Midwest In July Part One: Kennywood

Soooo….

It’s been quite awhile since I last wrote in here, and unfortunately, that seems to have been a trend for the past couple of months.  There has been so much going on in our (mine and Kara’s) lives that I’m usually just too tired to sit down and spend thirty minutes pounding out a post on here.

What I want to address tonight, however, is our amazing trip to the midwest last month.

For a couple of months, Kara knew that her brother Alec was going to be back in the U.S. visiting, taking a month or so break from his stint in Cameroon with the Peace Corp.  We also knew that because of this occasion, her other brother, Ryan, would be flying into Michigan from Seattle with his interest Kristen, as well.  And on top of all that, a few of her other family members from neighboring states would be visiting, too.  So, not to be the odd ones out, we started planning our trip for the visit, as well.

One caveat, however, was that Kara wanted to make a trip over to Cedar Point while we were up there.  That was fine with me, but when we started to think about it, we realized Waldameer was only a few hours from Cedar Point and they had the renowned wooden coaster Ravine Flyer II that we both wanted to try out.  So in deciding how to fit that in, we decided that flying into Pittsburgh and catching a ride with Corey and visiting Kennywood would be the best option, of course.

Our flight from Orlando to Pittsburgh went without a hitch, and as soon as we hit the ground, the three of us were off on our 10 miles and ONE HOUR journey from the airport to Kennywood.  Knowing we wouldn’t have much more than three hours in the park, our plan was to hit the coasters first, and then fit in anything else we could.  After arriving, we met up with Kara’s friend Josh and headed straight for Phantom’s Revenge.  This was a coaster that had somewhat interested me for years, but a ride that everyone I know who has ridden it raves about.  I tried keeping my expectations relatively low, and frankly, am glad I did.

The ride was a lot of fun, and the setting was amazing (on the top of the huge, rolling Pittsburgh hills; overlooking the rivers and factories) but it just wasn’t mind-blowing like I had heard.  The second drop was incredible, and it had some great moments of intense airtime, but overall, it was just a little too short for me.  Moving on from there, we headed next towards Exterminator and decided to pass when seeing the line was out into the midway, and instead took a quick spin on The Whip.

The Whip is a one-of-a-kind ride that is pretty much extinct, if you will.  It’s a simple ride that drags you around a oval in a counter-clockwise motion while you sit in two-person sofa-like cars.  It moves at a moderate speed, but as you go through each turn, you are, *ahem*, whipped around with a quick velocity.  It was a fun ride, and was definitely a unique experience.  Kara loved it, as she says she always has, and I’m happy to have experienced it.

Next up was a 30-minute stop out in front of the park’s classic wooden coaster, Thunderbolt, for their world famous Potato Patch Fries.  These guys were definitely something I was looking forward to about this park and they did not disappoint.  Wonderfully large serving of deliciously seasoned, perfectly cooked french fries.  Not much more you can ask for!  We all enjoyed our baskets, and then it was off to Thunderbolt for a spin!  This ride was a lot of fun, and was incredibly smooth for how old it was.  The setting was great, too, resting on the same hillside as Phantom’s Revenge; even going over and under that second hill with a scary headchopper on one of the drops.

Next up we wanted to ride the Antique Cars, but the wait was too long, so we opted for Lil’ Phantom instead.  (I’m gonna get killed for that sentence, I know it already.)  After our kiddie coaster endeavor we raced over to Racer and had a pretty good ride before walking right next door and hopping in line for Jack Rabbit.  I’d heard great things about this wooden coaster for years, specifically about a supposed incredible hill in the middle of the ride.  When we got on, it was just after dusk and the park was really starting to get dark.  Corey and Kara fought over who would ride with me in the backseat, as neither of them wanted to miss my reaction, apparently.  The “Ejector Hill” turned out to be quite frightening, not gonna lie, but what really got me was the lack of lapbars on the trains combined with that hill that really terrified me.

After disembarking, we beelined it over to Sky Rocket, Kennywood’s new for 2010 launched coaster, in hopes of getting in line before they closed it off.  We ended up making by about 5 minutes, and I’m so happy we did.  I had zero expectations for this ride, and it turned out to be a great ride!  While short, the launch was a quick and potent one that threw us up the vertical hill where, at the top, we got a ridiculous amount of ejector air before being hung over the first drop.  It was a surprisingly great start to this ride.  The remainder of the course included great moments of hangtime, and fast transitions.  It was definitely a great ride, and a perfect way to end this first day!

In the end, Kennywood impressed me.  I wasn’t ever that interested in visiting this park, but am so glad we got the chance to go.  I do wish we had more time, but am just happy to have had the opportunity to visit at all.  It’s a park that I will make time to visit from now on if we’re ever within driving distance.

This post ended up longer than I was anticipating so I’ll just end it here, and just break the trip up into parts.  Waldameer and Cedar Point coming up next!

Why I Ditched Android…

….And got an iPhone4.

My smartphone history is fairly limited, however I feel like I’ve had a lengthy experience with them. My first ever was a Palm Treo 650 that I got sometime in late 2006; perhaps early 2007. Moving up from a Motorola flip phone, this was a big step and introduced me to a whole new world of productivity, organization and fun.

The Treo treated me well, but after about a year or so, I decided to jump on the Blackberry train. My first device from RIM was the Blackberry Curve 8310 and it was love at first sight. Everything I liked about the Treo, my Curve did better. As time went on, however, I started feinding for a more powerful phone and after about another year or so, I got my hands on a Blakberry Bold 9000.

The Bold was an amazing phone, and the device that I held onto the longest of any that I ever owned. It was reliable, fast and has a great display. I loved the Blackberry system, as well, and figures at this point I was a “lifer.”

Not so fast, my friend.

Fast-forward to this year and the introduction of the HTC EVO 4G. The moment that phone was announced, I knew I had to be the first to get one. I had been keeping up with the development of Android and the whole operating system pretty much had me in awe.

A week after launch, I finally got my EVO and went to work customizing every inch of it. Having that much power and customization in my hands was awesome, but at the same time, the phone was plagued with issues from the get-go. My enthusiasm quickly diminished as every day seemed to be a new problem.

At first it was the atrocious battery life, which wasn’t that big of a deal to me as I was kind of expecting that to be the case. But then came the battery door fitment issue, and the constant Force Closing of apps, and the slight raising of my screen from the phones body.

At this point I was closing in on being fed up, but the phone’s positives (huge screen, Android, camera, HD video, etc) were enough to keep me hanging around. But when Day 29 came around, and my screen burned out after installing a Ghost Armor protector I had had enough. But what to do?

Those who know me know that I’m bot an iPhone person at all. But the recent changes Apple had made were enough to spark a bit of interest on my part…And the gorgeous screen didn’t hurt, hurt.

So I did it. I got me an iPhone4 and so far have had zero issues. I love the stability, the far better battery, the apps and the ease of syncing with my computer. And did I mention the gorgeous screen?

There is still a lot in the iOS that I’m not a fan of, and the lack of customization options on it leave a lot to be desired, but I’m thus far extremely happy with making this switch.

Who knows though, in two years Android will be much more mature and probably a lot more stable. And maybe all of the issues I had will go away and I’ll come back to it. But right now, I’m definitely glad I joined The Dark Side.

