Vacations

I have a love - hate relationship with vacations. You look forward to them for so long and then all of a sudden they're over. I find myself getting a little depressed towards the end of a vacation because I know that things will soon be back to the same old routine. But all in all vacations are a wonderful thing. When we're home it seems like all of us are constantly moving in different directions and rarely are we all in the same place for very long. So in addition to visiting fun, interesting and sometimes new places, vacations away from home are just as much about spending much needed time with family. Our latest vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area was wonderful. We were able to enjoy this vacation with Sandy and her family as well. We have spent numerous winter ski vacations with Sandy and Bartee in the past but we hadn't had the opportunity to do so for some time. With their move west and the addition of Sanjay and Priya to the family it just hasn't been as easy as it once was.

It was great and I just hope it won't be so long until the next group vacation.

My greatest memory from this trip was the fact that I was able to rekindle my love of roller coasters. Back in the day ... some 30 years ago, I loved coasters, but I haven't riden one for probably about 20 years. But with the persistant coaxing of Sandy, Bartee and Sarah I decided to give it a try. Wow - I'm so glad I did! I loved it. Thanks guys! I even road the Griffon with it's 90 degree, 200 foot drop, which when I saw that coaster in testing last spring I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would ever, ever be a rider. Here's a couple of pictures of Sarah and Bartee on the Griffon. They are in the back row, the 1st and 2nd seats from the left. This picture was taken just after the pause at the top of the first drop ... yes they let you dangle for a few seconds, looking straight down at the ground before they send you flying.

What's even more amazing is the fact that Jenny rode the Big Bad Wolf, The Lock Ness Monster, Apollo's Chariot as well as Griffon! Jenny has never, ever been a coaster rider but she did it! She's actually pretty terrified of coasters. Here's a picture of her on a log ride at Hershey Park from 8 years ago and you've never seen a more frighten face in your life. I was so proud of her! She was about in tears before we left the Griffon station due to her fear, but she hung in there and I really think she like it, but when we got off I asked her if she was ready to get back in line for another ride and she immediately said NO. A friend sent her a pretty funny text message when she go off off Griffon. Here's the text - "Haha watch it chica. You have just barely killed the chicken in you. It's still running around. It's head's just cut off" LOL. Maybe on our next trip to an amusement park she can put the chicken to rest for good. Here's a couple of more pics from our vacation - One from Apollo's Chariot and the other from the Log Flume.