Fran Larson

Experience Skydiving At Zephyrhills, Florida-Maybe You Just Want To Observe:Parachutes, Thrills


Posted: Saturday, July 30, 2011

by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/

It is the last day of Zach and Alayna’s visit (our grandchildren). We were looking for something exciting and unique to do with them and then we thought about watching the Skydivers. It was definitely a good choice.

Skydiving (Accelerated Free Fall) is very popular here in Zephyrhills, Florida. It is touted as Skydive City, Florida’s Number One Flyzone.

We arrived there about 20 minutes before the first drop and found a nice shady place to sit with a perfect view. I had seen the skydivers from a distance, but never this close. We were just a few yards away from where they would land.

Soon the Skydivers began to board the small plane, along with a few extra people whom I assume would be helping in some way. I love these small planes. I love the noise when they take off and the fast taxiing before ascending. Hmmm, maybe I could get a job here. I would be kind of like an airline hostess. I could pass out lemonade, wipe their brow and tell them everything will be just fine (even though I would not have the courage to jump).

About 15 minutes later, we spotted the first skydiver and immediately saw about 30 more. The sky was dotted with colorful parachutes, which were rectangular shaped. It was an amazing sight. The seasoned ones would tumble and swerve all different directions before landing and then when they landed, their feet were skidding as if they were water skiing. They were graceful. I could see after the initial lessons, they become “artsy” and creative in their skydiving skills. It looked like fun and we didn’t see anyone that appeared nervous.

People come from all over the world to Skydive at Zephyrhills. I talked with a young man from Denmark who was just finishing his training. Smiling, he said the first 3 or 4 lessons just emphasize “how not to kill yourself.” He said he had always wanted to skydive and when he “goggled” skydiving, Zephyrhills came up.

It was a beautiful sight to see men and women of all ages free floating through the sky and enjoying themselves so much. If you don’t want to jump, it is fun to just watch others.

For more information about skydiving lessons, just click on: http://www.skydivecity.com/?gclid=CP6L6tnWqaoCFUWK4Aod2zp27w
Francine Larson:

Co-Author of Character Keys to a Bright Future.

She is a freelance writer

See more articles by Francine Larson at:http://www.examiner.com/modern-love-in-tampa-bay/francine-larson

She also writes for The Highlands at Scotland Yards. She writes poetry and short stories. She is a contributor for Yahoo (http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/685738/francine_larson.html)

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Bruce Horst
 272 days 4 hours ago.
674 fans. Follow Bruce Horst on twitter!
I love this, Fran. When I was young my hometown's small airport was bought out by a parachuters club, and it was 1 mile from my house, as the crow flies. (It was across several corn fields from my house, so this was in fact how I learned the term 'as the crow flies'!)

Eight or nine months out of the year they would skydive on the weekends. When we heard the engines on the plane slow down we knew they were about to jump out, so we would run outside the house to watch. As much of an every-day occurrence as this became, I never got tired of it.

My two oldest sons decided that when they turned 18 they needed the experience of jumping out of an airplane. I haven't been able to do it, yet, but someday I will. I've dreamed about it for decades, I've got to do it!
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