Holiday World, 2010

Before I start my post on the most amazing trip I’ve ever taken, I’d like to send my thoughts out to the Koch family; owners of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari.  It’s with great regret to type that Will Koch, Owner and President of the parks, passed away Sunday night due to a complication with his diabetes.

I had the pleasure of meeting Will on numerous occasions the last five years or so on my trips to Santa Claus, IN.  We spoke a few times in the park, and even had a nice, lengthy conversation at the Holiday Foods grocery store in 2007.  He truly was a pioneer in the amusement industry, and it’s a terrible loss to his family, his park, and his enthusiast friends.

To be quite honest, if it wasn’t for Will and his visions, I may never have met the love of my life.  Having been “out of the loop” for many years, traveling for rollercoasters wasn’t something that greatly interested me from around 2002 until 2006; the year Holiday World opened The Voyage.  Will had a huge hand in the development and design of that ride, and it is the single, solitary reason that I started visiting theme parks again.  In the long run, that trip to ride Voyage in 2006 netted me one of my closest friends now, who I most likely never would have met otherwise, which in the end led me to Kara.

So Will, I along with many, many in the enthusiast community and amusement industry thank you for everything you brought us in the years you ran Holiday World.

—–

Kara, Dan and I left Orlando on Thursday, June 3rd for Columbus, OH where we would eventually meet up with our friend Sean Flaharty.  After a slight delay at our connecting flight in Nashville where the Southwest folks announced, “the baby mess has been cleaned up now, and we figured out which button wasn’t working,” we were on our merry way to Ohio.  That night was spent hanging out and catching up before retiring for an early awakening the following day.

We began our Friday with a stop at Kings Island, where we were joined by Todd and James.  A couple of Sean’s friends joined the festivities as well, and our 5 hours at Kings Island were spent credit whoring, being coerced onto Drop Tower (where I screamed like a little girl; thanks, guys…), sweating like pigs and finding a new Top 10 steel coaster in Diamondback.  I’ve never liked this park, but we managed to have a great time and I’m definitely glad we made the stop there.

Before hitting the road on the 4hr drive to Santa Claus, IN, our group made a pilgrimage to Skyline Chili.  I had never eaten here before, but every single person in our caravan swore on this establishment.  It definitely was a great meal, but I think my food decision set the mood for my stomach for the entire weekend.  I went the Buffalo Chicken Wrap route and when I say I was paying for it the entire trip, I’m not exaggerating.  If there was one downfall over these four days, it was my stomach issues; and I’ll just leave it at that.

As we were finishing lunch the final piece to our traveling group puzzle, Corey, arrive and decided he didn’t drive all that way for nothing, so I agreed to go back to Kings Island with him for another ride on Diamondback while the rest of the crew headed to Holiday World.  We ended up getting there about two hours after everyone else, and just in time to head to the park and check in for HoliWood Nights.

After brief introduction speeches by Will and Pat Koch, Paula Werne and a short question and answer session with Voyage designer Mike Graham, the wooden coaster floodgates opened and we were off to ride, ride, ride.  Dan had never been to the park before, so we opted to go the “work your way up” route and started our evening off with a great ride on Raven.  Dan loved it, as expected, and next up was Legend.  Now let me tell you about Legend:  It was running FANTASTIC this year.  When it opened in 2000, I loved it, but every year I’ve been since then it was merely “mehh” and only got one courtesy ride.  However, whatever they did to it this offseason was amazing, because this ride was tearing up its course.

Finally, the crown jewel of the park and my number one coaster overall that will probably forever be untouchable, Voyage, was calling our names.  The park didn’t have their new Timberliner trains available yet, so in turn they converted a red train from Raven to fit on Voyage so that it could run two trains for us.  The ride itself was running rougher than I ever remember it, but the red train was definitely a slightly smoother experience.  But “very rough Voyage” is so mind-blowing that its still far and away the best coaster I’ve ever been on.

From 7pm until 10:30pm, the park was ours and it was spent re-riding, catching up with tons of old friends and many, many runs to the Pepsi Oasis’ for free sodas.

After the park closed, it was back to the RV at Camp Rudolph to clean up, and the night was spent jumping from bonfire to bonfire throughout the campgrounds til the wee hours in the morning.  We managed to hang out with three different groups of people, at three different fires on three different plots of land.  In the middle of all the hanging out was a ton of walking and exploring the massive grounds.  It was an awesome, awesome night.

Saturday, while Kara, Dan and Todd went back to the park for morning waterpark ERT myself, Corey and James slept in for a bit for hitting up Denny’s for breakfast and then Holiday Foods for essentials.  That trip to the grocery store netted us 18 sets of glowsets (1 necklace per person, and 2 glowing bracelets per person in our RV) that turned out to be the best idea of the trip.  We all purchased blue sets, and throughout that second night of ERT in the pitch-black woods of Indiana, it was amazing to see the glow essentials lighting the way.  It was truly an awesome spectacle, and one that made everyone around us applaud.

The daytime adventures on that Saturday weren’t quite as incredible as my stomach issues, the night’s activities before and fatigue drained any remaining energy I may have had.  Honestly, I didn’t think I’d even make it through one ride that night before having to retire.  We started the second evening off with a nice, cool drenching on Pilgrim’s Plunge (which is “mehh” btw) before giving courtesy rides to Raven and Legened.  The remainder of the evening was spent in Thanksgiving with friends, our glowies, and Voyage.

After finishing the night, and event, off with two absolutely incredible rides, everyone limped back to the campground.  This night was much more relaxing as we spent it hanging out at our RV, taking it easy, and enjoying the last night together.

In all honesty, this is probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a trip before in my life.  I tend to say that after every trip, but this time, I really mean it.  The mix of friends, the parks and coasters and the overall atmosphere and fun just made this weekend amazing.  This post doesn’t even begin to describe how awesome it truly was.

Can’t wait til next year.

Give Your Vote to Give Kids the World!

For those of you who are not familiar with the program, “Refresh Everything,” is Pepsi’s amazing way to fund people, businesses or non-profit organizations’ efforts at providing a positive impact on the communities in this country. Every month, Refresh Everything publishes thousands of user-submitted ideas and proposals that are in turn opened to the public for voting on. The ideas are broken up into four monetary categories, assigned by the entities who submitted their idea, and are organized by the price of the funding requested. The four tiers are for $5,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $250,000.

Today, the first day of June, marks a new month of voting, and included this time around is Kara’s company Give Kids the World. I have had the opportunity to tour the Village multiple times, and it truly is an incredible place, however, I am nowhere near as capable as getting the word out as she is. The rest of this post is an entry that Kara penned, and I feel exemplifies the nature of the community and company. For me to try to describe it would be a disservice to the Village, so I have chosen to feature an article that she authored. Accompanying her words, however, are multiple photos that I had the opportunity to take on one of my most recent visits.

For those of you not familiar, Give Kids The World Village is a magical 70-acre, non-profit resort in Central Florida. We work with over 250 Wish Granting Organizations around the world to fulfill the wishes of all children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to experience a memorable, joyful, cost-free visit to the Central Florida attractions and to enjoy the magic of GKTW Village.

