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12/23/2009: "Barb's Big Adventure"

For Barb's 0x32'th birthday I took her Indoor Skydiving at SkyVenture in Nashua, NH. It was a complete surprise to her, but luckily she loved it. I didn't tell her where we were going - we just got in the car and arrived at Nashua.

The kids and I took some videos, and their staff photographer took some still photos. I The glass walls prevented me from getting good stills, but the staff photographer had glass-free access to the chamber.

I booked 10 minutes of flight time, which doesn't sound like a lot but is pretty much the limit a neophyte can handle. A colleague of mine did 5 minutes and said he couldn't handle any more, mostly due to the arched position you need to be in.

Barb took the whole 10 minute flight time in 5 two-minute chunks. An instructor was in the chamber with her the whole time, often positioning her arms and legs, and occasionally taking her up 15 or 20 feet into the top of the chamber.

At the end Barb felt exhilarated but was sore for several days. She'd always wanted to skydive, but didn't want to do the "jumping out of an airplane" part. Maybe someday I can give it a shot.