Pulse: Check

My motto: every once in a while, its important to stop and check for a pulse.

That said, I checked mine yesterday.  Still tickin'.  Too often I-- probably like you-- get caught up in the muck of life for too long-- so long that I need something that tests my mortality just a bit.

If we are lucky, we get 80 or 85 revolutions around the sun on this big brown clod we call Earth.  Might as well make the most of them.  I could just as easily die of boredom, after all.

My pulse check happened yesterday as I took the family to Cedar Point, Ohio.  This place had been on our radar since we moved to Pittsburgh, but for whatever reason, we hadn't made it there until yesterday.

It puts all other amusement parks to shame, with the probable exception of Disney World.  Its my opinion.  I grew up in southern Idaho, so the closest thing to amusement parks was Lagoon in Farmington UT or the traveling carnival that came to the Mini-Cassia County Fair and Rodeo.  Cedar Point makes them all look like a ragtag heap of spare parts and junk metal.

Its not my intent to demean Lagoon.  I have a lot of good memories of that place.  I also have a lot of bad memories.  The dry Utah heat combined with too many sweaty bodies in too tight of quarters is one of them.  I know this can happen virtually everywhere, but its what comes to mind first when I think of Lagoon.

Cedar Point is like no other.  Its huge.  Every turn spawns a new roller coaster.  They have 16 coasters in all-- just one shy of sharing the world record.  I admit-- I like riding roller coasters.

Certainly, I would have my pulse checked many times before I left.  And, I was destined to require chiropractic help the next day, too.  There were too many chanced, however, of some mechanical issue happening that would send me into Lake Erie.  Rare, yes, but recall that I was the unintended catcher of a .22 bullet a month or so ago.  Odds are never in my favor.

With the family and one of Chrissa's friend in tow, we made the rounds in the park.  Perfect weather, moderate crowds... it was a lot of fun.  I managed to get on 11 of the 16 coasters there, but I admit I was well scrambled after the first 5 or 6.  At that point, I felt like I had spent the day in an industrial washing machine, without the water.

The best (my opinion): Millennium Force.  It used to hold the world record for height (300+ feet) and speed (93 MPH) and length (over a mile long).  Not any more.  But, it was awesome.  A pic of it is below (taken from their website):

The crowing jewel was Top Thrill Dragster.  The "Thrill" only started when you were actually on the ride... the 1+ hour line to get on was less than thrilling.  Its an intimidating structure, mind you, and its ominous presence could be seen from everywhere within the park.  I knew I had to get on it-- in fact, I had made fun of some people who didn't, but with each passing hour and the occasional glimpse at it from time to time throughout the day, I grew more weary of it.  Millennium Force didn't help either.  At its peak, you still had to look up to see the top of Dragster.  Still, while waiting in line to get on this thing, one could read that each "train" weighs 5.5 tons (without people) and has 72 moving wheels.  Considering the fact that I have a hard time keeping 4 good wheels on my own car, the possibility of catastrophic mechanical failure kept coming to mind.  Throw a wheel and how would I fair?  

Again, consider who's talking here.  Impossible, you say?  I'm probably the only person in the world that was knocked unconscious from a golf ball to the face... a golf ball that I hit with a #3 wood.  Had it not been for that 3 inch rock poking through the ground about 30 feet in front of me, I would likely had made it to the green instead being carried off on a gurney from Hole #16 to the awaiting ambulance at the Canyon Springs Golf Course in Twin Falls, Idaho.  Thus, I see a difference between cheating death (golf ball) and living on the edge... its a fine line, though, I admit.

Anyhow, Instead of me telling you about this monster which, incidentally, is the second tallest in the world (420 feet) and third fastest (0 to 120 MPH in 3.8 seconds), hear it from Bert the Conqueror-- the big dorky guy (which is why I feel a special kinship with him) from The Travel Channel.

Thankfully, I was able to get Chrissa and her friend's run on Dragster, about 20 minutes after I got off the thing.  The video is a bit shaky... I was still trying to squeeze blood into my hands after this ride drained it out of me.

And, our after photo shoot:

These rides have their benefit to their slower cousins, I think.  Being hit with puke isn't very likely.  The sheer speed of this thing prevents it.  It'd likely get caught up in the esophagus at least until we dropped below 80 MPH, thanks to the force this exerts on the body.  Plus, the take-off popped all of the joints in my spine and chest-- no need for a chiropractic visit after all.