Over 90% of the wishes are through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which I’m sure you’ve all heard of. The four categories MAW divides the wishes into are: I wish to MEET (most often a celebrity), I wish to BE (..an actress for a day, a firefighter for a day, etc.), I wish to HAVE (my bedroom made over, a laptop computer, etc.) or I wish to GO (to Disney, to Australia, etc.). What’s impressive and amazing is over half of these kids wish to come to Central Florida– they want to meet the princesses, they want to go to Disney and they want to see Shamu. GKTW isn’t just an ordinary place to stay– it is truly a magical resort for the families — and is a huge reason why most kids decide on coming to Florida for their wishes.

Everything is wheelchair-accessible, the kids can have as much ice cream as they want from 7:30 AM (yes, even for breakfast) until the late evening and the families can meet the characters from Disney, Universal and SeaWorld one-on-one without having to wait in line at the parks. The families have all of their meals provided for them and there’s special entertainment every evening. Here, every Thursday is Christmas—yes, Christmas does come more than once a year at the Village—complete with Christmas music, decorations, elves, gifts, Santa and Mrs. Claus and horse-drawn carriage rides. Each and every day the kids have unlimited access to the carousel, castle, spa, garden, pool, theatre, playground and train station– all tailored to their needs and made for them.

A lot of the families comment that they would actually look forward to leaving the parks for the day because there’s so much to explore at the Village. Most importantly, though, at the Village it’s the rest of the world who are the different ones for a change. Kids don’t feel embarrassed to be bald, be in a wheelchair or have a disability here– they fit right in with everyone else. Because of that, I’ve noticed a lot of kids really come out of their shell and, for once, can be truly happy.

Perhaps what I love most is that GKTW is about the families, not just the Wish child. Oftentimes a child’s illness is even harder on the families than it is on the child, if you can wrap your head around that. Every sibling gets a gift at check-in and each day there are gifts for the family awaiting them when they return from the park. Each family gets their own private villa that becomes their home for the week. Parents, who are often stretched thin at home with medical bills and doctor visits, never have to say “no” to their children while they’re here.

There are over 1500 volunteer shifts that are filled each and every week. The individuals that donate their time week-in and week-out are truly an inspiration. Our “Angels,” as they’re called, are simply amazing. The Village’s Corporate Heroes are also wonderful. They say GKTW was built on handshakes, not contracts, and I’ve found that still holds true to this day. There are so many companies that give monetary and in-kind donations, as well as their time. Even in this economy, companies continue to have huge hearts for our cause.

The Village’s tagline is “Where happiness inspires hope,” and I’ve found that to be the truth. When kids learn that they’ll be visiting GKTW, it gives them and their families something to look forward to while spending time in the hospital. When they’re here, a lot of times it’s the first time the family has really had a chance to laugh and spend time together. After they leave, the memories of their time here makes them stronger and makes the bad days not seem as bad.

It’s important to know that GKTW isn’t a sad place or a place for mourning– it’s a place for the opposite. Everyday is a celebration of life and family and giving these families what they truly deserve– a chance to spend time together and create special memories.

So for those of you have been wondering what this place I work for does, there you have it in my words. If you’d like to donate, please read my disclaimer: This isn’t a limited time offer and no one should feel obligated; I’m just going to keep this page over the next couple of years for anyone who wants to help out. This also is not a plea—but in order to keep giving these families the best experience imaginable, every bit helps. And rest assured, your money really does go to the families– Worth Magazine recently named GKTW as the number one most fiscally-responsible charity in the US.

Voting for this month goes through June 30th, and you are allowed one vote per day. Every vote counts, and anyone who finds this post and company to be as amazing as I do is respectively asked to take one minute a day and please cast your vote to them. I’ve even gone as far as setting my browser’s home page to the voting page for the month so there’s not a chance I’ll forget. Myself, Kara and everyone involved in the company all thank you in advance!

Pepsi Refresh Everything: VOTE for Give Kids the World!

New Wheels

So I think the Great White North fried the air conditioning unit in my Accord. I didn’t notice until recently because, frankly, I didn’t need air conditioning.

However, once this hard heat started hitting Florida, the lack of a cooling system quickly became a huge issue. My quick 10 minute commute to and from work turned into a trip to the sauna. It was way beyond comfortable, and reached into the realm of extreme discomfort; so much so that the idea of running the car into a lake and hoping that I had GAP insurance to cover my losses seemed like a good idea.

In a passing comment, I told my dad the situation (and with the A/C gone, my passenger window motor just about gone and my driver’s window seal not properly working, it was obvious the fixes would cost more than the car was even worth) and an offer to help fix the A/C somehow quickly changed into the search for a new vehicle. It was a very surprising turn of events, and I still don’t truly believe it actually happened.

Three days later, and after looking through hundreds of used cars, the discussion turned to the thought of just purchasing a new car. With the help from a friend, we were fast on the road towards a brand new 2010 Honda Civic coupe.

Within twenty-four hours of the initial discussion, I was headed off to Tallahassee on Friday afternoon in a race against time to get to Proctor Honda before 7pm. With about 30 minutes to spare, and after a grueling four hour, sweat-drenched drive, I arrived at the dealership to meet up with Patrick and my parents. They had already begun the paperwork, and all I had to do was show a reading of my mileage and clean out the ole’ beater. And by 7:30pm, we were outta the place and on the road with my new ride.

I’m still incredibly shocked that everything happened the way it did, and INCREDIBLY thankful to my dad for doing this for me. It was a total shock, and part of me still can’t believe that it actually happened, however, that part of me is reminded that it is indeed a reality when I step outside, and sit into the comfy seat; in an interior just fuming with wonderful, cold air.

As for the car, I absolutely love it so far. I’m trying to get used to the oddly placed speedometer, and the emergency handbrake is a bit of a pain in my knee, but those are minor quips that will just take some getting used to. I’m so lucky to have a brand new car, and even luckier to have the dad that I’ve been given.

Back to the ER

Back in December when I came down with the Swine Flu, I never thought I could ever feel more miserable than I did at that time. Unfortunately, this week has proven how I felt then wasn’t the worst I could possibly feel.

After leaving Aquatica on Saturday, I immediately felt woozy, nauseous and exhausted. At first I pegged it as sun stroke, but as the hours went by, it became apparent that it was more than sun exposure. After trying to go to work, it was back home and back to bed as at this point, I couldn’t even stand up without feeling dizzy. That night didn’t provide much sleep, but waking up Sunday morning I started feeling a little better.

The slight positive change didn’t last, however, as Sunday went on the sickness got worse. Sunday night I definitely felt an improvement and was hopeful that my body was starting to get this awful sickness, but alas, this morning was by far the worst yet. Both nights I was waking up in pools of sweat, had pounding headaches, body aches everywhere, a nasty sore throat, confusion and nausea.

Kara came home on her lunch today and brought me to the CVS Minute Clinic and after they determined my temperature was a blamy 103 degrees, it was off to the Celebration Hospital Emergency Room. CVS’ policy is to refer any patient with a temperature of 103 or higher to the ER, as they’re afraid of lawsuits.

After about a two hour wait in the ER waiting room, I was finally admitted and informed that my temperature was 102.9 degrees at that time. It angers me very much to think that CVS made us go to the ER and be charged however much its gonna cost because I was either .1 degree over what they’ll treat, OR decided to falsify my readings just because of their fear of a lawsuit. It’s garbage, and if you’re gonna run a clinic, run it right and treat anyone who comes in. Or at least be upfront and not make your customers run all around trying to get help.

