I blame Batman....

Some good friends of ours invited us to go with them to Six Flags over Georgia yesterday. Britt and I decided that would be a welcomed distraction from this disaster of a vacation week. I had not been to Six Flags since I was in the 9th grade! Britt had taken the kids for the first time in June with Cam's baseball team. I had a commitment at church that day and couldn't go with them.

We had plans to leave early yesterday morning. When we woke up, it was raining. Not just raining, pouring! Here we were, trying to salvage what was left of this disastrous vacation week, and it was pouring rain. It hasn't rained in weeks! But we were resolved to make the most of the day, and headed east toward Atlanta.

There were a few showers here and there as we drove down I-20. But by the time we reached the Six Flags parking lot the sun was out. Hooray! I thought to myself. We bought tickets and headed inside to "the Log Ride" (I don't know the official name). As luck would have it, (if I believed in luck), just as our crew was getting to the loading dock for the ride, the bottom fell out! It starting pouring rain AGAIN! We all ran for shelter at a nearby attraction. After standing there for about 5 minutes a Six Flags employee informed us that we could not stand there. We would have to move to a restaurant or retail shop. What???? Oh, because Six Flags is bankrupt we can't stand next to the lockers at the Georgia Scorcher! We would have to move to a restaurant or shop, where our kids would beg for a $ 7.00 soft drink or a $12.00 jumbo pencil! Instead we moved 20 feet and stood under a bridge in staunch rebellion from the man!

After the rain was over we headed to what I still call "The Highland Swings", but are really called "something-about-a-crime-wave" in order to fit in with the whole "Gotham City" theme they've got going on. Those things are still as fun to me as they were when I was 9 years old! I could take a really good nap on those.

Next we headed to The Mind Bender roller coaster. Britt and my friend Nancy took the kids to ride. Her husband David and I are sissies and waited for them by the exit! The kids LOVED it! Cam quickly announced it as his favorite ever! And we headed off to the next attraction.

One that I regret.

We went over to the Batman coaster. Which looks, well, not-so-bad. So I decided to ride it with Britt and Nancy. Carlie wanted to ride, but wasn't tall enough. The boys didn't want to ride. Justin, who is always trying to convince us that he loves roller coasters like his mom, said he didn't "want to waste all my roller coaster fanatic-y". Ha ha ha! He is his daddy's son! Cam, on the other hand, is very open about being a chicken. He didn't like the idea that there was no floor in this coaster. You are suspended from the top.

I know.
What was I thinking?

Corkscrews and loops do not bother me. It's the precipitous drops. The ones that make your stomach go up into your throat. I thought I'd be fine on Batman. After all, it's only a handful of loops and corkscrews......

What was I thinking?

The three of us rode. When that ride stopped, I didn't know where I was! Y'all I don't think I have ever been so disoriented. I felt like someone strapped me into a box, shook me up real good, the turned me loose!! It was a good thing that I didn't have to drive immediate after riding that thing!! My brain was still bouncing around in my skull.

We spent the afternoon riding bumper cars, a few kiddie rides, Monster Mansion, and my most regrettable choice of the day "Thunder River". I know it's hard to imagine that I could do something more regrettable that riding that torture method they call Batman. But I did. Really I blame the Batman coaster for the following story. No self respecting woman in her right mind would willingly get on a ride in which every person getting off is SOAKING WET! There were no survivors here. Everyone exiting Thunder River looked like they had to swim their way back to shore. Like they had just taken a shower, fully clothed. And yet, I soldiered on to the loading platform. See? This was all Batman's fault.

Britt and Nancy had the sense God gave a goat, and bailed out midway down the waiting line. David wanted to bail, but Britt beat him to the punch. I, still oblivious to it all, because of Batman's wrath, just stood there, mindlessly waiting. The moment arrived. So David, the 3 kids, and I abandoned all hope, and loaded our round death trap, thereby sealing our fate. Things went well for the first....oh.....2.7 seconds. Then out of nowhere, this fire hose, came shooting out of a rock, directly into my ear!! For what seemed like an eternity this high powered water hose blasted me in the head. Through the gush of water, and my emotional anguish, I could see David roaring with laughter. This only contributed further to my emotional distress. But, God is good, and the death raft spun around just in time for the hose to blast him in the back of his head! By this time I was laughing so hard I didn't even notice that I was on the side of the boat that was about plunge down into the rapids. And then it hit us. That tidal wave of faux rushing rapid water. The water rushed over the top of Carlie and me. If there had been a dry thread left on my body prior to that, it had just died a very swift death. We continued down the River of Despair, where I was nearly drowned under a waterfall. Clinging to life, and what was left of my dignigty, we reached the unloading dock. Every person on our raft was drenched. Somehow I managed to be even more soaked than the rest. Possibly more soaked that the rest of the people who had ridden that miserable ride all day!

We walked around for awhile in a futile attempt to dry off. We rode a few more rides. Then got in line for the Antique Cars. Again, we were almost to the loading dock........and the bottom fell out. I'm not really sure why we ran for shelter. We looked like we had been standing in the rain all day. Britt and Nancy were dry. That may explain why when we were about 10 feet from the shelter, lightening struck nearby, and Britt (who was behind me), grabbed my shoulder and flung me backward in an attempt to get himself under the roof of the carousel. I guess he figured since I was already soaked I wouldn't mind standing in the rain an additional 5 seconds if that meant he could stay dry. Sure. You know me. Selfless. Considerate. Rained on. Oblivious.

I blame Batman for today's emotional breakdown.




PS---I would normally have pictures with a post like this. But both, my digital SLR and my point and shoot were stolen with my vehicle. So there is no evidence of my looking like a drowned rat in the River of Despair. I may just have to send those thieves a thank you card.