I do my best to break in my kids whenever we go to places like this.  This year was Ethan's turn.  My first attempt was Millennium Force, and I did my best to shield the coaster from his view, hoping to get him on and get moving before he knew what was up.  But, the size of this thing was greater than I could manage to hide from him.  Halfway down the line, he noticed, freaked out, and I had to have him wait for us on the outside.  I can't say I blame him entirely.  Its against human nature to strap yourself to a piece of metal and flung into the air.  

Michelle got lots of great photos of the kids.  With her general lack of roller coaster enthusiasm, she's usually the babysitter while I'm off being Braveheart.  Here's a few:

Presque Isle, PA

One of our favorite spots is Presque Isle in Erie, PA.

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Its that tiny peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie.  Anyhow, contrary to any preconceived notions you might have, it is very beach-y.

We recently took the kids there and met up with some close friends, had lunch, played in the sand and surf.  It was just for the day, but so nice to have something this close to us.

Incidentally, Chrissa didn't come with us.  "Too cool" kinda thing.

Family Vacation, Take 2 (or 3, or 4)

"When I plan these, I always have visions of grandeur," said Michelle halfway through our latest family vacation.

"You mean, delusions of grandeur," I corrected her.  All this was said after Amberlee bailed over the side of the chair at Applebee's in Buffalo, NY, ending up in a crying ball on the floor of the restaurant.  Ethan was dancing around the tables, and Preston was pretending to shoot everyone with his make-believe gun.

Our latest attempt at family unity came earlier this week... Tuesday, to be exact.  We left for upstate New York for a week of fun and relaxation, to reconnect as a family.  See what I mean?  Delusional.

Again, that was the plan.  Reality always has a way of correcting it, and 4 kids make that correction happen much quicker than anticipated.

Our vacation spots were simple: Niagara Falls, the Hill Cumorah Pageant, Letchworth State Park (hailed to be the "Grand Canyon of the East"), and the Finger Lakes.

We had quite the good omen going to our vacation location... we came upon the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile traveling north on I-79.  Ironically, we passed it in a town called Hamburg, New York... a huge rolling hot dog surrounded by Hamburgers.  What were the odds?  It was a vacation highlight.  Now, Ethan wants me to turn our van into a Wienermobile, too.

Michelle found a rental home somewhere in the middle of all of these points.  The home is located in Wyoming, New York... I found the name of the town odd, until we arrived.  If someone was able to remove most of the trees and flatted out the hills a bit, I could have sworn I was in Burley Idaho.  Farmland as far as the eye can see; tractors pulling all kinds of equipment down Main Street; the smell of freshly turned manure wafting through the sultry night air; the cry of a cow in the distance as it came into direct contact with the 240v electrical fence.  It was out in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by thousands of acres of corn.  If anyone believes that New York is overpopulated, I have some land in Arizona to sell them.  We also found the local LDS ward building out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by acres of farmland, too, just like in Idaho.  There is something about LDS buildings and agriculture...

The home was "sold" as an old cottage to help you get away from it all.  Boy, did we ever.  We got away from water that didn't smell like sulfur (the water in this house did); air conditioning; and easy access to civilization.  The house itself was fine, just a bit more 19th Century than we had anticipated.  Clearly, the house was built for someone less than 6'3", as I kept hitting my head on the ceiling in certain places, and I barely could walk up the stairs without the need to turn sideways.

Our first stop was Palmyra New York-- again (this would be our third trip to this town)-- and the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  The setting was quite amazing.  Clearly, they were going to put on a great show, and they were also expecting thousands of people.  The old lady there said they had set out over 4,000 seats for the show.

After we dropped our things in 6 seats to mark our territory, we left for the day.  We found the anti-Mo's out in full protest to the Pageant... see the photo.  The two guys with the signs were vocally objecting to anything Mormon out on the streets of Palmyra.  The guy off to the right was either Mormon or a supporter of some kind.  The three of them made an interesting show for everyone.  As the anti-Mo's voiced their objection, Mr. Mormon would simply yell, "AAAHHHH!!!" to overshadow their words.  When they all caught their breath, Mr. Mormon guy would then point to each and yell, "Liar Liar, pants on fire!"  Pretty funny stuff.  Mr. Mormon even went so far as to speak to the Mormon families that would walk by and tell them, pointing to the anti-Mo's, that "this is what happens to you if you smoke marijuana / become an alcoholic / live on welfare..." etc.

