Well, yesterday was------pretty much one of the best days ever. No joke. Two factors contributed to this.
1.) I went hang gliding. Seriously. Yup, Quiet Sara went hang gliding. Didn't see that coming, did you?
2.) Hungout with Micah. Like, REALLY hungout. It was great!
See? I bet yall are all already jealous of my day, huh?
Anyway, I'll start with the hang gliding. It's something that I've wanted to do for a long time. Like, years. My flight was tandem (with an instructor) cause I'm not certified. We started in the valley behind Lookout Mountain cause all tandem flights are towed up to 2000 ft instead of jumping off the mountain at 1300 ft.
I was really surprised.... I thought I'd at least get nervous or anxious, but I was totally calm the entire time. haha :) The guy I flew with was really nice! He was probably 25 or so and it turns out he used to live on the same street as me! Weird, I know. lol
So, we (me and my family) arrive at the flight school at the bottom of the mountain and after getting all geared up (harness, helmet, and these oh so hott goggles) the take me to the glider. Mine was red and cool looking! haha :) I was shorter was the instructor anticipated so it took a little adjusting of the harness on the glider before I was at the right height. But, once everything was fixed, he signaled the glider (the thing towing us) that we were ready to go.
The climb up 2000 was really fast so the pressure was really high. I think we reached 2000 ft in about 1 or 1 1/2 minutes. Me ears were popping like crazy and I was FREEZING cause the wind was REALLY strong. I was wearing, jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a fleece and jacket and I was seriously shivering and chattering (which, come to think of it is not all that uncommon for me). Once we reached the 2000 ft mark which was right over the flight school on top of the mountain, the unltralight released our hang glider which caused a loud snap. As soon, as we were free, we practically stopped in mid air. Which was a really weird feeling. Cause here you are, dangling above people's heads on Lookout Mountain, 2000 ft in the air, being held by nothing but a carabiner.
Once you are released and get a feel for the wind around you (which only take about 5 seconds) you start to move. To steer the glider to move your hips which is actually a LOT harder than it sounds. haha After a couple of minutes in flight, the instructor let me take over the flying for bit which was kind of unsuccessful. haha I steered if correctly and all, but getting it go in the right direction was harder than it sounds. In my defense, the wind was really strong yesterday..... the instructor even said so. haha
After I controlled the glider for a bit, he asked if I wanted to do some tricks which I responded to with a "HECK YES". haha He did something that was like a nose dive then pushed the bar forward which pulled us to a stop in then did a quick turn and repeated this a few times. IT WAS AWESOME! haha
After about 15 minutes in the air or so, we had lost altitude to the point where we needed to land. The landing itself was pretty cool cause he got really close to the building/shelter where people were. It was also a lot smoother than I expected. You come in pretty quick and when the wheels hit the ground you roll for a bit at a pretty good pace. My knees were dragging the ground at first but then I switched to using my chacos as extra landing gear. haha
Overall, hang gliding is a LOT safer and smoother than most people think. It's totally worth every penny! I really want to become a certified hang gliding pilot but it's SOOO expensive. Hopefully one day. AND, if I go to Covenant, the school is only a couple of miles down the road. hehe :)
Anyway, after hang gliding, Micah wanted to hangout. Which I was super excited about cause I hadn't hungout like this since Summer. When I got in the car with him, he had Bright Eyes playing (who I've actually been addicted to lately!). As you probably could guess, we went to Moe's. haha Then we headed to the play ground which was really nice. Then to his house. hahaha I love his family. They're like my second one! We walked in and they were like "MICAH! AND SARA!!!!". It was really funny. haha Andrew was like "Brother!!..... SISTER!" haha. We stayed and talked for about an hour before we had to head back to Covenant.
In all, yesterday was amazing. Enjoy the pictures! :)
-Sara Nade