Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Roller Coasters and Me

Daniel and Erin were on vacation a couple of weeks ago and went to Kings Island with another couple. (Heather Wilkinson and her husband. I don't know his name.) Anywayyy....Daniel was telling me about the rollercoasters they rode and all and it reminded me of the last time I road a rollercoaster and I thought I would share it with all of you. We had taken the youth group on our annual Kings Island trip/August 2004. Well, Kaitlin (she is sitting in back by me on the Vortex) and I decided we were going to ride every rollercoaster in the park. We were on a mission! I think we may have started with the Son of Beast and went from there. Now don't get me wrong. I didn't say that they don't scare the socks off of me,(as you can tell by the picture below. While the rest of them are smiling, I'm the one in the back with the Don King do, with my mouth open for screaming) but I love(ed) to ride them. The thing about the Vortex is that I have to hold on but while doing that those foam covered bars that come down over you about beat my ears off my head, yanking me around and all. So after riding the Vortex, I believe it was on to the Flight of Fear, the indoor roller coaster. Now, I had never ridden it and I thought, "How bad can it be? It's indoors for goodness sake!" But once we got up closer to where they take off, I could see that that thing shot out of the starting gate like a bullet and people were screaming and shrieking. Still, what could be so terrifying? It's in a BUILDING. Well, let me tell ya, you go from 0 to I-don't-know-how-many-miles-an-hour-but-it's-alot in a matter of less than ten seconds. And it is this tall, yet compacted rollercoaster that just about jerks the insides out of you. I've said that I really do think I got whiplash from riding it. AND as if that wasn't ENOUGH! It caused my hair to come down! NOTHING has ever caused my hair to come down! Till this! So Kaitlin and I get off this thing and are standing inside on the platform while everyone else has taken off. Me with my hair all over the place. I told her that I wasn't leaving the building till I got my hair back in some semblance of presentable order, which I managed to do. Then it was on to ride Face-off, the last one!......or so we thought. It began to rain! They started shutting some of the rides down. It was about 7 o'clock, so we decided to go ahead and head for home. We got wet and by the time we got to the van my neck was really hurting. But what a time we had! I'll never forget it and that is what memories are made of!! Oh, and I might add.....my rollercoaster-riding days are pretty much over at this point. *grin* But I have some sweet memories to cherish.

13 comments:

The Muffin said...

Heather's husband is Dave McCartney.

That sounds like so much fun!

the lizness said...

I know Heather! :) I love rollercoasters. Too bad they are off limits for me right now.

Anonymous said...

I love roller coasters in general, although I agree with you that the newer ones seem bent on giving your ears a good boxing. My favorites are the old woodies -- some of them. The one at the Six Flags in NJ is fabulous.

And I see a few posts lower you've got a Siamese! My favorite kind of kitty.

Jewel said...

Thank you, Becky, for telling me his name. Daniel and Erin had told me but I just couldn't remember for the life of me! But now I have it in print! Do you ride rollercoasters?
Liz...I know you know Heather...*grin* Yep, you'll have to tame it down a little till the little one comes along!
Hi Marcy!...the Beast is a wooden rollercoaster and the Twin Racers is, too. Oh, and that isn't my cat. It is a picture I received in a cute email. But I do like Siamese kitties. Here is where you can see my kitty: http://downinmylittlevalley.blogspot.com/2007/04/warm-place.html
Thanks for stopping by!!

Anonymous said...

That is awesome, such a great shot of you, the look of sheer terror encapsulated on your face:)

We have a short video of GMAX (we are not on this site) this is essentially a giant sling shot..

In our video you can see Stace getting paler and paler as the guy counts down! Then boom straight up in the air!

We did it in singapore!

Jewel said...

Hey Aidan! They have a giant slingshot at Kings Island but I do have my limits and that is/was one of them! LOL I can only imagine how terrified Stace must have been! Would she do it again, is the question! *smile*

Gene Holley said...

LOL! I got a great laugh out of the terror on your face and your hair standing on end! It must have been something else to experience. Thanks for the laugh! I got to ride a few this summer at Sea World here in San Antonio. My favorite was the one with our legs hanging and flying all around! I thought it would never end.

The Muffin said...

I do indeed ride roller coasters. I remember riding the Mean Streak at Cedar Point for the first time. Those turns scared the snot out of me!

Jewel said...

Hey, Bro. Holley! I know what you mean about "thinking it would never end"! Been there, done that! *smile*
Thanks for the visual, Becky! (scared the snot out of me!) I hope tissues were handy! LOL

chantell said...

Jewel, that pic is just great. lol.

Jewel said...

Thanks, Chantell. And we managed to get it pretty cheaply, too. I think it was like $9 to begin with and I told the young man that there was just no way that I could or would pay that much for our picture and I also reminded him that it didn't look like he was doing much business that day and....he ended up selling it to me for $5! *smile*

The Muffin said...

Face-off was the first roller coaster I ever rode. Scared me to death. I wouldn't ride anything after it. Of course, I was 12, but still..

Jewel said...

Hey, Becky, maybe I should be thankful it started to rain so I didn't have to ride it? *grin*