We spent about two or three hours in our ER corner where I got IVs and a shot of penicillin. I HAAAAATE needles, and it was bad enough that they put another IV in me, but it was insult to injury by throwing in a shot on top. Turns out I have a viral infection, but once they were done with me, my temp had gone down to about 99 degrees and I was sent on my way.

I really am unfairly lucky to have Kara by my side. She’s so caring and selfless, missing practically an entire day of work to be by my side. I’m so grateful to have her in my life.

So now, I rest for a couple more days and will hopefully be better to make it back to work on Thursday.

Another New #1

Early last week, my friend Todd popped up with the idea of doing a run to Virginia over the first weekend of April to hit a couple of parks. The idea sounded wonderful and all, but due to my financial state, it just wasn’t feasible for me to tag along. Fortunately, he decided that having me along and not contributing was a better end-result than doing the trip all alone, so at 6:30pm on Thursday we were off on the 12 hour drive to Doswell, VA.

Driving straight through the night while switching off on driving duties, we arrived at the front gate of Kings Dominion at about 6:15am and promptly found a truck stop to take a quick nap at. After about 1.5hr of sleep, we headed to a local hotel and used their lobby bathroom as our personal preparing quarters for the morning. Changing in a bathroom, and ultimately, brushing our teeth with folks washing their hands was quite the interesting experience, to say the least.

Kings Dominion is a park I had never been to before, and this was as good a time as ever to make my first visit. This weekend they debuted a 305ft tall Intamin Giga coaster named Intimidator 305, only the second of its kind in the world; the other being Millennium Force at Cedar Point. While waiting for Todd to get his pass processed, I explored outside of the park, taking many pictures of their B&M floorless coaster, Dominator.

Once done with processing, we got in line for park entry around 9:15am and by 10am the staff began letting the crowd in. We followed others to the Platinum Passholders gate where we waited for early entry into the park, and at 10:20 the fast-walking to Intimidator 305 was on. With burning, cramping calves and shins, we finally made it to the back of the park and were among the first in line on this day. After a short 15-20 minute wait, we were seated in row 2 of this monster for our first ride.

I’m not kidding when I call it a monster, either.

From our first ride, we both knew this was a whole different animal than anything else in the country. The lift is incredibly fast and took us both by surprise with how much quicker it was than Millennium Force. The first drop is absolutely insane, and even in the front you get tossed over it without much thought. From there it’s a 300ft plummet where at the base, you’re thrown into a near 90-degree banked right turn right on the ground. The forces in this turn are just incredible, and while I didn’t black/grey out, there were many, many people who said they did.

You quickly exit the turn into a huge hill that goes directly underneath the lifthill, where you get sustained ejector air throughout the whole element, before diving back down to the ground and taking a hard left turn. From here on out, the rest of the ride is nothing but absolutely ludicrous low-to-the-ground turns, hills and stupid transitions. There are two airtime hills thrown in, which are broken up a little by a trim brake that is very much needed. The speed this ride takes every turn and hill is mind-blowing, and I would not be surprised at all to see it get tamed a bit, and in the not-so-distant future. There are going to be a lot of folks who cannot handle this coaster.

We spent enough time at this park in the morning to ride their old looping coaster Anaconda once, and then we bolted for the hour drive south to Busch Gardens Williamsburg due to the HUGE waits for everything.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg has long been the #1 park on my To-Do list. I’ve always been fascinated with this park, and their seemingly incredible coaster collection. It’s been voted the “Most Beautiful Park In the World” for many years, and I just couldn’t wait to finally check it out for myself. Suffice to say, when Todd suggested we go there, I was doing back flips.

Aside from the horrible Virginia traffic, we made it to the park without a hitch and discovered an overflowing parking lot. Uh oh. We inquired about the cost of Quick Queue, but decided to just survey the crowds before making a decision. That decision saved us about $50 as, even though the park itself was so crowded, the coaster waits were actually very minimal. It should also be noted that the staff at this park did an absolutely fantastic job at running their rides. Each coaster was running three trains, and they were pumping them out at an unreal pace.

Our first coaster of the day was Apollo’s Chariot, which provided a surprisingly great ride. I was worried that it would be a big disappointment considering we had just ridden Intimidator 305 just an hour or so earlier. The setting is awesome, and it’s got some great surprise pops of air throughout the course. Before hitting our next coaster, we made a stop at The Curse of Darkastle for a ride on this Spiderman-like simulator, and I’ve gotta say that Busch did an amazing job on this ride. The theming was top-notch, and only suffered a bit in the story, but it was a great, great ride!

Next up for us was Todd’s love, Alpengeist, another coaster I just couldn’t wait to ride. Alpengeist is an inverted coaster themed to a ski-lift run a muck, and has a gorgeous setting in the woods, and down to the Rhine River. The ride proved to be very, very good, and was pretty much everything I was expecting. Griffon was up next, and is basically a Sheikra clone, but with a few differences, and 10-wide, floorless seating. And it also proved to be FAR superior to Sheikra! If I had one regret this day, it was that we only rode Griffon one time. I’ve always enjoyed Sheikra, but it’s never been “THAT” good to me; Griffon definitely was!

Finishing up our coaster run was Loch Ness Monster, which was a very fun ride. Obviously, not on par with the B&Ms in the park, but for what it was, and how its aged, the coaster was actually very enjoyable. The rest of our day here was spent wandering around, checking out the Festhaus, and re-rides on Alpengeist and Apollo’s Chariot. In the end, we managed about 4 hours or so at Busch Gardens, and I’m soooo happy that we decided to go here.

We left Busch in time to make it back to Kings Dominion to get back in line for Intimidator 305 in hopes of a night ride. And a night ride we got.

After about an hour of downtime, uncertainty of whether the coaster would even reopen this night, and about half of the people in line leaving to go ride others attractions, we only had about a 20 minute wait once it started running again. During the time it was down, we debated leaving the line and trying to ride Volcano, but our decision to wait it out ended up being one of the best decisions EVER.

The ride we got in the pitch dark, back seat, was one of the most unbelievable rides I’ve ever experienced on any coaster. It rivaled even the most insane, out-of-control night rides I’ve had on Voyage at Holiday World. There are literally no lights on the entire course, and in the back row, that first drop just feels like it’s never going to end.

Ever.

The rest of the ride, frankly, was an absolute blur, and it left both of us shaking for at least 45 minutes after we had left the park. I had no expectations for this ride, and this night ride completely shattered any doubts I might have had about it being my new favorite steel coaster.

That night was spent…Sleeping. After being up for about 35 of the previous 36 hours, we found a hotel about 2 exits from Kings Dominion, had dinner, and passed out immediately. The following day was to be another extremely long one, and we both needed sleep bad.

First thing in the morning, we headed back to Kings Dominion and got a quick back-row ride on their floorless coaster, Dominator. It was the most unique B&M looper I had been on so far, and it was a lot of fun for me, although Todd said he got beat to death on it. Next up was Volcano, which we caught right before opening. Unfortunately, Kings Dominion’s “stellar” operations took hold again, as this coaster went down for over an hour after the first guest train of the day. Once it was back up, they decided to only run it with one train, which was most frustrating. The ride itself was really fun, but I think my experience was a bit hindered thanks to their horrible operations.

