On Friday, I forced myself to stay in bed until 7:00. Then, I got my shower and Matt got his and we were out the door by 8:30. We checked out of the hotel and looked online to find a place to eat. We had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast. There was a local diner not far away – City Lights Pancake House. For $4.00, you got two eggs, two pieces of meat, 2 pancakes and your choice of fruit or hash browns. The food was so delicious. Super yummy and a great price! Of course, we had to laugh when we got the bill - they charge $1.99 for 4 ounces of orange juice!
While we were eating, we talked about where we’d be going after Tecumseh. I had printed directions to three different drop zones in Indiana and put the phone numbers for manifest at the top of each. I wasn’t sure which one would be open or if the weather would eliminate the possibility of jumping at one or more of them. I like to be prepared for any set of circumstances. We decided that we’d wait until we did our jump at Tecumseh before we made calls to the drop zones in Indiana. We finished eating and left for the drop zone.
When we arrived at Skydive Tecumseh, manifest was closed. Eventually, one of the local guys, Dennis, noticed us and gave us a tour. When we went back to manifest, it was still lock and he set out to find someone with a key. Although manifest was running behind, we were happy to discover the tandems waiting to check in. We continued to look around the DZ and I went to the bathroom. Yay for indoor plumbing and separate ladies rooms! They also had clean showers, not that I needed a shower, but it’s always nice to find those little special bonus when you go to a drop zone that allows camping.
Dennis came back and gave us a drop zone briefing. There landing area is a decent size and there were plenty of outs. In fact, they had just bought a huge field on the other side of a tree line behind the hangar. It was nicely groomed and offered one more option.
Upon entering manifest, we encountered a long line of tandems ahead of us. Dennis told the women behind the counter that we were experienced jumpers and she gave us our waivers and put us in the classroom. Start Skydiving was a model of efficiency and courtesy, but Skydive Tecumseh manifest…not so much. It seemed as though the volume of customers was a little overwhelming for one person. Maybe this woman was not the right person for the job? Maybe she was having an off day? I wish I could have been able to help her, but I have never worked manifest.
We finished our waivers and she copied our IDs. She told us we could manifest at experienced manifest once she had us in the computer. We really wanted to be on load 1 so we went directly to experienced manifest to see if we could get on the load. Another person was in front of us and they were manifesting for a Cat B jump. The guy working experienced manifest was super cool. We told him we’d like to manifest for load 1, but when he tried to add us to the load, he discovered we weren’t in the system. Given the number of tandems waiting in line at the other manifest, it seemed unlikely we’d be in the computer anytime soon. No worries... He took our money and said we were on the load even if our names didn’t appear to be there.
While we were waiting for the tandems to be trained, we talked to some of the locals. We met a man named Rex that had been at Skydive Tecumseh for nearly 40 years! He had taught Liz Bowman (one of our friends from Orange). He also knew another guy from Orange name Keith. Everyone was very friendly. Dennis said that he had come up from Cross Keys a few years back and he also knew some of our friends from Orange. Again…we are reminded of our small community.
It was time to gear up and get on the plane. As we were walking to the plane, Dennis came over with his camera and got someone to take a picture of the three of us - very cool I don’t think this has ever happened to me at Orange. As I interacted with the jumpers at Tecumseh, I became increasingly aware of the lack of “warm fuzzies” at Orange. Once we were on the plane, one of the local guys stayed with us at the door. Basically, they were worried that we’d accidentally knock the door out of the track - he was there to make sure that didn’t happen. He was also there to make sure we had a good spot!
Low passes again…The DZ was easy to spot and my canopy ride was mostly uneventful with the exception of some expected turbulence as I flew over the tree line. The winds had picked up and I didn’t get the forward penetration I thought I would. I landed in the designated landing area and just like that…Michigan was done!
Matt and I were both so excited! While I was packing, a woman came over to introduce herself. It was Billie! She asked if we stayed at the Tecumseh Inn. I told her about our experience. It was clean and we’d do it again. We gathered our things and put them in the car. I wrote in the log books and Matt called the closest drop zone in Indiana (Skydive Ft. Wayne) to see if they were jumping. They were and the drop zone was only 82 miles away about 1 and ½ hours! Woo hoo!
I got Rex to sign our log books. We thanked everyone and told them that we’d follow up with a review on Yelp! Great DZ, super friendly people, and a positive experience!
