Our Love Story: My Helicopter Ride from Hell

There are certain things, that you are never supposed to do at the beginning of a relationship. Try to never have a bad day, never talk about your ex-relationships and never fall asleep on a romantic helicopter ride that was arranged for you on the Island of Kauai. Do you agree with these tips? Well, at least I accomplished two out of three!

OK, so in my defense of this faux pas, I have to tell you that I am a horrible flyer. Not great on planes, trains or automobiles. Well, you get the picture. Maybe it’s because of my nerves that I find myself not able to relax on transportation, my fear of dying young or there's been moments that I've not be able to hold down my lunch.

So if you remember from the last 'our relationship' post, Honey and I had been on the island of Kauai for a couple of days and we were leaving for Oahu soon. Honey arranged for us a helicopter ride around the Island. I was so excited and nervous and needed to be honest with him.

Me smiling, "Honey thank you for arranging this and surprising me, but you know that I am not great on small planes, specifically the landings? Well, I am honestly scared of going on this helicopter ride."

Honey replied, "Everything will be OK. I’ll take care of you and we’ll get you some Dramamine."

Yes, he said the right words, but I still felt like I was going up in a death trap.

Oh sure, this wasn't my idea of being romantic. While wearing my bikini, sarong and flower in my hair, we run over to the ABC store to buy some anti-nausea medication. As I bought the Dramamine to calm my air sickness, I made sure the label said Non-Drowsy. (I had learned this lesson from my father. Once he took some cold medicine that he thought was Dayquil, which later turned out to be NyQuil.)

I must also confess to you, that I am also not great with taking new medications. I guess I am sensitive in my emotions as well as in my stomach.

Helicopter Ride from Hell Scene:

We drive to the helicopter school to take our hour lesson where we weigh in, ask questions and get fitted with our parachute vests. Around this time, I start to feel queasy and scared. So I take my trusty Dramamine and hope for the best.

Honey is thrilled to go up in the helicopter, excited and has the camera charged. The weather is a perfect tropical 88 degrees and my sundress is swaying under my parachute vest. "I can do this," I told myself over and over. And then I took a deep breath, as it was our turn.

We walked over to the helicopter and met our pilot ‘John’. He gave us headphones that played soothing Hawaiian music during our flight. Maybe the soothing music worked a little too well for me, as half and hour later I found myself feeling very sleepy.

As the helicopter rose, I squeezed Honey’s hand and felt unstable, excited and tired. We flew over Kauai and saw the breathtaking beauty of waterfalls, green mountains, birds and flowers. But, all I could think about was closing my heavy eyes and taking a little nap. The bumps of the helicopter were acting like a bassinet rocking me to sleep.

So I tried with all my might to stay awake, but the Hawaiian ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ song was playing on my headphones. And then as I pretended to stare out at the gorgeous scenery, I closed my eyes and my Dramamine nap took over.

Honey had to elbow me several times to help me to stay awake. And I finally confessed and told him I wasn’t feeling well.

Thank you Dramamine!

About twenty minutes later, our helicopter landed safely on the ground. Honey went to take a picture with our pilot. I, on the other hand, went to kiss the ground we were back on. And no I didn't take a picture with the pilot, I probably would have fallen asleep on him.

Chalk it up to a learning experience, but we still laugh about my nap in the helicopter ride. And I swear it said Non-Drowsy. What are some of your fears? Some hate spiders and some hate flying. Just to be clear, I don't hate flying...I am just scared of falling out of the sky!