As an almost-surprise gift this year, Darlene signed us up for a pair of “flights” at the indoor “skydiving” facility iFly in Union City, CA.  Glenn and Michele came down from Portland for the weekend to give it a try with us along with several friends in the area: Martha, Dave, and Greg as well as Darlene’s 79-year old aunt Betty and her two young charges, Travis and Dillon.

After a bit of instruction on how to hold your body, we each got two one-minute “flights” in the vertical wind tunnel with our iFly instructor, Charlie.  As beginners, we were all just learning how to hold a more-or-less steady hover in the 110-145 mph winds.  (They adjust the wind speed on-the-fly for the size of the person.)  Everybody had a blast and opted for the “fly high” option on our second flights where the instructor takes to the air with you and carries you aloft spinning up and down the shaft.

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