Las Vegas Adventures: Adrenaline Junkies Getaway!

As you may or may not know, we took our very first getaway without kids.  The first since our honeymoon.  That’s 24 years, y’all. And it was as exciting, fun, romantic and weird as it was hard to be away from our kids.  By the second day, I’m not going to lie, I was ready to pay the $100 fee to change our flights. Luckily, Dan was having none of it, he was enjoying the time away from work and stress and so we stayed. We found the perfect adrenaline fix in one particular Las Vegas Adventure as well. Next time, we will bring the kids and hit up all the wild and crazy adventures.

I say luckily because we truly did have a really awesome time. We were on a serious budget, but we managed to have a ton of fun. We did some partying and dancing. We did some gambling. We walked the strip twice, so I got in some exercise, which was great because I made a solemn promise to myself that I would NOT worry about diet or working out for the entire vacation!  That was the best promise I’ve made in a long time!  

Dan and I lounged at the pool, ordered a drink or two, we went to bed crazy late and woke up even later.  It was incredibly romantic, our hotel was super crazy nice and I felt like a princess.  

Our claim to fame is that we did Vegas without getting arrested, and from the tales my friends tell me, that’s quite a feat. But we weren’t there really to get wild and crazy. We have this insatiable thirst for fun and adventure, we are adrenaline junkies. And partying just doesn’t fit the bill. That’s just who we are. Dan actually hates that whole scene. 

And so, I spent countless minutes, because I don’t have countless hours to do anything, I spent countless minutes scouring the Internet, Pinterest in particular, looking for totally amazing adventures.

Las Vegas Adventures

 

Surprisingly, or not, Las Vegas has so many amazingly wild adventures, all of which we would have loved to partake in, but for limited time, unbearable heat, and no car, we narrowed our search to the Strip and preferably indoors due to the heat.

Now, there are some pretty impressive hikes. But given the fact that we went in August (it’s the off-season) and it was literally 110 degrees, I passed on hiking in Vegas.

My husband, Dan, way vying for some Go Kart racing. I must admit this sounded super fun, but again, crazy hot. As I said,  I was really looking for indoor adventures, on the strip and easily accessible.

There is an Exotic Car Driving Experience, which is on the docket should we ever return to Las Vegas! I mean, I’ll never own an Aston Martin, but I sure as heck would love to drive one.

Dan was game for the many Machine Gun Experiences. I was game for the Lake Mead exploring via ATV in the am and shooting in the afternoon adventure, but neither was close to the Strip and would have cost a fortune via Uber.

There is a place that offers air combat training, where you get to fly like a fighter pilot and learn basic maneuvers.  Pretty darn cool, no? This just might be the ultimate Vegas Adventure. I had no idea there was even such a thing!

Are you sitting down, because I saved the best for last.  The Operation Zombie Apocalypse. Shut the Front Door, I’m bringing the whole family to this one. I mean, who hasn’t ever wondered if they could survive a zombie apocalypse? You’ll find out with this simulation that collaborates with real live Special Ops!!  Kids, pack your bags, we are going in!

Sky Diving in Las Vegas

So, I realize I just listed all the incredibly amazing adrenaline packed activities that we didn’t do, for my, and your, viewing pleasure. Most of these are on my bucket list, for whenever we are passing through Las Vegas again. I never in one million years thought I’d bring kids to Vegas, but viewing this list again assures that I will.

The question remains, what did we actually do?

Well, we actually went Indoor Skydiving! We literally got off the plane, checked into our hotel room at the Luxor, and grabbed an Uber and headed toward the East end of the Strip.

I was crazy excited. You see, I have been trying to set up skydiving, like the real thing for years now, but my husband is reluctant, to say the least. Last fall, I actually booked a jump in Houston. We were going.  Dan, my husband, my Marine, my soldier of a husband, kept saying he wasn’t going. My two older kids were on board, I was on board, but Dan … not so much.

I told him we were going, he was coming and that there was no way we were going to have this experience without him. And then bad weather hit and on the day of our jump, we got cancelled.

The kids and I were so disappointed, so down, but Dan? Dan was literally dancing in the hallways of my Aunt’s home. He giggled for hours, like a man who just had his death sentence commuted. I think he really believes he’ll die.

Indoor Skydiving: Safe, Controlled, Yet Fun Introduction

So, while scouring for Indoor wild Las Vegas Adventure, I found Indoor Skydiving. It peaked my interest, I was intrigued enough to click on the link.

Vegas Indoor Skydiving was touted as fun for the whole family, which meant even my terrified of heights husband could be expected to enjoy it. The website said that flying at Vegas Indoor Skydiving gives you an actual taster of the rush that skydivers enjoy during the freefall portion of their skydiving jump.

And, when I read that, everything clicked. Maybe, just maybe this would be the ticket to getting Dan to really and truly jump out of a plane with me.  I quickly made reservations for the first day we were in Vegas, thinking any other adventures would pale in comparison to anything that simulates a free fall.

When we arrived, we were instantly ushered into a room with one other family for a quick video presentation that discussed all the Do’s and Don’t and then we were introduced to our Instructor, who reiterated everything on the video.

Basically, don’t drink and jump, keep your head up while flying, be sure to tuck when you get shot out of the air, be sure to jump out of the way if a body is hurtling toward you … you know basic things that really have more to do with common sense than anything else.

The Experience

So, after the quick video and summary of the video, we were taken to the next room to suit up.  We were given big fly suits, socks, a helmet and googles. At this point, I was giddy with excitement. If Dan was at all nervous, he didn’t show it, nor did he say anything.

We were then given access to the big room with the enormous fans that push our bodies up into the air.  Now I’d seen Indoor Skydiving before, specifically in the movie, Keeping Up With the Joneses (not my favorite movie in the world, btw). I had visions of group flys, Dan and I holding each others hands, romance circling around the adventure …

But none of that happened. In order to maintain a safe and controlled environment, one person at a time flys.  Makes sense because it’s really not as straightforward as it seems.

First, you jump out over the fan and the guy in the control room determines how much air your body needs to take and maintain flight. They don’t want you crashing into the ground, any more than they want to see you fly 40’ up in the air!

The jumping out part was super fun. Now I flew instantly, but I could never ever remember to keep my head up the entire time.  I was equally skilled at the tucking and hitting the padded walls when I flew out of the wind.

Dan rocked the entire thing. He flew instantly, kept his head up, went way higher than I, and stayed in for way longer than I did.  And he nailed the tuck.

The experience was amazing, we had a great time. The instructor was so great, so energetic and knowledgeable, that my rather stingy, budget conscious husband tipped her huge.

Now, the only aspect of Indoor Skydiving that I thought needed to be improved upon was the length of time spent flying. It maybe lasted 20 minutes.  We were each given three jumps and when we managed to stay in for any length of time, the instructor shoved us out! 

This Las Vegas Adventure was great fun, but we wanted more. So much more.  

And I’m sure all of you are wondering, did it have the intended effect? Did it, in fact, make Dan want to jump out of a plane?  Well, yes and no. He said he’d do it, if I really wanted him to, but that he sees no real reason to ever jump out of a perfectly good plane.