See how I put the date in the title? As though I might do this again. Ha!
The day of the jump, I dressed in easily-removed layers and donned my red checkered wrist-band (from the check-in the day before). My friend drove me there and we arrived around noon – anticipating a crowded parking lot. But the parking was no big deal and we had a couple hours to kill. We hiked around the park a bit and did some people watching. We met up with some friends and chatted a bit to pass the time. The crowd began to gather and as the 2:00 hour approached, the excitement began to build.
At ten til, I took off my coat and shirt. I said I wanted to be ready when my wristband color was called, but really I was just excited and nervous. I started jumping around to keep blood going and because they had really good music.
At four til, I took off my pants. Now all I had was my blue square cut speedo (very tasteful) and my aqua shoes. A few others made ready as well and some wore costumes. There was Captain Planet, Superman, two guys in body paint tuxedos and a group in form-fitting spandex. There was the Joker and more grass skirts than you could shake a stick at. And when two women walked by, one said that her friend wanted to smack my butt. Saucy! Her friend, of course, was mortified, but I took it as a compliment.
Now all that was left to do was wait until they called my wrist-band.
American Flag – nope.
Blue Checker – nope.
Neon Green checker – nope.
Neon Orange checker – nope.
Purple checker – Are you kidding me?!?
Finally, Red checker. I handed off my glasses, made sure that my friends had the “Your pants are over here, stupid,” flag that I’d made at the ready so I could find them, and headed for the jumper corral.
I walked the plank – literally – out to the docks extended from the beach. At end of the dock, I held my breathe and jumped.
The cold water hit and in that burst I realized that I had never ever been anywhere near that cold. It redefined the idea of cold for me and took my breath away. I surfaced and half swam, half waded my way back to the shore. I quickly found my friends and started to dry off. Gathering my clothes, I headed to the heated tent to get changed. I finished drying off, got dressed quickly, and other than some cold toes I was mostly recovered.
Leaving the tent, I chatted with another of my friends and then we headed back to the car to go meet up with my former co-worker and his family for an early dinner. After the meal at Chipotle, his wife gave me a quick hug before telling me she was cold and had to get in the car. I shook my head and told her, “No, you aren’t cold” – earning me a laugh.
A large hot chocolate and a hot bath later and I was back to normal.
Will I do this again next year? Hmmmm…