I went to Las Vegas a few years ago for a work conference and saw ads for Indoor Skydiving. My intention was to do that as one of my Dates, but I ended up not having time. I heard that we also had Indoor Skydiving at Sky Ventures Arizona in Eloy, AZ, which is about 60 miles from where I live. I reserved a spot and made the trek to Eloy for my 2 minute flight in the wind tunnel.

The Indoor Skydiving experience consists of being put into skydiving attire, a brief training class on body flying position and instructor hand signals, and then you get 2-4 minutes of flight time in a giant wind tunnel that simulates skydiving flight. The military, competitive Freestyle Skydivers and Skydiving enthusiasts just looking for better flight skills use this facility for training. They are also very welcoming to first timers like myself AND they have a kids’ club. The minimum age for indoor skydiving is 3 years old.

I’m not going to lie. I was a little bit intimidated about this. The noise and feeling of being in the wind tunnel could definitely be a bit of sensory overload. I was a little nervous that I would forget the hand signals, or would miss them. I’m pretty body aware, but have never been in a body “flight” situation before. In hindsight, it’s similar to trying to teach yourself to be buoyant while scuba diving. You have to relax and learn to go with what the wind is doing. You have to relax…

A group of military jumpers was training when I arrived. I was welcomed to watch, but pictures were not allowed. I watched for a couple of minutes until my instructor took me in for my brief training session. He got me fitted and suited up in my gear, and got me into the flight zone when the military group finished.

The staff was AWESOME! They all asked me: “You’re just here by yourself?!”. A couple of them asked me what the “occasion” was that brought me there by myself. My reply was that I had time! That’s the best occasion. Everyone there was very warm, welcoming and encouraging. The basic flight experience that I purchased included 2 minutes of flight. My 2 minutes was broken into 2 one minute sessions.

The first minute was really about getting me to be comfortable. The instructor worked with me to correct my body position. Then I took a little break and watched more advanced flyers practicing some freestyle moves.

My 2nd minute was MAGICAL! The instructor gave me a “ High Fly” experience! I didn’t even feel him lift off, but all of a sudden I was hurtling round and round so fast and we were going higher and higher. It felt like the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where they are floating higher into the Bubble Tower and they have to burp to come down. It was fast, crazy and exhilarating! I was smiling and laughing so hard and the wind was blowing drool all over my crazy face. It was amazing!

I had some stress in my head and in my heart before I took myself on this date. I was tempted to cancel because I didn’t want to sit with myself for the 60 mile drive. But, I followed through and was rewarded exponentially. I smiled like a big weirdo the entire 60 mile drive home thinking of the feeling of the High Fly. All worry and stress was vaporized. I was zooming with endorphins, but also really excited to take my boys there to fly.

My boys are both gymnasts AND very good flippers/tumblers on both floor and trampoline. My oldest has told me a million times that he wants us to skydive together for his 18th birthday. I think their enthusiasm for the idea of skydiving flight and their amazing body awareness will make this such a great thing for us to do together.

These last two dates have resulted in fun ideas for things the boys and I can enjoy together. When my oldest saw the flowers that I made in my Last date he was jealous because he told me he has gotten himself addicted to the Netflix Competitive Glass Blowing series “Blown Away” when he’s at his Dad’s house. He wants to make a flower. Sonoran Glass School allows kids as young as 10 to participate in glass blowing. So, I purchased another Groupon for us to make flowers together. I’m excited to have these 2 experiences with my Dudes. They are my absolute favorite people.

27 Dates Down!!! Thank you for reading!