RUN, RUN, RUN!

July 14th I opened my birthday gift, and sat there looking at it. Could this be what I think it is? Is this a….yep it is… oh my goodness…what fun… oh heck, I’m scared….holy smokes, now I have to go, it’s paid for.. “Do you like it?” Vil interrupts my thoughts. “Oh yeah” I say with hesitation. “Are you sure?” He asks, sensing something, but not quite able to detect what I am feeling. “Yeah, it’s just that I didn’t realize you’d take me seriously”. I say smiling. But he did, and here I was, with a paragliding certificate in my lap. Several months ago, we hiked up to the launch point and talked about parasailing “I’d like to try it sometime”, I mentioned in passing. Little did I know... that “sometime” would be sooner, rather than later.

Today was the day. We met the instructor at the launch point and were given the option of taking a shuttle or hiking up. I’d made my mind up that I wanted to hike- for two reasons…first, the trail is nearly straight up- I figured the huff and puff would take my mind off my butterflies and second, I wanted the exercise and thought the endorphins might give me the extra courage.

Paragliding is done by running at a full wind sprint off the side of a mountain and hoping for the best. There is an underlying risk that you will face plant at high speeds, or that you won’t get off the ground and tangle in the trees- for a good laugh, go to http://www.seattleparagliding.com/ and watch the bloopers. I was sure that I would provide some good entertainment to the spectators. Before I knew it, the launch was ready and on the count of “3, 2, 1”, I ran like the wind forward, off the hillside. At some point the parachute’s drag is so strong that you are running in place, and you can’t move. It’s like having 100 pounds pulling you backward, and trying to move forward. “Run, run, run,” the instructor yelled. And just then, we were airborne… “HOLY SMOKES, we are flying”… and I couldn’t help yelling “woohoo”… what a rush. The thing is, you are going pretty fast. From the ground it looks like the Paragliders are just sort of hanging there- but in reality, you are traveling at about 20-25 mph- the wind is blowing in your hair and you are looking out 2000 feet above the valley floor. It’s an amazing experience. The instructor gave me the controls in the air, and I made several turns under his instruction- it was so fun to fly with the wind carrying us. You see from up there, how the eagles land- what their view is as they come into the trees. Several swallows cruised around us and I had this feeling of absolute freedom. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time while airborne.

After an exhilarating ride, we came down and got ready to land. The instructor told me that in order to land, you start running in the air with your arms out in front of you. I thought “oh, THIS will be rich”… then imagined the laughs the spectators will have. The ground was coming up very fast, so the instructor told me to “run, run, run”.. and I started my air running, which looked like a cross between Peter Pan and Scooby Doo. Next thing I know, CRASH, impact with the ground and I saw the benefit of the air run. I was off at a fast clip and managed to stay on my feet as we came in. Turns out it was a text book landing and several people complimented me. I was kind of confused... if THAT was text book, what does a bad landing look like? Then I saw a couple and realized how great our was. The rookie/student is in front in a tandem and the instructor is attached to them in the back.. if the student doesn't get running fast enough, or they trip, or something else unforeseen happens, the instructor behind them has no choice but to fall on them, or kick them as they jump to avoid them, or they booth face plant. There were some great laughs watching other tandems land, after a couple seconds of (deep breath) “are they ok?” HA..HA...HA…. I enjoyed watching others land, almost more than take off. That's my sick sense of humor coming out again.

So.. to summarize, I highly recommend this once in a lifetime experience to those of you who have the courage, or have desire to do something outrageous, fun and crazy. Or.. to those of you who get a gift certificate to give you that final “push”!