I'm Getting Too Old For This

Yes, at the young age of 23 I think I may be getting too old to ride the rides at amusement parks. Maybe I'm not old enough to feel this way, but I'm not sure my body can take it anymore... that is, without getting a headache.


The last time I went to an amusement park was probably 4 years ago in California, at Six Flags Magic Mountain. In High School I used to go every summer with either friends or family (well just my Mom and siblings, my Dad's stomach isn't a fan of amusement parks). I used to love waiting an hour in line to ride the minute long roller coasters. OK, so maybe I didn't like waiting in line, but I loved the "extreme" rides that sent you through twists, turns and revolutions. My favorite rides were "X" and "Goliath" (check out the videos and you'll see what I'm talking about). Who wouldn't love those rides? Plus one of my favorite memories came from when we were waiting over an hour in line for "The Riddlers Revenge" and my brother Jordan bought one of those jumbo pickles in a bag. When he was done with the pickle his 15-year-old mind thought it would be funny to poke a hole in the bag and shoot pickle juice at people. My oldest brother Trevor, being the responsible recent return missionary that he was, took Jordan by the face and gave him a swift head-butt that made Jordan cry. Ah, I love family memories!


Anyway, on Saturday we went to Kings Dominion with Ben's family and some friends. 18 people all together including kids, and not one person got lost the entire day! That's what I call impressive. What really impressed me though was our nephew Joshua, who at the age of 6 was just at the height limit to ride some of the "big kid" rides. It was hilarious to watch Ben try to calm his fears by saying there would only be one revolution on the ride Anaconda when in fact there were about 5. Joshua later told me that he was ready to give up when the ride went upside-down, but he decided to stick through it. Not that he had a choice or anything, but what a trooper! Me on the other hand, not so much a trooper. I had fun on each ride, but after I'd get off I would get a pounding headache. It didn't stop me from going on the rides with everyone else, but thank goodness I got to spend some time watching the little ones on the kiddie rides. I think I would have come out with some brain damage otherwise! It was the "Berserker" at the end of the day that really did me in. Hanging upside-down for about 5 seconds isn't exactly the remedy for a headache. Being the wuss that I am too, I didn't get totally wet when we went to the water park. It was such a nice day, and I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to having wet hair so I just waded up to my knees in the pools. Hey, you never know how many kids pee in those pools anyway.


It may sound like I had a bad day at the park but really we had a great time with Ben's family. It was also nice to pay "Mormon Day" prices for tickets to the park. I think next time we go to an amusement park I'll pack some aspirin. Spare myself the headache so I can ride the rides like I'm 19 again, though Ben reminded me that this may be the last time we get to go to an amusement park without children. Sorry friends, that is not an announcement.