I did my first AFF jump on July 10, 2004.  On July 10, 2005, I did my 25th skydive and obtained my "A" license and on July 8, 2006 I did my 100th.  Most new skydivers knock out a few hundred jumps during the first couple of years - it took me nearly 2 years to do my first 100!  Having two kids, getting divorced, and being a single mom, slowed everything down.  My AFF anniversary was coming up and so was my 200th jump!  In 2008, July 10th fell on a Thursday.  Out of curiosity, I googled drop zones to see if I could find one closer than Orange & Suffolk. 

Bridge Day 2006Using dropzone.com, I found a small DZ called "The Skydivin Place" in Littlestown, PA just an hour from my house in Germantown, MD. When I contacted the DZ, I discovered it was owned and operated by - Jim Smith.  I had met Jim Smith at Bridge Day in 2006 when my hair was very short and I was super skinny - those are some serious cheek bones!  Jim's the guy next to me.  After Bridge Day, I ran into him at a few places over the years. When I got in touch with him, he said he'd be open weather permitting.  AWESOME!  As the day got closer, I kept an eye on the weather and asked for the day off from work.  On the morning of the 10th, the weather cooperated and we zipped right up the road.

The Skydivin Place - Pennsylvania

The setup at "The Skydivin Place" was pretty nice - grass runway, Cessna 182, hangar with padded packing area, nice flat green landing area.  Prior to jumping, Jim gave us a briefing.  He made sure we understood the protocol for landing off.  The first thing to do if you land off?  Go directly to the store and buy a fruit basket.  This was a great way to keep the good will in the community and to avoid lawsuits.  While we were getting geared up for the load, we met a local fun jumper - Dave.  Dave asked if we wanted to do a three way.

From my log book:  Jump 200 - July 10, 2008 - Kingsdale, Pa - Cessna 182 - 3 way with Matt & Dave - Fell Fast :( - Sweet Landing Next to Hangar - Happy 200! Signed by:  Dave Purcell D-22544

What my log book doesn't say:  The skydive wasn't very successful, but I was happy that I got to jump on a Thursday AND with Matt!  After we packed our rigs, we got on a second load and did low passes.  We exited at 3,000.  I ended up with line twists, but on my Spectre 210 I had plenty of time to kick out of them.  I had a second sweet landing - next to the hangar.  As we were walking back to the hangar, I realized that I had forgotten to put on my ankle braces!  It was the first time in 3 years that I had forgotten!  Oops!  Thank goodness I had nice landings!