OMG, I do love these Joyride days! I am so psyched, not even THINKING about teetering on “overwhelm” in life right now. Just completely filled with gratitude that I get to go connect with people who are living their dreams. Being around passion and fulfillment like that is a drug, and I’m jones-ing. Time to Joyride.

Blasted out of bed at 4:35 this morning, eager to Joyride, and confident that somehow I would fit in 2 hours’ worth of “to do’s” into an hour and a half: Pack, eat, shower, respond to IRS letter due Monday, check-in online, mail a birthday card, prep bank deposit, pay bills, get road food, call taxi. Check? Check.

On board my flight and on the way to play with some crazy pilots! Cool! Going on Joyrides lets ME stay in MY joy, too! Can’t wait to loop-de-loop! The different reactions from people are fascinating: “Are you scared?” (No – excited) “Are YOU flying, or just talking to pilots?” (Hey, when in Rome…) “What’s next, jumping out of a plane?!” (Yep – scheduling that.)

Funny, I was telling my friend Sue that just THINKING about the negative G’s makes my feet sweat! (What does that mean exactly?!?!)

Signing off – we’re landing in El Paso!

--

What an amazing day in the El Paso skies today! Blue sky, not even a wisp of clouds, and the air was heavy with anticipation and excitement.

I interviewed Michael Mancuso, one of the leading aerobatic phenoms who routinely does the near-impossible with a plane. I watched him prepare to take flight and I asked him how he felt: “Good. A bit of nerves. The usual.” (Whose “usual” is he referring to, exactly?!) He took off and right away came all the air antics: After watching from the ground while he did his third death spiral today, I laughed out loud and thought, “Oh shit. I’m going to be doing that tomorrow!”

The wonderful people at Klein Tools ( www.kleintools.com ) and Michael included me on a sunset champagne flight (how DID they know?!) in a 1942 Beech something-or-other that looks exactly like the plane from “Casablanca.” This was not an aerobatic flight, it was a leisurely experience that took us back to another age of travel. Then, to shake things up a bit, Michael buzzed a few houses two different times, and the 5 of us in the cabin cheered every time! One woman actually cried she was so excited. Damn, those sunset colors over the mountain range nearly made me do the same thing.

(next day)

Today is blast off!

I woke up suddenly at 5:30 from a dream where I was wearing my parachute, strapped into Mancuso’s very light Extra 300L, and was reviewing what I needed to do if I had to eject.

And you?!? Wasn’t that what YOU dreamed about last night?!

Although I noticed I had the sweaty feet/nervous/excitement thing going on, I managed to fall back asleep until 6:30. Butterflies be damned!

I had a great night last night communing with perfect strangers in a perfect way: talking about what brings them joy. One of the things I’ve grown to LOVE about working on this topic: EVERYBODY HAS A STORY THEY WANT TO SHARE! “You ought to meet my cousin”, or “I have a mentor who taught me how to really start living when he was 60 and I was 23”, or one of my favorites, “My personal credo is Freedom.” Whether it is about themselves or a close friend, people “get it.”

So stay tuned…more about my own, personal Joyride in a few hours!

(hours later)

Joyriding with Freakin’ Maniacs!

Newsflash: It is possible to be near puking and still have a great time!

O-M-G.

Time: 6:30 a.m.

I got up and seriously pondered what to eat for breakfast, thinking I might have to taste it a second time. No huevos rancheros today, nosirreebob. I’m sticking with one of my smoothies, some dried fruit and nuts, then giving myself a good 2.5 to 3 hours of pre-flight digestion time.

Time: 8:30

We arrive at the base early this morning, and it is another beautiful day. There are clouds forming and a bit more wind than yesterday, so I am glad to be flying early. I chat with the president of the Amigo Airsho, and she says, “Oh, you’ll love aerobatics. I’ve done it 12 times and thrown up 10 of those 12. I HAVE to love it to do that!” I refrain from looking at her sideways.

It’s not all fun and games. Michael had a deadly crash several years ago that he somehow survived. He got G-LOC on a descent and blacked out. ("G-induced Loss of Consciousness", for those of you who haven't felt G-Forces peel off the skin of your face...) He woke up in just enough time to straighten her out a bit before “landing”. Now THERE’S a euphemism. He said it was like the old TV Bionic Man/Steve Austin crash footage: the wings flew off and Michael was in the middle of a rolling ball of flaming wreckage. He broke 24 bones – his back in 2 places – and was very seriously hurt.

I know the question you want to ask. Me, too.

Answer: He was back in the air in 6 months.

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Time to put on the parachute and the gear! I notice as I'm standing next to the plane, that the words "Klein Tools" - Michael's corporate sponsor and my host for today - are printed upside down on the plane. I guess they do that because the plane spends most of its time upside down. OMG.

Time: 9:15

Robert puts his camera and gear into the chase plane, and Tony the pilot – great guy - is ready to rumble. “We’ll be trackin’ you up there!”

I put on my headset so I have 2-way with Michael, then wave to the camera mounted inside the cockpit (I nickname this "Scream Cam" for obvious reasons) and we’re off!

Time: 9:30

We taxi with the chase plane at our side, carrying Tony, Robert, and Sheri, our fearless coordinator. (I’m thinking, do we TAXI in formation, too? What will it be like in the air?!)

We take off, Michael gets the "Extra" stabilized and then decides to dip that right wing 90 degrees down to the ground so my photographer can get a nice peek into the cockpit – coooooooool! OMG. I want more! But be gentle!

Fly Boy then manages a couple of gentle and fun maneuvers, and my face hurts from smiling so much! (Little do I know that later I’ll be seeing broken capillaries there.)

“Michelle, you doin’ okay?!”

“Great!”

(10 minutes and lots of quarter turns and inversions, etc. later)

“Michelle how ya doin’?!”

“Lovin’ it!”

(10 minutes and countless loops and rolls later - which are actually very cool cuz I can see our smoke trails!)

“Michelle, how are ya?”

“I’m good. Gotta catch my breath though.”

So he cruises a while – good man – and then we decide to fly in tighter formation with our chase plane. We are only about 15 feet apart. We invert for a LONG TIME, and I make the critical mistake of taking my gaze off of the horizon and putting it on the chase plane. THAT was some fascinating precision flying! THAT also happens to be a recipe for barfing. No horizon = clammy, sweaty body and churning stomach.

“Michelle, how was that?!”

“Michael, I feel sick. I loved it, but I’m gonna barf.”

(I then hear, “Tony, we’re goin’ in. Michelle’s about to break my 5 year record of no puking.”)

I breathe, I relax, I envision every cell being at peace, in spite of me feeling reeeeeeeeeeally close to spilling my guts. I actually pick up the barf bag – in case – but feel sure I can regain my center by loving the beauty of the mountains and sky, and grooving on the adrenalin of what we just did. I feel certain…but, sweating, edgy, I am clutching the hell out of that bag!

We come in to land and Michael says, “Like buttuh!” And it IS one, smooth landing. Another “cycle” complete.

Time: Can no longer tell time, so no idea :)--

I fold up the unused barf bag, saving it for the next victim. While we are cruising back to the hangar, Michael pops the canopy to let me get some air. Wow – I’m a little shaky…kind of like after riding Goliath at Magic Mountain, times ten.

Whoa. THAT was memorable. I peel the chute, take a seat, and say a silent “thanks” for feeling the nausea fade very quickly.

Did I say “whoa” yet?! Whoa.

“Hey Joy Boy, when can we go again?!”

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