A Weekend Getaway With My Friends And My Ford

Last week, two of my friends and I decided to take a weekend getaway to visit our friend, Shawn, who had recently moved to Greeley, Colorado to start his career as a grain merchandiser.  After making the initial arrangements, such as what we were planning to do and booking a hotel reservation, we had to decide which vehicle to drive.  We knew we would need to take something big enough to haul all 4 of us around comfortably, plus our luggage and some gifts for Shawn that we were bringing.  Since we were going to be driving around in the terrain of the Rocky Mountains, we decided to take the 2001 Ford F-150 Lariat that I had purchased from Hastings Ford Lincoln.  This truck has been the definition of reliable, and had 197,000+ miles on it before we even began the trip.  Kevin, Hayley, and I all left our respective places of work early Friday afternoon so that we could get a jump start on the trip.  We loaded the truck, fueled up the tank, and made the 5 and a half hour drive straight through without having to stop once.  The drive there seemed to pass by extraordinarily fast, considering how excited we all were to catch up with our friend over dinner and some drinks.  After a few hours of spending some time out on the town, we headed back to Shawn’s condo to get some sleep because of a big day planned ahead.

Hayley and I had a 9:30 a.m. appointment at The Mile-Hi Skydiving Center on Saturday, so after another hour drive to get there, we were more excited than nervous for the jump.  Shawn and Kevin took my truck and went to a nearby golf course since we had packed a set of clubs and brought them from home.  We went into the center, signed our release waivers, and then waited for a transport from the center to the runway where we would load onto the plane.  Once we reached the loading station, we geared up with our jumpsuits, harnesses, goggles, and elevation equipment.  The briefing began and the instructions were given.  After what seemed like an eternity, but was in actuality probably about 20 minutes, our plane showed up on the runway.  We were loaded in first, as everyone else on the plane was part of a team of skydivers that were going to jump into formations.  As the elevation meter slowly climbed from a mere 1000 feet to 10,000 feet, the atmosphere was very relaxed.  The other 22 jumpers were very seasoned, so I think they enjoyed conversing with people that were still as excited about the whole process as Hayley and I were.  The mood on the aircraft changed once we neared our optimal height for jumping, as the team of skydivers became very focused.  Once we hit the 12,500 feet mark, the entire team practically sprinted out of the airplane’s hatch and were all gone in a matter of seconds. Hayley and I didn’t move nearly as fast.  I can't speak for her, but as I waddled my way up to the open hatch, the reality of it all started to slowly sink in.

At the hatch, you have to squat down with both of your feet halfway off of the floor, hanging outside of the plane.  That’s when you get a real good look at the clouds and the ground that’s thousands of feet below you, only for a few seconds, and that’s probably for the best because that time spent looking down is the epitome of stomach wrenching.  The next thing you know, you fall forward and are free-falling towards the ground at about 130 mph.  The initial rush is indescribable, and definitely surreal, even to this moment.  You instantaneously notice the pressure on your body, and try to remember  the steps that your instructor went over again just moments before the jump.  The ground still feels so far away, but those 45 seconds of free-fall begin to feel like an eternity.  Once you actually get a chance to realize that you just jumped out of a plane and remembered all the steps up to that point, you can have some fun.  We both had videographers that jumped out with us, so we spent some time showing off for the cameras.

Eventually, it’s time to pull the strap to open your parachute.  The initial jerk and pull of the parachute opening is enough to make you think that something might have went wrong, but once you notice that you’re approaching the ground much slower than before, you can breathe a sigh of relief.  You control the straps to the chute, and can pull down hard left or right to spin incredibly fast in circles, kind of resembling an amusement park ride.  After 5 minutes, you get prepared to re-introduce yourself to the dirt on the ground, and the moment you feel your feet it hit is actually much more disappointing than relieving.

Once we made our way back up to the skydiving center, Shawn and Kevin were already there waiting for us.  We tried to explain the entire experience to the best of our abilities and then headed towards Denver in the truck, enjoying the views that the mountains and lakes had to offer.  We made it to the Embassy Suites in downtown Denver, dropped off our luggage, and made our way to Bubba Gump’s Shrimp for some much needed food.  It happened to be a checkpoint for participants in the Red Dress Run, where everyone, including the males, wears a red dress of their choice and runs for a wide variety of charities.  Downtown Denver had all kinds of social scenes and is packed full of theaters, bars, clubs, food carts, specialty stores, and even carriage rides, but after a few hours there, we were ready to call it a night because of another big day planned for Sunday.

After waking up, we were off again, this time to the Downtown Aquarium, that also serves as a restaurant.  After we grabbed lunch there, we got a good look at the Denver Broncos football stadium and an amusement park called Elitch Gardens, as they were both located right across the parking lot, but didn’t have time to check either out because we had an appointment for whitewater rafting outside of Fort Collins. 

We made sure to take some back roads, as those roads always seem to have the best views, some of which were absolutely breathtaking.  When we got there, again after signing release forms, we got geared up, listened to the instructions, and were ready to go.  

After a short bus ride to the Poudre River, we loaded up in the rafts and started making our way down the river.  The orders that the rafting guide yelled out made the whole experience seem much more like a race than I had anticipated.  Everyone on the raft has to work as a team to try to avoid rocks and trees, along with positioning the raft to be able to handle the rapids as well as maintaining the proper speeds.  It was incredibly fun, even more-so because I was with a group of my close friends.  Making our way down that river through the rapids is a memory I’ll keep forever. 

After whitewater rafting, we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for a quick dinner, and then had to say our goodbyes, as a long Monday at the office awaited all of us and 3 of us still had a 5 and a half hour drive ahead.  With us attempting to cram so much into just one weekend, we didn’t have any time to spare worrying about vehicle problems or a potential breakdown, so having a dependable vehicle was an absolute must, and my Ford truck has proven time and time again that it can always get the job done.

Adam Primm