Cedar Point and Other Non-Photographed Fun Times

Here's the ride brother- and sister-in-law Tom & Josie and niece Lorena and I stood in line for about 1.5 hours for, but didn't end up going on because of maintenance (?) issues and getting tired of standing in the sun:



Here's the ride we went on instead. The Mantis is a stand-up coaster.



The four of us went on this one at the very end of the day. Couldn't decide if we liked the Raptor (a hanging coaster) or the Mantis better. They were both FUN.



And this one...this is the one I took a good look at and said, ummmm...no thank you. Lorena and Josie waited in line nearly two hours for Top Thrill Dragster. And it was Lorena's idea to get into the front seat. Oh, to be fearless and thirteen years old... We had a good time watching other riders from the viewing stands. The thing sounds like a freakin' jet engine, and looks like an aircraft carrier deck launcher. Insane, raw power: oil-filled pistons, screaming cables, pulleys and wheels, magnetic brakes, women doing Lamaze breathing techniques, grown men shrieking in terror.




We rode the oldies but goodies, too. The Blue Streak, the Gemini, the Mine Ride, and the Corkscrew (twice, because no one wants to ride that boring old thing any more and you can walk right up to board it).

There just aren't enough hours in the day to do even half the park. You spend so much time waiting in line. Even on a Tuesday, the popular rides were at least 1.5 hours. And the place is really geared for teens and twenty-somethings. I don't remember the sheer visual and physical overload 23 years ago the last time I set foot in this place. Those of us who rode coasters had dull headaches after a while, and felt as though our heads had been pummelled around like pumpkins in a crate. The next day my shoulders and upper back were sore from tensing up and hanging on for dear life. The smell of fried things (I was amazed at the constitution of people mowing down on funnel cakes and cheese fries while standing in line for rides) and junk food fills the air. The young things with cleavage, the tight jeans, all the bare young skin, the music, the bright sunlight...it's a bit too much after all day.

Having said that, everyone seemed to have a good time, and having three vehicles allowed everyone to leave when they wanted. Even mom and dad found stuff to do. But I think everyone was glad to get back to the rental house and unwind at the end of the day.

The low-brow fun continued with a camping trip with friends over the weekend. We said goodbye to the family, and headed north. Big Bend Campground is conveniently close and offers the Rifle River for your canoeing (which we did), kayaking or tubing pleasure. And because it was Fathers' Day weekend, the campground owners put on a pig roast, live band and drunken tractor-wagon ride Saturday night, and a pancake breakfast Sunday morning. We opted out of the pig roast because we had steaks planned for that night, but Tim and I hopped on the wagon and took the ride through the campground, joining a crowd of partying, horn-blowing, hootin' and hollerin' fellow campers. I really should have gotten a pic of the charred pig's head on a post out at the edge of the campground.