This was our convo. . .
"How many jumps do you wanna do?" - he asked
"2" - I said.
"ARE YOU SURE?!?!! Thats a lot" - he said with a scared tone
"yea, im sure. Im sure ill want to do it again after my 1st jump" - i said with excitement
"alright" - he said with hesitation
Our jump time was 7:30am. Boy, it was horrible to get up so early. We had to drive to Asuza (which is about an hr drive from both our houses). We arrived, signed in, and we were off (us and about 30 other people). A 5 mile hike to reach "the bridge to nowhere." It was an amazing, gorgeous hike. We had to walk cross a waist high river about 6 times. We had hilarious "jump masters" (in other words - we were putting our lives on 5 20yr old guys) that kept the whole group cracking up with there sence of humor. Mile 4 is when the trail goes from nice, shade, walking along the pretty river -- to -- HOT, dessert, sun. IT SUCKED! and it felt like that hike was never ending. Muz was trying really hard to keep my spirits up, because i was beyond annoyed at that point.
Once at the bridge we had to wait until the early morning group was done with their jumps. This is when i met "SPIDERMAN!" Yes, there was this little asian man that decided to bringalong a spiderman costume to jump in. It was hilarious!
We had a quick "safety" talk from the jump masters then they called up the 1st group of people to jump, one of them being Muz (my bf). He was the 1st person from the group to jump. During the "safety" chat - we were introduced to the pillow. Which is this big red, pillow, thing that is right next to you. This pillow is either: 1) your worst enemy (if you jump wrong - you will be smacked hard by the pillow) 2) your bff (in which you hold on to with all your heart and soul because your so scared) or 3) it doesnt have a purpose.
Muz's 1st jump - the pillow was his worst enemy. It was exactly like the old batman shows. As I looked down, as he jumped, all i saw was: "BAM" "SMACK" "POW" as the pillow hit him. All the jump masters said was, "Ladies, and Gents.. thats exactly what you DONT do" and laughed. The 2nd jump is done backwards, and the 3rd jump is the "extreme jumps" which include the elevator (which is what muz did), when you are attached at the ankle only (which is what muz wanted to do, but couldnt because his 1st jump was so bad that he didnt qualify).
[ Muz's 1st jump ]Then it was waiting time til my turn. Muz prepaired lunch for us and we ate snaks. We waited for about 3+ hrs before my turn. Yes, i was the very LAST person to jump. Now, my experience was a little different. I was calm, cool, and collected. I was attached to all the ropes - ready to go! I put 1 foot over the ledge, then the other, felt the cool breeze, it didnt hear any sounds, all i could feel was my heart racing, and as i looked down I saw a river, 2 gigantic white rocks with (on one rock) a man with a long lens camera pointing straight up at me.. all i could do at that point was say "OOHHHHHH HEEELLLLLLLL NO!!!!!!!" "YA'LL ARE OUT OF YOUR MINDS FOR DOING THIS!!" Yes, i FREAKED out!
My focus was on that little man, with the camera, on that white rock. I couldnt do it. The jump masters gave me a pep talk. Worked me up and i did attempt #1. Didnt do it. Again, pep talk - "You can do this!" Attempt #2... fail. Pep talk #3... my bf on the side lines cheering me on, along with everyone else on the bridge, jump master telling me again "You can do this". I got in position to jump, focused on the flag (that were suppost to jump towards). 1 - 2 - 3.. I jumped! (or as i rememeber... Im sure my shoe slipped and i ended up falling.. but for the sake of the story.. i jumped). Yes, the red pillow was my bff. I hugged that thing like i have never hugged anything before in my life. After the jump, i was relieved it was over... oh, wait.. i still had jump #2 (sigh).
Jump #2 was suppost to be done by falling backwards (looks at the very 1st picture to understand what i mean by this). "You are crazy?" was the only thing i was thinking at the time. After your jumps they check your adrenaline (they make you hold out your hands and see how much your fingers shake). My fingers were barely moving. Then the "jump master" said: "considering how scared you were, you dont have much adrenaline going on." "thanks" - i thought (was that suppost to be a compliment?). I was then taught how my 2nd jump was suppost to go. Phew! I knew i could do the 2nd jump.. i was pumped. Got back out on the ledge and..... freaked out.. again! This wasnt going to happen. Attempt #1 - Fail! Attempt #2 - Fail! Attempt #3 - Fail! I chickened out. I got off the ledge and hugged muz and couldnt stop shaking. I was beyond terrified. I couldnt stop shaking until the harnest was completely taken care off, then i was A-OK, i was laughing and smiling again. I told Muz that he took take my last jump (in which he did).
After our jumps we hiked a little bit further north (which wasnt a trail.. we were rock climbing at that point). We wanted to head down to the bottom of the bridge, where the river was. It was absolutely beautiful, and peaceful. There we met a couple that were celebrating their 30 yr anniversary. They gave us tips on how to keep a successful, happy relationship. He said: "shes always gets what she wants". She said: "make him think that hes always right (then whispered: "but your always right" to me).
On our hike back we got lost, and it was getting dark, and i was in pain. The special water shoes i had bought for this trip were tearing up the bottom of my feet. Muz was starting to worry because the pain was getting so bad that i slowed down alot. So he would make me walk as little as possible, as he ran around looking for the right trail. We finally made it to the car, and we couldnt get out of the mountain quick enough. We were starving! We found a Applebees and scarfed down burgers and fries (how romantic!). We were planning on making a late night movie but decided that a hot shower and sleep were more important - and thats exactly what we did.
Happy Anniversary to us!
