Arizona skydiving

 Had a good night's sleep even though it was a little warm.  Got up a little later this morning since no one is working at Midway Diesel today.  Decided on a different breakfast this morning.  Instead of crackers with peanut butter and cheese, I fried two eggs and toasted two pieces of bread in the skillet with butter and had an egg sandwich.  Topped it off with cereal and a banana.

Before breakfast I tested my glucose level and it was 140 which was high for a fasting level.  May have been those three Oreo cookies dipped in whipped cream that did it.😌  I normally only have one but I slip occasionally.

Last evening, Dolly texted saying she was having problems with the bedroom TV.  She worked on it but to no avail and finally she decided to contact Dish for help this morning.  They helped her and she is now good to go. 😀

Today is "Spring forward" back home so they lost an hour and now two hours ahead of us since Arizona does not recognize Daylight Savings Time so no change here. 

Today, we are heading to the Eloy airfield for Nick's third tandem skydiving jump.  Poor Yuma knows something is afoot.  He is afraid he may be left at home.

Beautiful picture of my traveling buddies!  We decided to head over early at 12:15 and see what was going on.  I must say this is one busy place.

There is a plane full of jumpers going up at least every hour.  We went in early and it was too early for Nick to sign in.  The young lady at the desk asked if we were jumping together.  For some reason, I asked if there was room for another jumper and she said there was.  Without thinking, I said "sign me up!"  What have I done?  Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane has never been on my bucket list.

I think the longest part of the activity was the contract we had to get through basically giving up all my rights to sue anyone associated with the organization.  They wanted us to really know we were risking our lives doing this!  Too late to back out now.  Don't want to be known as a wimp back home.

After signing our lives away, they sent us outside to wait for our jumping partners.

The shortest activity was the training to jump.  Maybe five minutes of getting to know your tandem buddy.  I was paired with Franck, a Frenchman.  I didn't know it was me he was calling for when he yelled out "Duuuglas."  I think he was hoping to be paired with one of the young ladies based on his flirting and boisterous style.  

He put my harness on me and quickly went over my part in this jump.  He reminded me of me, so I was a little nervous he may get distracted and forget something vital, like his parachute😁.  Keeping things positive, I didn't let him know of my concerns.

Nick and I with our partners were the first on the plane.  Up we all went to 13,000 feet over the desert floor with everyone talking and fist pumping and I'm sure it was meant to keep nerves as calm as possible.  For some reason, I am very calm and trying desperately to absorb as much of everything as possible.  No time for nervousness or fear.
  

We're the last off the plane.  Nick was just ahead of me.  I thought I would lose my goggles and sunglasses when we first hit the hard cold air, but everything held together.  After our initial roll, Franck indicated I could let go of my harness and enjoy the freefall.  The sound of the air racing past my head was horrendous, but I found myself enjoying the sound of speed.  Had no sensation the ground was coming at me at 120 mph!

I took in everything around me but couldn't really focus until Franck pulled the cord and we came to a complete calm halt.  Then I was able to see the mountains around me and the air field below me and Nick spiraling towards the ground below me.  I can't believe I am actually enjoying this! 😄

Then it was over and we were landing to a crowd of people watching the events unfold.  I think the old ladies are impressed with this old man, or is that the Franck in me? 😁  Nick walked over after we dropped our harnesses and we went back to the staging area.

I was too cheap to have pictures or video taken of the event, so I was concerned I would have no proof of my great accomplishment.  I was so glad when 

Franck came out with a certificate and a T-shirt as proof of our accomplishment.

Me and my tandem buddy, Franck.

Had to take one last picture before departing the airfield.

Home at 3 o'clock and Yuma was anxiously waiting.  We were going to play chess, but the adrenaline rush crashed and so did we.  We ended up relaxing till time to get the Dish ready for Naked and Afraid tonight.  While watching, I am multi-tasking by writing my post.  Next I am cooking Ribeye steak, potatoes and corn to celebrate our wonderful day.

Thanks for stopping by.