Hawaii

ALOHA!

 

April 22, 2008…It's a bird, it's a plane, it's....Morgan SKYDIVING!!!

I didn’t really get much sleep last night.  I had numerous nightmares about jumping out a plane…I wonder why!

 

At 0520 I just couldn’t fall back asleep.  I had one too many nightmares, lights were flashing as we were pulling into port, and my heart was racing for the planned activity of the day…SKYDIVING.

 

We have made it across the Pacific Ocean; 9 days from Japan to Hawaii.  It is nice to be on US grounds, especially where the people speak English!  Since I couldn’t really sleep last night, I decided to start my day at 0520 (1120 EST) by making a few phone calls.  I haven’t been able to use my cell phone in months!  It was really good to hear all of your voices back at home!

 

Customs began at 0600 today, as we only had one day in port.  I attempted going up to the cafeteria for breakfast, but I had ANXIETY/NERVES to the EXTREME!  It was only a few more hours until I would be JUMPING OUT OF AN AIRPLANE!

 

The ship was cleared by 0800, sooner than we all imagined.  As soon as that announcement was made, Andy, Adam, Kelly, Anna, Sherri, and me were among the first few off the ship.  90 something people from SAS had signed up to go skydiving today.  Since there are only 2 drop zones in Hawaii to go skydiving, we knew everyone was going to the same place...we had to beat the crowd!  We hopped in a cab and made it to Skydive Hawaii by 0900…we were the second group there!

 

When we got there, the lady greeted us with a big ALOHA and a smile, and then asked us to fill out some forms.  Lets see, I signed 5 sheets of paper that said “I am fully aware of the fact that I can get seriously injured or killed.”  Not the most comforting feeling, but I signed the papers anyway.  You gotta do what you gotta do!  We signed our lives away, handed in the forms, and then waited around for about 2 hours until it was our turn to jump out of a plane.

 

As we waited, we got to see people skydiving, and landing in the drop zone that was right in front of Skydive Hawaii.  It actually calmed me down seeing that everyone was landing so smoothly and seeing everyone’s faces as they walked off.  People went up nervous and came down with a huge grin on their face!

 

“Morgan Turkewitz”…my name has been called…it was time!  I went over to the desk, met my tandem guy (the guy you are attached to when you jump), Ed, and got suited up.  Most people don’t wear suits when they go skydiving, but I thought it would look more professional, and it would keep me warmer; little did I know that I would be getting a hot pink and yellow skydiving suit.  Anyways I got suited up, and made my way to the plane with Adam and Andy.  My heart was pounding out of control!

 

The plane was so small: 2 benches, no seat belts, and just enough room for 4 people on each bench to straddle each other.  Since a few of us ordered videos, our video guys had to sit on the floor of the plane.

 

I freaked out the whole ride going up.  I told Ed not to tell me how high up we would be jumping from, and that he could tell me when we got down.  All I know is that I thought we were high enough about 10 seconds after we took off.  When it was 5 minutes before we were about to jump, Ed attached his harness to mine and tightened all of the strings and straps.  I couldn’t believe what I was about to do.

 

The jumping order:  Adam, CJ (some other guy on our plane), Me, Andy.  Once you are up in the air you have no choice but to jump out of the plane.  In fact, even if I did, I think I would rather jump, than land in that little rickety thing.  As soon as I saw Adam jump, my heart beat increased 10 fold…it was only a matter of seconds. We scooted up to opening of the plane, got into ready position and the countdown began.  THREE – TWO … “OMG OMG OMG ANDYYYYYYYYY”…and I was out.  14,000 feet above the ground, and I have just jumped out of an airplane!  I was supposed to jump out of the plane with my arms crossed, and my head back, but your natural reaction is just the opposite.  My arms were flailing and my head was looking down- what a sight!  We did a barrel roll out of the plane, a few flips and continued free falling for a few thousand feet.  What an amazing feeling!  I was told prior to skydiving that you don’t get that pit in your stomach that you get when you go on a roller coaster, but I didn’t believe it!  It was true though; you don’t get that drop feeling in your stomach at all.  The reason being is that the plane is already going at a very fast speed when you fall, whereas on a roller coaster you fall from ZERO speed.

 

We free falled for about 50 seconds, from 14,000 feet to about 6,000 feet, until Ed pulled the parachute.  With the parachute up, we just soared through the sky.  The view was absolutely magnificent!  From about 6,000 feet in the air, I got to see Hawaii from above; I saw mountains, crystal clear ocean water, canals, and just Hawaii itself.  It was absolutely beautiful and a great way to see the island!  After all, we only had one day in Hawaii, I wanted to see as much as I could…and I did.

 

Ed let me steer the parachute for a little while, which meant that I was in control of which way we were turning and how fast.  Kind of a scary thought.  I would compare my parachute steering skills to my skills when I first started learning to drive…I can’t steer and look at the scenery at the same time!!!  I steered the parachute until I heard Ed say “Ok white knuckles…let go.”  I was holding onto the parachute so tight!

 

I don’t think I have ever had such a big smile on my face.  As I free-falled, parachuted down, and even after I landed I just couldn’t wipe that grin off my face.  I absolutely loved skydiving and want to go again!  I can’t wait to show you all of my pictures and the video I got.  The video is hilarious and will give you the inside scoop on my skydiving experience.  Going skydiving in Hawaii was the best decision! 

 

After Skydiving, we went to Matsumotos for some shaved ices.  Ohh how I love shaved ice…it brought back some good memories of Hawaii last summer with the Pollacks!  I got my large shaved ice, vanilla ice cream on the bottom with strawberry, blue raspberry, and lychee….soooo good. 

 

After Matsumotos we went to Pearl Harbor.  When we got there, the guy told us that there were no more tickets left and that we could walk around the museum, but we wouldn’t be able to go over to the memorial and view the USS Arizona.  Since we already drove all this way to see Pearl Harbor, we decided to do just that.  One of the guys that worked there stopped us and asked us if we were going on the memorial tour and we said no because we didn’t have any tickets.  Today was our lucky day because this guy pulled out 2 tickets to get on the boat to take us to the memorial.  When we told him that there were 6 of us, he told us to not worry, take the tickets and all stay close together in line, he would take care of us!  What a nice guy.  We got the chance to walk around the museum, watch a short video on Pearl Harbor, and visit the USS Arizona Memorial.  I actually learned a lot and am glad that I got the opportunity to do so.  As I stood in the memorial looking at the remains of the USS Arizona, I couldn’t help but smile.  I felt awful smiling in such a place, but I couldn’t control it!  I had a grin on my face the whole day from skydiving.  It was just such an amazing feeling!

 

By the time we got through with Pearl Harbor, it was dinnertime.  I went with Andy and Adam to meet up with Zach, Katie, and Haika for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  Finally a restaurant that I was familiar with and has good, American food!  I couldn’t have been any happier today.  I got myself some Chicken Marsala and salad….so good!  We did a quick food shop after dinner, and made our way back to the ship.

 

It was a short stay in Hawaii…but well worth it.  I am still smiling as I write this.  I would honestly have to say that skydiving may the best thing I have ever done.  I can’t wait to go again…J

Next port of call... Costa Rica!