When I was approaching my 100th jump, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but it was important for me to have certain people on the jump.  I wasn't worried that it would be successful, but I wanted to jump with my friends.  Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out.  During the summer, there are so many things going on.  In addition to an assortment of events, there are also weddings, and other social gatherings.

As an alternative, I decided to make a night jump for my 100th!  Something I'll always remember! To obtain a D license, I would need two night jumps - one solo and one RW jump.  Now, I didn't have to stress about who would be on my 100th because I was required to go alone.  

Prior to doing a night jump, we were required to do a day time jump and attend night jump briefing. Mike French was in charge of our night jumps.  We were asked to bring glow sticks. I was excited because I had a glow in the dark altimeter! We had a total of seven people:  Kelly, Dan, Mike French, Christine Sullivan, Brandon C, Jarad, and myself.  Mike gave us a thorough night jump briefing and helped us get ready - mounting strobe lights to our helmets.  I absolutely love Mike's teaching style - he's very calming.

Since Mike was on the plane with us, he made sure we could "find" the drop zone before we left the plane.  When it was my turn, he asked me to point out where I'd be landing. I put my head outside of the plane to look down at the drop zone.  I found the runway lights and then spotted the headlights of the cars!  I was good to go!  

When I exited at 13,200, it was very strange - falling through the darkness. With the exception of hop & pops, I couldn't remember the last time I had left the plane alone.  Instead of doing maneuvers, I kept an eye on my altimeter and checked out the lights on the ground.  After I deployed, I kept looking for the strobe lights of other jumpers.

As I got closer to the landing area, I saw a strobe light flashing. The final approach of our landing pattern was over the cars.  Our goal was to land in front of the headlights. When I turned on final, I wasn't sure if I'd clear the cars so I moved my pattern over to the side and landed in the tall grass.  It was nearly as tall as me!

There wasn't much of a celebration for my 100th jump.  In fact, most of the other jumpers were already hanging out by the fire drinking beer.  I packed my rig, loaded my car, and left the DZ.  100 jumps complete!  Woo hoo!