Roller Coasters

As a child, the roller coasters actually represented what we as kids looked to for the most entertaining, exciting thing out there- we waited in line for hours to ride for 30 seconds for the thrill of our lives. I remember as a child, going to "Worlds of Fun". it was a whole family vacation, we saved and finally went to the big park. I was so excited to go, I had heard about this ride called the "Oriental Express". Now back when I was a kid, we didn't have the Internet to research this ride, all we had was the brochures you got at the local grocery store that mentioned a few rides at this park and a coupon to get in! Love the coupons! The only other way to find out about such rides was word of mouth- someone would hear you were going and they would fill you in on all the "must go on rides". So we wait in line for this "oriental express" for what seems an eternity, my brother said you're going to chicken out- I said Not me! this ride is going to take me upside down and all around! I couldn't wait. Well my parents decided they were going to ride this amazing ride as well. So while we are waiting, it's decided that I will ride with my dad and my brother will ride with my mom. We get all the way up to the top and there is a "chicken exit". I am thinking to myself, why on earth would anyone chicken out. We've spent what seems like days in this line, WE ARE RIDING THIS ROLLER COASTER! I look around to find my mom, I don't see her anywhere- and you know what- she took the chicken exit! I thought to myself, seriously-- she chickened out! I was thankful I picked my dad to ride with because to be honest I was afraid my brother would have sabotaged me in some way. He was in high school and I close to middle school age (perfect for sibling rivalry)

Looking at "amusement parks" these days seems different. Sure they still have the great roller coaster,some parks go to great lengths to get the fastest, highest, most loops, and most dangerous roller coasters but they don't seem the same as when I was a kid. You can actually plan out your route of the amusement park online before you get there and get passes so you dont' have to wait in line. It's not the same, part of the excitement was the hours you would spend in line. It's been many years since I've rode on a roller coaster. I often find myself thinking of waiting in line for that, the anticipation, the butterflies in your stomach just hoping you don't vomit on the ride. Now I wish I had some of that time to just hang out with friends and chat while waiting for the ride of our lives. Now we are all so busy and don't even take the time to call we all text (myself included). Sometimes I even find myself not answering the phone because wow- that would take time away and I think to myself why can't people just text. So i miss the days of waiting in line for hours at a time to just talk! Now I see this converstaion could go into a whole new blog! So i'll leave it at roller coasters!

Enjoy the ride! Live is a roller coaster all the time :)