I'm not sure who got up first - me or the sun!  Even though Matt had set an alarm, I didn't rely on it.  It was not even 7 when I got in the shower.  When I got out, I woke him up and headed down to get some breakfast.  

This Hampton Inn had a less impressive spread than the last one. With the exception of sausage gravy, no meat was served.  I had some of the gravy over a biscuit, suffered through some pretty terrible scrambled eggs, and grabbed a yogurt. While Matt was eating, I loaded the car.  He didn't waste much time with breakfast and we left the hotel around around 7:45. Next stop:  Air Capital Drop Zone!  

Since we didn't see a quick place to grab tea, we went straight to the drop zone and arrived just before 8. Shortly thereafter, the pilot showed up, then a tandem, and then the owner, Martin.  

I was excited about meeting Martin because we'd been exchanging emails. When I told him about our goal to skydive in every state, he told me that Kansas is famous for the world's largest ball of twine. If it had been located near the dz or on the way to Missouri, we could have checked it out.  Unfortunately, it was almost 3 hours north and west - the wrong direction.

Filling out the waiver went quickly.  I've started speed reading these!  They are all pretty much the same. If you die or get injured, you can not sue anyone.  

We gave our paper work to Martin and I got on the scale.  With my gear, I weighed 202!  My wingloading was just under 1.2.  Martin commented on the fact that my gear was heavy.  It's very heavy, but I weighed 5 lbs more than normal! Grrrr!

We talked to some of the locals while we were waiting for the tandem to be trained.  One of the instructors was also trying to skydive in every state. I think he said he'd been to 40 something so far. He didn't have many left!  We also had a chance to talk to the pilot and the DZM, Robe.

Since there was a tandem on the load, Matt and I decided to go all the way up.  It was funny trying to figure out how we'd leave the plane. It's not often that we jump full altitude from a Cessna. We went out to the plane to "practice".  In the end, we decided that I would leave first facing the tail and he'd dive down to me. Awesome!  

Matt and I put on our gear and went to the plane with the tandem instructor and student.  Since I would be first out, I was last in.  I was sitting next to the pilot.  Typically, Cessna's are pretty slow. Not this one!  Both Matt and I were surprised how fast we got to 10,000 feet.  When the pilot gave me the okay, I opened the door and got out of the plane south and west of the DZ.

As I left the plane, I immediately got big so Matt wouldn't have a hard time getting to me.  We hadn't planned a dive flow.  So, when he docked on me, I pulled him in and and kissed him. It's awesome to skydive with my husband! There were 360's and more kissing!  Yay for kissing!

It's amazing how flat it is in Kansas!  I felt like I could see to the end of the earth.  It just kept going on and on.

Based on the wind direction, I tracked a little too far to the west.  Since I wasn't getting any penetration, I ended up doing a 1,000 foot final approach. Fortunatley, I made it back to the primarly landing area, but I didn't end up where I had orginally planned to land.  Oh well...my landing was great and I quickly pulled in a brake line before my canopy had a chance to knock me over!

While we were packing, Matt and I talked to the DZM Robe.  He told his that his wife is also a skydiver and she is a PMS! And they know Merriah!  He showed us a picture of his wife hanging on the wall.  He also shared some exciting news - she's pregnant!  Apparently, they get them started early in Kansas - the baby had already been on more than a dozen skydives!  Even though I didn't get a chance to meet any of the women from AC/DZ, I gave Robe some SIS socks for them.

Just before I finished closing my container, I looked out and saw a plane flying very close to the ground.  It turns out some bi-planes were practicing.  Matt stopped packing, grabbed the camera, and went outside to take pictures. This is my favorite one!

Robe asked where we were headed next.  We told him we were going to Skydive Missouri.  He recommended that in lieu of Skydive Missouri, we check out Freefall Express. After hugs from the DZO & DZM,  we set out on our way to Missouri.