The last two hours of our day at Kings Dominion were spent riding Intimidator 305 four more times, and just hanging around taking pictures. Once again, this ride owned us and frankly, I don’t think I could power ride it if there were no wait. Maybe I’m just getting old?

We headed out of Kings Dominion and hit the road for our five hour drive to Charlotte where we decided to make a two hour stop at Carowinds so Todd could ride their Intimidator. Unfortunately, my amazing memories of this coaster didn’t last long, and I’m gonna fully blame it on Intimidator 305. After riding that coaster hours earlier, and going 96mph, this hypercoaster just didn’t seem quite as exciting. It didn’t help that they had the trims on, which severely limited the experience. It was really sad, and very disappointing, that this ride, which was my #1 steel coaster just a week before, is out of my top 5 already.

After grabbing a quick ride on Afterburn, we spent the remainder of the night riding the Flyers, and had a blast doing so. It was a great end to a great trip! Unfortunately, we still had a supposed eight hour drive back to Florida, which was delayed about 3hr at the Florida Welcome Center due to me accidentally draining Todd’s car battery.

All in all, it was an amazing trip, and I’m so glad that I got to join. We’re already plotting our return to 305, because frankly, any length of waiting to return is far too long.

Great Time At A New Park

It’s very rare that Kara and I visit a new theme park that neither of us have been to. As we’re both pretty well-traveled, her more-so than I, it’s cause for celebration when we end up visiting somewhere that is new to both of us.

We got this opportunity this past weekend when we made the decision to visit Carowinds in Charlotte, NC. Now, the park is addressed in North Carolina, but one of the extremely cool oddities of this place is that the location is actually right on top of the North and South Carolina state lines. As you enter, you’re immediately presented with a sign, dead-center of the main midway, that has a pole with the Carowinds logo on it, with wings that say “North Carolina” and “South Carolina.” If you walk to the right, you’re in the North, and to the left is the South. Also, adorning the cement is a 2 foot wide brick walkway that represents the state lines. Its a very cool, and unique, park entrance.

First up for us on this day was their brand new, 235ft tall, hypercoaster named Intimidator. The ride is themed to the late Dale Earnhardt, and I’ve gotta say that Cedar Fair did an amazing job in tying everything together for this ride. The main ride plaza is called Winner’s Circle, and features a real Number Three race car, that is positioned in front of a three-billboarded “plaque” displaying each and every one of Dale’s wins throughout his career. Once in line, the queue is surrounded by guard rails and fencing to imitate what is used to protect the track from the fans at a real NASCAR event. And finally, once you’re actually on your train, you’re greeted with a beautiful Bolliger and Mabillard chariot that is black in color, with red accents and silver seats. The front car is a mock-up of Dale’s race car, complete with all of this sponsor stickers, headlights and real hood pins.

We arrived at the park around 8:45am, with opening set for 10am, and being the awesome staff that this park came to show us the entire weekend, we were in line for Intimidator at 9:05am. As the line continued to grow, security came through and informed us that they would be walking everyone to the queue, and anyone who stepped out and ran would be sent to the back of the line. It was a very efficient and thoughtful way to handle crowd control. Once in line, it was just a waiting game.

Around 9:50am, park personnel commenced opening ceremonies from the exit line with the Earnhardt family. They were presented with a $10,000 check for the Dale Earnhardt Foundation that was raised from the First Riders Auction. Once the red tape was cut, the family took the “first” ride on the coaster, and then it opened up for us! We managed to be about the 10th train out on the day, and by 10:05am, were already off. After exiting, and I’ll get to my feelings on the coaster in a bit, we ran across the midway to get the Nighthawk credit before the line got too long, and then it was back to Intimidator via single riders line.

The rest of our day was spent running through the park and riding as many of the coasters as we could. We managed to get every credit except for the Wild Mouse, which was down, and the rest of the day was spent riding Intimidator.

At some point during the day, we decided we wanted to be on the last train out at night, hoping for a dark ride, and around 7:45pm we talked to the Lead on the ride, who was stationed at the entrance, and he told us to wait there til 8 and he would let us be the last ones in. Our plan worked perfectly, until we ran into some rude, Holier Than Thou enthusiasts in the station. Avoiding a confrontation that ultimately would have ruined the night, we decided to make our final ride be in the front of the train, and after some maneuvering, managed to be on the final train of the night in row 2, while our new enthusiast “friends” got stuck with the second to last train. It really was poetic justice to see them leave the station a bit upset because they were second.

Our night ride capped an amazing first day at the park, that turned out to be far less crowded than anyone was expecting. We managed to get 12 out of the 13 coasters ridden on this day, and got the chance to ride Intimidator ten times. It was a perfect day, and one we both agreed was easily among the best days we’ve ever had at a park.

That night, we made a stop at CiCi’s for dinner, and then had to endure a two hour issue at the cabin we were staying at Camp Wilderness, that left an extremely sour taste in our mouths. Basically, when we returned from our day at the park, we came back to realize that the lights in the bedroom and bathroom were out, and none of the electrical outlets in the living room were working. We tried calling the office at first, and got no answer, and ultimately had to contact Carowinds Security about the issue. After thirty minutes of waiting and no one calling back or showing up, we called back again and they told us someone would be out there shortly.

Another thirty minutes went by and still no one, so we called again and spoke to a new person who said he knew nothing of our issue. After being on hold for about ten minutes, he came back on and told us that there were no other cabins available for us to switch to. A few minutes later, someone showed up and tried to fix the problem, but ultimately failed. By this time we were both just absolutely exhausted and decided to just deal with it and go to sleep.

Morning came and still no electricity but we somehow managed to get ready without it, and headed to check-out where we informed them of our wonderful evening and didn’t even get so much of an apology. Once again, this was Camp Wilderness Resort. Just sayin’.

Our second day at the park was just as good as our first, as the weather was a bit dreary and kept the crowds away. We immediately rode Intimidator, and then spent a good amount of time re-riding After Burn, the flyers (SO MUCH FUN), the credit we missed the day before and their Sally Dark Ride, which was awesome. The rest of the day was spent just sitting on Intimidator!

The crew was amazing, and let us just sit in our seats if no one was waiting for our row, and if there was, we were able to just jump into a different row. We managed to get 15 rides in on this day, and each and every one of them were amazing.

Now, this finally brings me to my views on this ride.

I had high expectations for it; Kara, not so much. Everything we had heard from the days before were glowing. And it did NOT disappoint, whatsoever.

The trains are very, very open and extremely comfortable. Right out of the station is the 235ft tall lift hill, which leads right into the amazing first drop. There’s great ejector air in the backseat on this drop, and then your thrown into the second hill which gives a great pop of air in the front, before dumping you to the right. The whole ride was filled with ejector air, and some hills had a weird mix of air that started with ejector and ended with a nice little float down, AFTER you had already landed back in your seat.

The coaster won us both over immediately, and quickly became both of our new favorite steel coaster.

Overall, Carowinds was a big surprise for us, and the entire trip will go down as one of our favorites.

A Day At Disney…Plus! A Bed Update

So this past Saturday, Todd offered me a free Main Gate at Disney, and of course, I couldn’t pass it up. I’m not a big Mouse guy, but I LOVE spending a day every now and then park-hopping.

