Today, I was determined to finish writing about our trip. I got an early start and I was VERY close to finishing. My writing was temporarily set aside for a trip to see the high school counselor. We got there early, but she told us we'd need to come back after lunch. Ugh...it felt like a waste of time. I got back to my writing and worked until 11:30. It was time to make lunch.
While I was lunch with Matt, I was looking at the Parachutist and discovered there are three drop zones in Rhode Island. When we hit New England in 2011 there were only two. I tried to work out something for Rhode Island, but was told they did not allow fun jumpers and I'd have to do a tandem.
Even though I wasn't 100% done with my writing about our 3,335 mile road trip, I wanted to talk about Rhode Island. I fessed up. I had sort of broken my rule. On August 27th, I had send an email to marc@skydivenewport.com asking about skydiving in Rhode Island. I hadn't received a reply.
With the latest Parachutist in my hand, it seemed like a sign that I should call to see if one of the 3 drop zones listed could get us in the air. I dialed the telephone number for Skydive Westerly. However, the man that answered the phone said, Skydive Newport. Apparently, these two drop zones are owned by the same people and they do not allow fun jumpers at either location.
I called the third drop zone - Boston Skydiving Center. The guy that answered the phone was very nice and understanding, but he said that they don't allow fun jumpers. I explained our situation and he said that the DZO might let us jump if we each paid for tandems. $220 per person. So, for $440 they MIGHT let us do a fun jump.
To put this in perspective, our jumps at Lincoln Parachute Center were $15 EACH. The gentleman went on to say that even the staff members are rarely allowed to do solo skydives and that the owner would eventually like to have fun jumpers, but the landing area is small.
Matt went back to work and I sat down at the computer to finish my Nebraska entry. When I was done, I checked my email. It included a link to the landing area for the Boston Skydiving Center. After landing at a welcome center covered in trees, this landing area looks pretty awesome! I wish we could figure out a way to make it work, but $440 is so much money!
Matt suggested that we start researching other options. Private pilots, helicopters, etc. I would definitely start checking our options, but I also need to look through my old email messages. At some point, I met a man that has a friend that used to work at Skydive Newport. I needed to find his contact info.
Is there anyone out there that can help us?
