You know those days you walk out of work and think to yourself “man… I should be skydiving today….”? Well Thursday was defiantly one of those days! Lucky us, we had a handful of first time jumpers who thought the exact same thing!
Dan wrangled a group of anxious friends and family together to come enjoy the beautiful weather. Mark was in full swing as TI and I got to watch the faces of our new friends as they took the long awaited leap and became skydivers! Leslie not only made her first skydive with us Thursday night, but also let our sweet C182 Ariel take her on her very first plane ride! We let her know that landing in a plane is for sissies and she wasn’t missing anything – she didn’t argue! Mike was on hand to help keep the canopies packed and ready and we ended the night with a sunset load with the wonderful Michelle.
Friday afternoon started the Tandem Instructor course and Mike and I were eager students ready to learn. We spent the night watching some scary movies and soaking in all the knowledge we could.
Thanks to a very unaccommodating and for lack of a better word down right rude Mother Nature, we spent Saturday sitting on the ground watching the winds blow. With Mike and I still needing our solo tandem rides we were no where near willing to jump under a honkin huge tandem main for risk of being blown states away! We did however get some ground practice in for tandems and luckily many of our tandems from Saturday were able to come out Sunday instead…
Sunday morning the real fun began! The day started out perfect with no wind and skydivers ready to take advantage. Mike and I fulfilled our solo jump on the tandem rigs while our first set of tandem students started trickling in. Dave was on TI duty and Mark got a chance to get some video time in.
With one day left to get our first set of tandem skydives up, Mike and I started gearing up our Stu’s and donning that nice big tandem rig! Speaking from my own experience, it was kind of neat having someone to talk to under canopy! I can see why our TI’s enjoy doing them so much. I also have a much truer appreciation for the work you guys do! Two days later and I’m still a little pooped! It’s hard work to be a TI, but boy is it worth it!
Mike and I weren’t the only excited ones on the DZ… more and more tandems were coming in the door and each and every one of them left with a huge smile on their face! Mike and I got to take a break from tandems and shoot some video while Mark and Dave pitched drogues! But it’s not about us – it’s about the awesome tandems we had out! All in all Sunday we belted out 21 tandems!
Fun jumpers were also keeping us busy. Doris and Craig were out, two of our sweet RW jumpers from SEMO Skydiving, we love when they come play with us! Sean was visiting before his move to warmer weather… And Amanda and Colleen couldn’t pass up the great weather!
Just like most weekends, this one wouldn’t have been possible without some extremely wonderful folks… Emiko and Ed kept the birds in the air and the spots supreme. Blake packed tandem after tandem while Mark and Dave never once slowed down! Mike and I wouldn’t have been able to get as far as we did without some help from Blake, Sean and Lutz who made some great tandem passengers!
Seeing as Sunday was Mother’s Day, it was only right that we take Momma Kula on a skydive!! Well, we just couldn’t let Dad stand behind the grill all night either, so we decided to toss him out as well. I got the pleasure of chasing Rob who hasn’t made a skydive in way too long! Thank you guys for coming out and cooking and helping entertain us so often! We love having you guys out!
As the Kula sunset load landed the gang at the DZ was all but worn out! A busy day ending with some family and some cold brew’s… What could be better?! Mike and I got our official “him” for being the newest Tandem Instructors and bowed gracefully to our phenomenal teacher Kelly Hinson. Kelly was like an encyclopedia of skydiving! I would take the tandem course again just to listen to his stories!!! Thanks again Kelly for sharing your time with us, we hope to have you out again soon.
All in all a very exciting weekend crammed into one beautiful Sunday. Just imagine what it would be like to have a nice 3 day weekend of skydiving?! Never the less, the season is in full swing and this weekend we will be celebrating our One Year Anniversary as a DZ! It’s hard to believe a year has already gone by since Mark, Jim Smith and myself were making the very first ever skydives in Festus, Missouri. Come out this weekend and help us celebrate!!
Until Next Week…
XOXO
Ashley
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