Kara’s friend Dan came in town from Melbourne and the two of them spent the day at Universal. It was just one of those “let’s spend a day apart” days. After a stop at Chik-Fil-A, Todd, Josh and I headed to Magic Kingdom to meet with their friends Ben and Lauren. Ben, being the kind soul that he is, got me my Parkhopper for the day by means of his seasonal Disney employment; I thank him very much for this opportunity, too.

After navigating our way through Main Street during the 3pm parade (not recommended…plan accordingly), we eventually made it back to Future (past?) Land and got a quick ride on Space Mountain. Now, as I said, I’m not a huge Disney person, but knowing Space was down for a year-long rehab, I was expecting an enormous overhaul of the entire attraction…I soon found out, due to budget cuts, the only thing that got overhauled was the ceiling in the loading bay. What a waste.

I also learned that one of the planned renovations was a separate loading bay for slower loads and wheelchairs that would cut back on ride E-stops when they didn’t hit their obnoxiously quick interval goals. A longer than expected dispatch, coupled with a kid who tried to climb out on the lifthill because he was terrified, ended up causing our 5 minute wait to quickly turn into about 20 minutes.

After our ho-hum, just like old times, ride on Space, we fought our way through the park all the way over to Splash Mountain, where we got to enjoy a ridiculously long 5 minute wait. Splash is so much fun, so well themed, and is probably my third favorite Disney ride behind Toy Story Mania and Expedition Everest. After passing on Thunder Mountain, we decided to leave the park and headed over to Hollywood Studios, where we spent about two hours hanging out and catching a couple of rides.

After a ride through the Hollywood Tower Hotel, we were joined by Erin who took us up on rides on Rock’n Roller Coaster and then the best ride in the world, Toy Story. Toy Story, seriously, is an amazing ride. It’s absolutely exhausting, in that the motion used for shooting your gun is extremely tiring, but the ride is so rewarded that you don’t even notice how worn out you truly are until you’re off and walking around.

At this time, Hollywood Studios was past closing time, so we hit the road one more time and headed off to Epcot for a night cap. Epcot didn’t provide too much in the form of entertainment, as the only ride I rode was Soarin’ (which trips me out everytime…I hate heights, still) and the rest of the time was spent walking around. We left around the time Illuminations was beginning (sad) and our shortened day of park-hopping was complete.

I like Disney every now and then, but it’s just not that magical to me. I love being able to parkhop, ride the good rides at each place, and just hang out…But I’d much rather spend any day at SeaWorld or Universal. I am, however, very happy to have spent that day with those people, it was a great time!

Now, switching gears for a minute, when I last discussed our bedding situation, Belk had put a set on hold for us that they promised was without discoloration. Kara drove 20 or more miles out of her way to go pick it up, and lo and behold….Same problem.

Same discoloration behind the placard.

At this time, by her account, the gloves came off. Not only did they make her go out of her way, told her it was the correct set without issues, and then, informed her the only way we could get a good one was by shipping a new one to us….And then would charge her for shipping.

Nuh-uh!!!

After a few minutes, Belk finally caved and contacted corporate to send us a new set with no shipping costs. Now, for the final straw? It has now been 10 days since this happened, and not only have we NOT received the new set in the mail, but the employees are telling her that they have no way of tracking the shipping. They don’t even know if it HAS been shipped. Tomorrow, they will be contacted and a solution will be found, and if that solution is not a free, working set and our money back, we will once again hit the roads in search of our new favorite comforter set.

Fingers are crossed…

More Flags, Less Trains

At the last minute, Kara and I decided to join Todd and his friend Michael on a weekend trip to Six Flags over Georgia, disregarding the forecast which called for mid-40 weather and no sun. The decision to go ended up being a great one!

We left Orlando Saturday around 3:30pm and after a couple stops (including McAlister’s Deli in Valdosta…mmmmmm) we made it up to our hotel, which was 3 miles from the park, around 11pm or so. The night was extremely uneventful, as we all just kicked back and relaxed and prepared for a frigid following day of riding coasters.

In the morning, Waffle House was calling our names so we headed there before Six Flags. Now, I love Waffle House, but I do know it’s not exactly the most amazing food in the world, and this stop exemplified that notion. For example, when I say I want my eggs and hash browns covered, I don’t mean I want them cooked and then a slice of Kraft cheese thrown on top, not melted. No, I mean I want the cheese cooked INTO the eggs and hash brows, so its nice and melted and “one” with my food. Also, my sweet tea tasted kinda like bleach, so I switched that to a Mr Pibb, but everything else was pretty good.

After stuffing ourselves, it was off to Six Flags where we found a ghost town of a parking lot, and managed to park in the first row past preferred parking. The four of us proceeded with a very quick season pass processing trip and then it was through the gates for our day’s adventure.

Now, I love this park. It’s my favorite in the chain that I’ve been to, and I’ve never had a bad experience here. Even on past visits where it was absolutely slammed, it’s always been a good time. Kara, on the other hand, hated this park. The one time before she went, she didn’t get to ride many of the coasters, and she thought Goliath was just not very good.

The day began with a quick ride on Georgia Scorcher, where an annoying trend was first spotted. Before sending a train out (they were only running one, by the way, on everything in the park) the ride operators spent a good 30-45 seconds, EVERY cycle AFTER all of the restraints were checked and the train was ready to go, trying to pump up the crowd with chants and even the wave. Now, being the first ride of the day for us, we all thought it was great that the employees actually seemed to be enjoying themselves and kinda passed it off and enjoyed the enthusiasm; however, as the day went on it began to get very, very annoying. Enthusiasm is great, but not at the expense of delaying operations, especially when you’re only running one train on every coaster in the park.

Off my soapbox now, we all enjoyed the ride (it’s my favorite stand-up coaster) and Kara got a credit she missed on her first trip. Next up was Goliath, and when we arrived, we were very pleased to find only a two-train wait. What we weren’t pleased to find, however, was more chanting, cheering and dispatch delaying on every cycle.

Now, Goliath is my #1 steel coaster, and I knew with the weather conditions today that it would probably run a bit slow and I was expecting that. BUT, much to all of our surprise, it was running surprisingly well! Kara even found a soft spot in her heart for it this time around, which was very exciting for me. Throughout the day, we rode Goliath four times, and my only regret is that we didn’t ride it more.

After Goliath we made a quick stop into Gotham for rides on Mindbender (SO GOOD, but the seats are just way too crammed) and Batman (now blue!) before making our way to the back of the park, only to find four out of five of the coasters on the way closed. Dahlonega Mine Train, Canyon Blaster, Ninja (no tears shed here) and Great American Scream Machine were all closed due to cold temperatures, with Superman being the only one open. This angered us, considering that NONE of these were listed outside of the park as being closed today, and their operating procedures required 50-degree weather to operate all coasters, and not only was it (right at) 50, but half of the coasters were running.

After riding Superman (which has NOTHING on Manta) and then the newly renovated Monster Mansion, we decided to get food, which gave us another reason to get upset. When we got our passes processed, AND when we entered the park, we had multiple employees informing us that passholders get 15% off all food and merchandise in the park. Well, Todd broke off to get Johnny Rockets while me, Kara and Michael went the Panda Express route. NONE of us got 15% off.

