I Survived Going Over the Edge!

Somehow I managed to raise over $1,000 for Special Olympics and as a result on October 15, 2010 I went OVER THE EDGE! Unfortunately, I had class on Saturday so I could only spend the day really.

I spent the night at the Hoffmans and it was SOOO nice to see Jenn. We stayed up late talking and catching up. I was planning on sleeping in, but I guess my nerves got to me. But I will say that I had forgotten how HOT it gets in Ewa. I woke up as Jenn and Makaela were eating breakfast. I came downstairs and got the funniest look from Makaela. I had come in after she had gone to bed so I can only imagine what she must have been thinking having this random person come down her stairs in the morning!

I got to visit my old stompin' grounds, Ilima. And I definitely have missed the place! It was so fun running around visiting people and seeing familiar faces. I wish had more time to spend, but I had things to do and had to skedaddle out after only a few hours. I visited the Weidas + Melissa and got to meet the newest Weida - little Makenzie. She's so cute!!! Of course she cried when I held her...*sigh*...Monica tells me she was just hungry, but I think babies just don't like me :(

After running around, trying to shop for things that I have a hard time getting on the Big Island it was time to get myself over to the Sheraton. I walked in and got myself up to registration.


After signing my waiver (GULP!) and checking in my bags, I went to the next room to get harnessed up.

GETTING READY TO BE HARNESSED UP

READY TO GO...KINDA

I was SO happy that the guy who harnessed me up was able to let me go in costume. We taped the pig hat to the helmet and I was ready to go! Well, kinda. For about the week prior to the event when it became obvious that I might actually have to do this (!) I've been getting more and more nervous. Despite going sky diving, this had me way more nervous.

A LITTLE LESSON

The Army National Guards give us a little lesson before we go up to the 31st floor. When I asked this guy if he'd ever seen pigs fly, he said, "Sure, I have!" He was super nice and made me feel much better about how easy it would be to rappel. All I had to do was squeeze this lever and it would release the rope so I could just zip right on down. He also explained the safety that would bite into our secondary rope if we went too fast or something else happened.

FEELING A LOT BETTER ABOUT GOING OVER THE EDGE

VIEW DOWN FROM THE PRACTICE PLATFORM

They had as practice rappelling down one floor to the ground floor. It was totally silly that I was nervous doing this since I was about to rappel down over 31 floors!!! They offer you more practice if you need it, but it was simple and as nervous as I was, it was so easy that I was kinda ready to just bite the bullet and go over the edge. A volunteer took me up to the 31st floor. I shared my elevator with a group of Japanese tourists who obviously thought I was strange.

RAINBOW ON THE ROOF

SCAFFOLDING

There was a bit of wait time so I chatted with the people around me. The lady going ahead of me was a preschool special education teacher at Queen Liliuokalani El. She had a daughter who she coached in the Special Olympics. I was also joined by the head Athletics Director for the Special Olympics Hawai'i and his daughter. His daughter was going over without mom's permission. They were going to pick her up at the airport and tell her then that the daughter had gone over the edge! Naughty naughty!

DIAMONDHEAD!

LONG WAY DOWN

After watching a few others go down, it was my turn. They hooked me up and told me to climb over the railing (YIKES!). There were a few tense minutes where it took a few guys to figure out my slack, which definitely did NOT make me feel more reassured. Then they tell me to let go of the railing and test my weight. What happens if the test fails? I'm guessing you end up on the ground rather quick! But thankfully my safety caught and they tell me to let go of the ropes for a photo op (@$&$?!). Feeling nervous and sweaty already, I grinned for my photo and then it was time to rappel.

I started walking down the overhang, which was fabulous, but then as I got to the bottom and had to keep lowering myself down "until I was almost upside down," was not so fun. Now dangling at least 300 ft above the ground I was supposed to squeeze my lever and just go. I squeezed...and I didn't go. Through the walkie clipped to me, I was told to squeeze the lever. I replied I was squeezing as hard as I could. I could see the guys up top conversing and then I hear..."It's because you weigh like 90 pounds...you're going to have to feed the rope through." Well I can tell you that 300+ feet of thick rope is kinda heavy! But the lower I went, the easier it went and soon I was zipping along!

MY SHADOW...MY PIG HEAD MAKES MY HEAD LOOK LIKE I HAVE ENCEPHALITIS

SELF PORTRAIT...IT'S HOT!

The view was AMAZING. I saw at least 4 turtles about 20 ft off the beach, just swimming in the water. The sun was shining and the ocean was blue and gorgeous. We just had great conditions. But it was really HOT! The sun shines directly on you and the wall behind you has been baked from a long day in the sun (It was about 4pm) so it just radiates heat behind you. Before I knew it, I was on the ground!

I SURVIVED!

VIEW FROM THE GROUND

I wish I had stopped and taken more pictures, but I was so self-conscious of spending all that time at the top being stuck. When I was coming down I could hear the host say, "Kristen teaches at Mt. View Elementary. Kristen's sister, Lindsey, it watching online and says, 'Kristen looks spastic.'" Thanks Linds... Nevertheless, I was very popular and had lots of requests to take pictures. I got to be interviewed online and I'm sure I sounded like an idiot because I was hot, tired and hungry. But I had a ton of fun. I was so excited that my friend Alice had come to watch. My other regret (besides taking more pictures on the way down) was that I had to go so quickly. There was a really nice setup at the bottom. They had a little lounge area set up for friends and family. Special Olympic athletes and their families were hanging around, thanking you and whatnot. I hurried over to Ala Moana to spend a mere half an hour with my friend Michelle before it was time to dash to the airport.

As I was waiting in the airport I saw people taking pictures with this guy. I texted Chris and said that I thought UFC fighter, BJ Penn was on my flight. He texted back repeatedly that I should get a picture with him. So, oh-so-coolly I went up and ask him if he was BJ Penn and if I could take a picture with him. He was super soft-spoken and seemed almost shy, which is kind of ironic since he makes a living beating up other people, but was really chill and nice. It was a cool way to cap off my whirlwind visit back to Oahu.

ME AND MY FELLOW HILOAN BJ PENN

There's a video, but it's not that great of quality. You can see me in the last video segment at around minute 51 on this page: http://www.hawaiiirl.com/blog/2010/10/12/mix-it-up-hawaii-live-from-over-the-edge-sohawaii-on-friday-october-15-2010-from-800am-to-500pm-hst/