would open. Thank our lucky stars, it did and we floated in the air. A bit later he released the tightness of the clamps and we continued down. It so cool, he pulled on the harness straps and we turned to the left, then right, and whirled in a circle.
Mount Katahdin was a bit hazy, but beautiful. Thrilling experience!
The plane was so tiny . . . the interior showed a great use of Duck Tape!
Thank you, Owen . . . I loved it! Thank you.
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| Mt Katahdin from Togue Pond, Camp Natarswi |