Once all of our food was consumed, it was off to guest relations to complain about everything that was going wrong this day, and on the way we realized Georgia Cyclone was also closed this day. As a side note, Acrophobia was closed as well, but they did mention that outside of the gates. After a quick chat with guest relations, they refunded Todd and Mike’s lunches (I threw my receipt away accidentally ) and the rest of the day was spent re-riding coasters and hanging out.

Even though things didn’t turn out as we had hoped they would, it still ended up being a great trip, and I’m glad we decided to join Todd and Mike. The drive went pretty quick, and before we knew it, Kara and I were home and back in our comfy new bed, where the saga has not yet concluded…

But that’s neither here nor there.

The Saga Continues

“Hopefully the bed saga is over now!”

This is the sentence that Kara enthusiastically proclaimed as we walked out of Belk tonight, proud owners of a new comforter and sheet set. The saga, as it was, extended from the time we decided months ago that we wanted to a new bed, to, well…Who knows, now?

The bed process itself was a pain, but finding a comforter and sheet set has turned out to be just as big of a headache, if not more-so. After scouring the city for something we could agree one, we settled on a bed-in-a-bag that was ordered online. This turned out to be an idea that wasn’t the best either of us has ever had. After a week of waiting, it arrived in the mail yesterday only to disappoint both of us.

We ordered from Egyptian Peddler after seeing nothing but positive reviews regarding the quality of their products, as well as shipping times. We received the 12-piece set in great time, but unfortunately, neither of us were happy with the product. The colors, to start, weren’t exactly as flattering as they looked online, and the quality of the set, comforter in particular, was far below par. The ruffles were sloppy-looking, and there were loose threads abound; luckily, we both agreed that it was better off sent back, which was a far better ending than had one of us fallen in love with it and the other hadn’t.

So today after work, we headed to find our set once again. Starting the day off at Ross, we quickly dismissed this place as an establishment to find something of high quality. Moving down the outside mall, we hit up Target next, and did find a set we both liked but decided we wanted to check out one more place, just to be sure. Thankfully, that idea worked out for us. After a thorough exploration of our local Belk, we found the perfect set and made the final decision to go with this arrangement. We matched sheets, and as we left…

“Hopefully the bed saga is over now!”

Not so fast, my friend!

We got home, unpacked the set, put it on the bed, fell in love and then…Found a huge area of discoloration.

At the foot of the comforter, where the placard had been stationed, was a 6x18in rectangle of darker brown that definitely didn’t match the rest of the top. Sooo, the saga continued, until Kara managed to find another Belk, about 30 miles away, that has the same set. Kara had them put it on hold for us, and when she goes to pick it up tomorrow, HOPEFULLY it will not only a)be the correct set, but b)not have any unwelcome discoloration.

We can only hope! But if it doesn’t work out in our favor, I guess the saga will continue.

Assassin’s Geeked

So today was a monumental day of sorts.

I attained 100% of the available Achievements in an Xbox 360 game.

Ground-breaking, right?

I’ve had the opportunity to play many games, and I’ve come close on a couple of them, but none have garnered me that mystical 1000G score. Grand Theft Auto 4 I completed the story mode, but that netted less than 50% of the in-game achievements. On NCAA Football 10, I achieved all of the offline achievements, but missed out on a few that I didn’t get the chance to grab online. And Modern Warfare 2, I managed to complete the story mode on all difficulties, but still have some Spec Ops to defeat.

But my first game conquered? Assassin’s Creed 2. And I loved every history-changing moment of it.

I’m new to the whole “next-gen” gaming, as I just got my 360 in November, and I was never one who cared much for role-playing games or first-person shooters. But now, I’m hooked, I can’t get enough. And I’m addicted to Achievements.

AC2, I didn’t have too high of expectations for. It looked fun, but ended up being my favorite game of any I’ve played yet. I love how these next-gen games are completely open environments, and this one was not an exception. Being able to run over, jump on, swim under and break through anything and everything around you is mind-blowing. The details in these games is just beyond comprehension, and being able to fully explore, unlock and discover everything in these worlds is amazing.

So anyway, suffice to say I was pretty excited when that last Achievement message popped up on my screen today alerting me my quest was finished. Next up? Fallout 3.

Today’s the Day…

….That our new bed gets delivered!

Last week, after months of looking, we finally decided on a mattress that we both agreed on. Its not that we have different tastes when it comes to the selection, its that we couldn’t find a good bed at a relatively good price that we both thought was comfortable, and would last awhile. We settled on a Stearns & Foster Plush king-size mattress.

After coming to the conclusion that we located the bed that we both loved, it was then time to find a place to buy it from. We ended up passing up an offer from MattressFirm and signed off on ours from…another MattressFirm, for a deep discount. Its truly amazing that the same company, in the same city, will give you two completely different prices on the same product.

For posterity’s sake, we ditched the air mattress last night and gave the old bed one more night of rest. It was my idea, partially for that reason, but mostly because I was tired of the cat attacking me sporadically throughout the night…every night. Alas, tonight’s the night our fortunes change. The new bed gets delivered, amazing sleep will commence, and we won’t have to deal with a crazy cat (whose normally sweet and cute til the darkness falls) disturbing our rest.

As far as everything else that’s happened this week, Wednesday was my grandma’s funeral. It was held at All Souls Catholic School in Sanford, and was very sad. I haven’t really had to deal with death in my lifetime directly. My grandpa passed away when I was young, so while I remember him, I don’t particularly remember his passing.

Luckily, everyone seemed to handle the proceedings very well, and once the ceremony had ended, everyone in attendance met back up for the reception. It was here where I got the chance to catch up with family I hadn’t seen in a long time, eat and introduce Kara to a lot more folks in my tree. Kara made my mom a card from her family, and she continues to prove that she’s one of the most thoughtful, caring people in the world.

Today I go back for my second day of work training. Yesterday was five hours of orientation videos, manuals and paperwork; I’m guessing today will be the start of my product orientation. So far the job seems like its going to be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to hit the sales floor.

Oh, and one more thing….

We’re going to HoliWood Nights!!!

Kara booked our flights to Holiday World and Kings Island in early June a few nights ago. I can’t wait to finally get to ride my favorite coaster with her, ride new rides and camp with a whole bunch of friends. We’re both extremely excited about the trip, and it definitely can’t come soon enough.

Highs and Lows

Friday was equally exciting and depressing.

I began the day with a job interview at BBM that I felt went really, really well. That feeling was qualified when they invited me back, on the spot, for a second interview the following day. I left there feeling like I essentially had the position wrapped up, but trying to be humble and not jump to conclusions. I called my dad to let him know, and after expressing great enthusiasm for me, the conversation then got turned on its head.

He informed me that my grandma had passed away the night before. They didn’t want to tell me at the time because they knew of my job interview and didn’t want me to be distracted and not do a good job. Earlier in the week, they had put my grandma in a Hospice, so the outcome was pretty much never in doubt; it was more a matter of “when?” Luckily for her, she went out in her sleep, without much suffering. And while I’m sad that I didn’t get to speak with her again, I feel lucky that I got the opportunity to visit her a few nights before.

After speaking with my dad, I got ahold of Kara and informed her of how my interview went, and she asked if I had heard the news yet. Apparently, my dad let her know of my grandma’s fate and wanted to give her the heads up before I found out. I told her I knew, and was doing okay. It didn’t really hit me until then, and at that point I kinda broke down a little. I made sure she knew I would be okay, as I didn’t want her to worry while at work.

