Mama on the Move – In the Air, above Deland, Florida

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MountainMama went skydiving! Can you believe it? When I was in Hawaii last year, I made the Jungle Trek zipline guy push me off the ledge because I just couldn’t take that first step into oblivion. I really wasn’t sure I’d have the guts to JUMP OUT OF A PLANE!

But I did, thanks to the incredible tandem-jumping staff at Skydive Deland. (Ray, you rock.) They’re calm, cool and collected. They were ultra-patient with my questions, even when I asked my 80th one in 5 minutes. “Ray, how long have you been skydiving? How many tandem jumps have you done? Have you ever broken any bones? Has anyone ever thrown up in air? Has anyone ever fainted?”

In the prop plane, as we were sandwiched in together in rows, me in front of Ray Pope, sitting on the floor between his legs, and Marat Leiras, the photographer and videographer (whose shots you see here), sitting between my legs (you’re all family once you strap on a parachute), I was asking, “Who packed your chute? How high are we now? How much longer is the flight?”

And the clincher: As we’re seconds from jumping, the door is open on the plane, the toes of my sneakers are hanging over the ledge, I ask, “I am strapped to you, right?”

Thanks Georgia Turner, Daytona Beach CVB and all the guys at Skydive Deland for making this truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. MAYBE, just maybe, I’ll jump again. When my kids are old enough to do it with me!

Stay tuned for a video. I’m going to try to load it onto YouTube tonight. I’ll link to it here!

ETA: Yeah, so loading my video is not as idiot-proof as I thought! Perhaps it needs to be compressed or something? I’ll have to ask my techno-savvy husband to deal with it this weekend. Lordy, it is pretty funny. So I do hope I can share it!

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April 16, 2008 | Filed Under The Cookie Jar 

Comments

10 Responses to “Mama on the Move – In the Air, above Deland, Florida”

  1. CajunMama says:
    April 16, 2008 at

    MountainMama – How freaking cool are you right now? You are my hero! Congrats on your jump. You are much braver than I am:)

  2. Soultravelers3 says:
    April 16, 2008 at

    Wow, that looks like fun! Good for you!!

  3. Georgia says:
    April 16, 2008 at

    YOU rock, Kara! Glad you had fun!!!!

  4. julie sturgeon says:
    April 16, 2008 at

    That is high on my list of things to do before I die. In fact, skydiving and smoking a cigar are the only two things left on that thrill list … time to start inventing more adventures, I guess.

    Congratulations!

  5. Tangela says:
    April 18, 2008 at

    Kara – You’ve inspired me! LOL :)

  6. Give Mom an Adventure for Mother’s Day « Traveling Mamas says:
    April 23, 2008 at

    [...] in your life. A wide range of experiences includes hot air ballooning, personal fitness training, tandem skydiving, wine tasting, trapeze lessons, NASCAR ride-a-longs and, yes, spa [...]

  7. Rezzi says:
    April 23, 2008 at

    You are AWESOME!!!

  8. Richard Petty Driving Experience at Daytona International Speedway « Traveling Mamas says:
    April 27, 2008 at

    [...] by MountainMama on April 27, 2008 In addition to skydiving and jetboat riding during my research trip to Daytona Beach, Florida, last week, I also got to ride [...]

  9. Winning Wednesday: Josh Groban Awake:LIVE CD/DVD « Traveling Mamas says:
    May 21, 2008 at

    [...] She says that it sooths and calms her before a flight. I wonder if she listened to him before her sky dive? [...]

  10. Shannon says:
    October 1, 2008 at

    Wow – I am impressed – even the thought of skydiving makes my palms sweat and my heartrate soar. This comes as a surprise to everyone who knows me and all of the adventures I’ve had in my life. You ROCK!

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