We left for the Whitmer Farm (an LDS historical site), which is about 30 miles southeast of Palmyra.  We'd never been there before, so thought we'd do it and check it off our list of "places to see".  When we arrived, I knew it was a 30 mile drive for almost nothing.  Just a little old house sitting on the same plot of land as the Fayette Ward building.  It was pretty, though, but not much there.

Again, here was an LDS church in the middle of miles of corn.

The Pageant was quite the spectacle.  The Rotary Club was there selling food at Disneyland prices... and attendees were buying.  Dummies.  Also, the same anti-Mo's that we found earlier in the day in Palmyra had returned, with friends, to protest at the Pageant.  This time, they brought blow-horns, but no one could really understand them due to the music blaring from the church speakers.

Their protesting signs and chant were barely seen or audible... poor guys.

By 8PM, we were back in our seats and ready for the show.

The cops were also out in full force.  I wasn't entirely sure why.  Crowd control?  Traffic control?  Protest control?  Or, maybe they were a little nervous with such a huge gathering of Mormons.  After all, it wasn't that long ago that a far less mass of Mormons forced the local lawmen to kick us out of town for good.  See 'em below, sitting out on the road.

Even the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile showed up... slightly transformed, but still a wienie.

The Pageant was excellent.  Not quite Broadway, but dang close.  Considering they all only had a week to prepare, it was really good.  The evening was also excellent... clear skies, no wind, 70 degrees, full moon.  Couldn't have been better.

The next day we traveled to Buffalo New York and Niagara Falls.  It was our first trip to the Falls... it will also be our last (likely).  I mean, the Falls are beautiful, but the Park is a money-making business.  Everything there cost bucks, and after seeing the Falls or a museum, they would make sure to heard everyone through their gift shops.  We rode the Maid of the Mist ship into the Falls, which was the highlight.

I tried to create a panorama of Horseshoe Falls... click the photo below for full effect.

The funny part of the day: me driving onto the Rainbow Bridge-- all one way, not realizing where I was until it was too late.  This bridge connects the US with Canada.  The Canadian at the toll booth told me that I had to back up and go against traffic to get back out.  Oops.

Next day: Letchworth State Park.  This park is a secret of the area, and in my opinion, better than Niagara.  It cost $8 to get into the park... a fraction of the cost of Niagara.  And, the falls (minus the Maid of the Mist voyage) were better.  The falls had an upper falls, middle falls, and lower falls, and although we all started out on the upper falls hike (a series of stairs, probably 200 of them, to the top... Chrissa commented on it being like we were "stuck in the Indiana Jones movies"...), only Michelle and I were left by the time the lower falls came around.

Upper Falls of the Genesee River...

Middle Falls of the Genesee River...

By the end of Day 4, we were beat and ready to go home.  We were tired of living in someone else's house, tired of no air conditioning, tired of the sulfur-smelling water, tired of living in a suitcase.  So we left for home.

But, not without incident, mind you.  Two miles away from the house, Michelle asks, "Where is my purse?"  After a quick search of the van, I decided to pull over to do a more thorough search.  Out came all the suitcases and bags.  No purse.  Back to the house we went; however, the house was all locked up now (the owners left for the weekend), so I had to break into the house through a window that hadn't been locked (luckily).  Boosting Michelle through the open window, we searched the house.  No purse.  She got the idea that perhaps she left it at the ice cream parlor that we visited in Perry, NY (15 miles south of our rental home), so she called.  Sure enough... it was there at the Charcoal Corral.  Off we went to get it... 15 miles south, 15 miles back to the rental home, and then back on route to our real house.  Ten miles out, Ethan asked where a particular movie was.  A quick search of the van revealed nothing.  I decided to pull over to do a more thorough search.  Out came the suitcases and bags, but no movie.  I made the decision to return, again, to the rental house and, again, through the same window I had broken into before.  A thorough search of the house revealed no movie.  Having no where else to look, we gave up the search and, once again, hit the road for home.

We made a brief stop in Cofu, New York, to visit the Yancey's Fancy Cheese Factory where we sampled and bought our weight in cheese for the ride home.

So, the jury is still out: was it a good family vacation, or a train wreck?  It had its moments, no doubt.  But, I'm sure that we'll be planning the next one soon.

See slideshows to the right...