After composing myself a bit, I headed off to SeaWorld, as I feel the park is good luck to me, and I wanted to have all the luck I could get after my interview. Pulling into the parking lot, there were numerous news trucks outside the main entrance, and even more inside. This day was only two after Tillikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau, and you could just feel a heavy cloud hanging over the entire park. The employees obviously affected, but it was strange feeling a sense of anxiety from the guests, as well. I managed a couple rides on Manta before my friend Todd met me there, at which point we headed back to Shamu Stadium to see what was going on in the area.

At each entrance to the stadium, there was an employee blocking the roped-off walkway, and the underwater viewing area was roped off, as well. Just being in the area at this time was very strange, and its still amazing to me that they resumed shows the following day.

After a ride on Kraken and a couple more on Manta, we decided to take off. I got home and Kara and I spent a quiet Friday evening in.

Saturday turned out to be a GREAT day! Kara started getting really sick the day before, so we spent all day laying around and being lazy (sign me up anytime!) before I headed to my second interview in the early afternoon. That second interview could not have gone better. After arriving, I sat down in the office and the GM basically came right out and said “We were so impressed with you yesterday, that this interview is just a formality. We’d love to bring you on board.”

Kara and my parents were thrilled, and you could definitely feel a bit of tension lift off both of our shoulders. The position is in sales, but I feel as if it could lead to some great things, and I can’t wait to get in there, start, and hit the ground running.

Sunday was an AWESOME day. Chris showed up at our apartment around 8am and we enjoyed a spectacular breakfast from Kara before heading out to Universal. Kara dropped us off and we went straight for Rockit where we managed two front row rides in about 20min. It was somewhat cold out so the ride didn’t seem very fast, but it was a lot smoother than I’ve experienced before, and Chris loved it. My songs of choice today were Crocodile Rock and Freebird.

After our two good morning rides, we bee-lined for Mummy where we walked right onto the front row, as well, which we followed up with a spin on Men In Black. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out around the two parks and CityWalk with an amazing lunch at NASCAR Cafe, before heading into Islands to grab a prime seat to watch the USA-Canada Gold medal game.

During the second intermission, we headed back to the Studios, rode Mummy a couple more times, and then planted ourselves down at Finnegan’s in the park to watch the end of the game. I’ll tell ya what, I’ll never forget that game. Its unfortunate that America lost, but, being in that bar with hundreds of fans of both countries, and experiencing the rollercoaster that was the end of that match is something I’ll always remember.

On the way out of the park, however, something happened that I wish I could forget (and sort of don’t remember). Chris and I were joking around and he knocked me off my feet, and I slammed the back on my head on the ground. I think I was out for a second or two, but I remember hearing the loud crack as it collided with the ground. An employee walked me to First Aid where he treated the scratches and cuts on the back of my arms and head, and made sure I didn’t have a concussion. Everything turned out alright, luckily.

The rest of that night we spent playing basketball, pool, ping pong, virtual golf, and eating lots and lots of Publix hot n spicy wings. Monday was spent sleeping in before having lunch at Panda Express before sending Chris on his way back to Gainesville. I then headed to take my drug test for work and came home with a new game, Fallout 3, which so far, seems to be pretty amazing.

Now if this headache would just go away…

All Around the Sunshine

Tallahassee was a great visit. I can’t really find a better way to kick it off other than that.

I headed to Gainesville on Sunday, with Kara and her mom in tow, and we met up with my mom for lunch and touring. It was the first time our moms had ever gotten the chance to meet, and we both came away feeling accpmplished in the day. My dad was sick with the flu, however, and didn’t make the trip.

We started off at Macaroni Grill, which I’d never had before (still prefer Olive Garden) and had a nice, relaxing lunch. Everyone got the opportunity to get to know one another better, and then we headed off to The Swamp. Kara’s mom isn’t a particularly big football fan, but she wanted to see a Florida campus, so we started off showing her around the athletic areas, including a walk into the stadium.

My mom then parted and headed back to Tallahassee and I took the mother and daughter on a drive around campus. We stopped and took a brief walk around Lake Alice where I assured them I’d find a live alligator for them to view, and lo and behold we ran across one! It was awesome seeing one of these guys in the wild.

After a stop at Coldstone, we parted ways and I made the journey north, and they headed back to Orlando. It was a bit strange to be in Florida at the same time as Kara, and not be together, but I wanted to give her and her mom time together, and figured it’d be a good opportunity to visit with some friends.

Unfortunately, Monday morning my aunt called and told my mom and dad they needed to come to Orlando because my grandma was being put in a hospice. My mom told me to stay in Tallahassee as I planned to visit with friends, but to come see them as soon as I got back.

After they left, I headed over to Sean’s house to hang out and we spent a good portin of the day playing the PS3, before heading out to Po’Boys for dinner. Joining us there was Virgie, Patrick, Natalie, Jon and Wes.

Much to my dissatisfaction, Po’Boys seems to have gone downhill, and fast. I hadn’t eaten at the Pensacola location in over a year, and not only has the service been flushed away, the food was less than amazing as well. It was a bit of a disappointment, but I still had a great time with my friends.

All of us aside from Jon then took off to Patrick and Natalie’s place for the night. The night was wasted away playing XBOX, cards, listening to music, catching up and capped off by a 4hr Wii Bowling marathon that lasted til about 5:30 in the morning.

Obviously, everyone slept in the next day and when we awoke, it was more hanging out. We ordered some pizza, played some Rummy and had a great day. Patrick and Natalie headed out to my house that night to watch the Florida-Tennessee basketball game, and we gorged ourselves on Wing Street wings.

It was an amazing two days, and went far too quickly, but I’m so glad that I got the chance to go home and see a few of my friends, although I wish there was more time to see others.

Wednesday I left and headed back to Orlando, and went straight to my grandparents house. My dad and I then went to the hospice where we spent about three hours with my grandma, mom and uncle. Seeing my grandma like she is was pretty hard, and it truly was sad to see. Unfortunately, she was unconscious the entire time we were there so I didn’t get to speak with her.

My dad and I left around 7 and went to TGIFridays for dinner where another less-than-stellar dinner was had. Its really unfortunate that all of these places I love to eat at are going so far downhill. After dinner, I headed back home to spend the rest of the night with Kara and her mom, as she was scheduled to fly out early the next morning. When I arrived, they toured me around the apartment, showing off all the new goodies they bought to spice things up. I especially liked what they did with the bathroom, as we had problems finding a good mix of things we liked.

It was sad seeing her mom go, as we all had a great time together. Her mom is so nice and thoughtful, and I’m really happy we got to spend time with her and show her around Florida.

Yesterday was another crazy day as dad and I spent every minute crawling the city trying to find me a nice, new suit. After hours of store-hopping, we finally settled on something we agreed was attractive and multi-functional. Once finished, we headed out to the Give Kids the World Village where Kara showed us around her office (house), the entire Village, and we played a game of 7-hole putt putt. It was an awesome experience, and I’m glad my dad got to see it.

So now, its another chilly day in Florida and I gotta get ready for a job interview…and will probably follow that up with a trip to SeaWorld for hopefully some good luck.