Cedar Point

Today I woke up at 7 AM, got ready, had breakfast (two biscuits with strawberry jelly, a mini-egg omelet called an ouef, peach yogurt, doughnut holes, and apple juice), went to church at a place called Trinity Lutheran near our hotel (the traditional service -- great experiencing another church's way of proceeding through a service), came back and changed, checked out, and headed for Sandusky, Ohio, where the amusement park, Cedar Point, is.  When we arrived at 11:30, we had lunch at Mr. Smith's Coffee House -- the chicken sandwich is delicious, and with a side of coleslaw and root beer for a drink, it's the perfect portion size.

At 12:15, we came to Cedar Point.  Below is a list of all the rides I went, including a small description.  We rode 14 rides in six hours!

Raptor -- It's like Batman at Six Flags St. Louis, with corkscrews, twists, loops...all with your feet dangling.
Skyride -- A gondola transportation ride; we joked about not having our skis with us.  When we ride gondolas, it's usually winter and we have skis and poles with us!
Iron Dragon -- Suspended cars hang down from the track, and you sit in them.
Mantis -- Our very first stand-up roller coaster!  You have a bicycle-type seat to rest on, but you're on your feet.  We went through several tight turns, rolls, and loops.  It was very rough.
Millennium Force -- This exciting roller coaster went 92 miles per hour and had an 80-degree drop...we all agreed that it was definitely fun!
Cedar Creek Mine Ride -- Various turns and little "drops" -- kinda boring compared to the others.
Maverick -- Twists and tight curves...all while cruising just above the water in ponds.
Gemini -- This roller coaster has two sets of cars that race -- my mom and I were in the red car, and we beat my dad and Matthew in the blue car!
Magnum XL-200 -- This has a fun lift hill at the beginning, where there's plenty of time to look around before dropping into tunnels and turns.
Windseeker -- Tall swings spin you around high above the beach and Lake Erie at around 40 miles per hour.
Skyhawk -- Two big swings oppose each other and go parallel to the ground (and even a little above).
Wicked Twister -- This roller coaster shoots you out of the station (getting up to 72 mph), up and around a twisted "tower", back through the station and up the other twisted tower, and repeats a few more times before stopping in the station.  My mom thought the twin pair of twisted towers looked like Texas longhorns; I thought they looked like pronghorn antelopes...either way, I'm sure you can imagine how strange they looked.
Giant Wheel -- A very tame ferris wheel...but it does take you to a bird's eye view of the entire park, lake, beach, and beyond.
And introducing...Top Thrill Dragster!  Okay, so at Six Flags St. Louis, our own theme park, the fastest roller coaster is the 70 mph Mr. Freeze...and this year, it was even more exciting with the reverse blast.  But I went 20 mph above that on Maverick...and 50 miles per hour above that on Top Thrill Dragster.  Yes, you read right.  This exhilarating roller coaster reaches 120 miles per hour, 420 feet up in the air...all in 17 seconds.  It's the fourth fastest in the world and the second highest in the world...and just think, I rode that scary thing twice!  And seriously, to go 120 mph and feel all the G-forces -- all I can say is WOW!

At 6:15, we left the park tired yet very happy.  My mom and I were thrilled with our accomplishments of riding such scary roller coasters, and overall, it's always fun to try new things and conquer your fears.  I mean, going 120 miles per hour and 420 feet up in the air is nothing to laugh off.  It's absolutely breathtaking.  But once you've done it, you've achieved something you didn't think you could do, you've become braver...and, in truth, you want to do it again!

We're now on the road, and tomorrow late morning we will arrive back home.  Hope you enjoyed reading about my weekend adventure!

~Anna~

HCEA Show

Yesterday evening, at 5 PM, my family and I headed for Fort Wayne, Indiana.  We stopped for gas and supper at White Castle just inside Indiana, and finally arrived (exhausted) at a Holiday Inn in Fort Wayne at 12:20.  I went to sleep at 1 AM. 

This morning, I woke up around 7:45, got ready, went down to have breakfast (biscuit, cinnamon roll, cereal, and milk), and headed out.  Around 10:30, we arrived in Bowling Green, Ohio, the headquarters of the Historical Construction Equipment Association (HCEA).  The HCEA has an annual show where all those old-equipment lovers can come and have fun.  Like my mom said, it's big boys with big toys!  Last year, the show was in Penfield, Illinois, and we took our old 580 backhoe.  I got to drive it in the parade!  This year, it was too far and too expensive to haul anything, but we did bring ourselves and had a blast.  There were graders, tractors, old cars and trucks, bulldozers, steam shovels and tractors, and so many more pieces of equipment.  Some people bring their equipment/vehicle just to show off, others get really into it at the "work area", and nearly everyone participates in the parade, where you can see pretty much everything that's there and learn a bit more about it.

We arrived, watched all the equipment at work for awhile (there's just a big patch of dirt that the operators could plow, grade, etc.), looked around at some of the equipment/vehicles on display, and sat down to enjoy the parade.  After that, we had lunch -- I had an Italian sausage, fries, a White Castle, and ice-cold, sweet lemonade.  Next, we looked around some more at the rest of the equipment/vehicles on display, checked out the tents/building with all the sale items in it, and watched the operators a bit more.  My favorite part of the day?  I got to see a pair of sorrel Belgians giving free hayrides, a pair of fleabitten grey Percherons pulling a water tank, and an eight-mule team pulling a plow.  They were all so fun to watch -- old days indeed!

We left at 5:15 after enjoying a long day of exploring.  We arrived at 5:45 in Maumee, Ohio, at our Comfort Inn & Suites, showered, headed for Luna Pier, Michigan, and had supper there at Chateau Louise.  I had shrimp, barley-tomato soup, a salad, a baked potato, and pie...very satisfying.  The restaurant, which serves mainly seafood, is right near Lake Erie, so we got to go touch the white froth and gaze out at the big boats, little sailboats, and curling waves.  The beach was even groomed! 

Finally, we came back and are now ready to go to bed (it's 10:30 here).  Have a great Sunday!

~Anna~