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Monday, Jul. 01, 2002 - 8:40 p.m. First, the trip. We made it to the park by 9 am on Saturday. Great, except they don�t even open the gates to the parking lot until 9:30. We sat in our vehicles, running the engine to kick a little air-conditioned cool upon us. Did I mention to you that it was HOT this weekend? The high on Saturday was 95�, with smothering humidity and no breeze to speak of. The thermometer read 107� on Tyrone�s SUV. It might not have been that hot, but it sure felt like it. After making our way to the front gates, we found a little shade provided by the overhang and marinated for the next 30 minutes, waiting on the opening of the park. A man with a park uniform walked up to Codeman and J-rod, and he asked them if they wanted to do him a favor. Since J-rod just escaped the Marines last year, he knew better than to say yes without finding what the favor was. It seems the park has instituted a flag-raising ceremony, and the playing of the national anthem, before the opening of the gates every morning. The needed 6 people to carry the large flag from inside the park to the flag pole at the entrance, and wanted Codeman and J-rod to be two of the people for Saturday. They both agreed after the guy told them it would be a patriotic thing to do. All you have to do is mention �patriotism� to a Marine, and they are ready for action. I took several photos of them, carrying their corners of the flag, with my disposable camera. I will post one of them, if I remember to get the film developed. Saturday, in the park. No I know it wasn�t the fourth of July (70�s music reference, kids). We spent too much time trying to find each other. First, we couldn�t find Jules. Then, Angie lost Tyrone and her children when she rode the Batman roller coaster with Lease and I. Tyrone rode his first roller coaster EVER Saturday (The Boss, the newest and best ride in the park- more about it below), and he decided that would be the only roller coaster he would ride in his lifetime. The children (ages 13, 11, and 9) took their dad�s lead, and decided they didn�t want to ride anything that moved, either. So that left us with 5 people who didn�t want to ride ANYTHING. They went off to watch shows, and didn�t tell us they were leaving. Yeah, that caused some angry moments when we finally found each other. I don�t think Angie will go to an amusement park ever again, unless she tags along with someone else. Don�t get me wrong: I understand some people just don�t enjoy riding on roller coasters. That�s fine. That�s not me, thought. Lease loves them, too. We might be approaching the upper-age limit for enjoying rides without back injury or heart failure, but we plan on going for as long as we can. Sunday, we all made plans to meet at the fountain at 3 pm. That way, we could go in whatever part of the park we felt like, and didn�t have to worry about dragging somewhere they didn�t want to be. Lease and I went by ourselves, J-rod and Codeman went their own way. Jules spent the day in the water park. And Angie and Tyrone found un-scary things to keep their kids happy. That made for a much better day for all. Lease and I rode a ton of coasters. Let me give you this one bit advise, from what I have seen through the years: Go to whatever theme park you choose on a SUNDAY! The first three hours they were open, the park was almost deserted. The water park filled up, but the rides on dry land were all �no-wait�. How short were the lines? We rode �The Boss� three consecutive times in the front car! The attendants had removed the gate dividing the entrance and exit so that people could just go right back into the turnstiles! We could have rode it more, but three trips in less than 15 minutes on this great wooden coaster (top speed 66 mph, a first drop of 150 feet, and a helix that covers 570�. Click here if you want to see what I am rambling on about) was all my body could handle. When we rode this ride on Saturday, we had to wait for about 30 minutes. When it opened in 2000? One hour or more per ride. Like I said, go on Sunday with the rest of the sinners. You will get your money�s worth for sure. One last thing: After we came back to the motel on Saturday night, Tyrone and J-rod wanted to go to the pub across the street. And they wanted me to go with them. The goal? To tie one on and stumble back to our rooms. We did a great job of that, I must say. They had one of those interactive trivia games going on, and we quickly joined in. We didn�t do too badly for a trio of blue-collar high school gradjeates, either. We managed to win two rounds, and came in second in the other game played in a 2-hour period we were there. We also managed to down a little too much draft beer, too. They had something like 30 different unusual beers on tap, and we almost tried them all. Around midnight, our money was spent. We had to cross the still somewhat-busy highway, which took a little effort. When we got to the other side, we found ourselves standing in front the small mobile home park located next to our motel. There to greet us? The local 20-something toughs. They asked us for a cigarette, which J-rod gave them. Then one of these punks said, �Hey, y�all got any money you want to give us?� Now, I don�t know for sure if he was panhandling or just trying to roll a few drunks, but it struck me wrong. I told them that I didn�t have any to give them because I had spent it all on myself in the bar. I didn�t say that in my �nice� voice, either. J-rod told them, �Back the fuck off!�, and they said something like �Hey, that�s cool. We didn�t mean anything, man!� We kept walking, and I just told them to �Go home�. I imagine they waited for another group of potential targets to leave the bar. It�s probably their main source of income: wait for a drunk to come stumbling back to his motel, pressure him into giving you some money. Since we didn�t back down, they left us alone. I guess we were just lucky they didn�t have a gun or something. If they had, J-rod and Tyrone might have used some of their Marine training on them. It could have been ugly for them. Tyrone might have been a little rusty, though. After all, he has been out of the service for 20+ years��. O.k., enough about the trip. Anybody still there? Since you hung in there all the way here, I have this for you�.. Here is the photo (illegally reproduced, btw) from Codeman�s senior class photo sitting a few weeks ago.
Not bad, but the colors are a little dark (even in the original). He didn�t like this one as much as the others of him in uniform, so I scanned it for myself. The photographer will get the proof of this one (and 3 others) back. We don�t want those poses. We (meaning Codeman and Lease, mainly) decided on 8 others to keep, though. That was more than enough. I have to take the proofs back tomorrow and place our final order. I dread this. Why? The ridiculous cost, of course. We have finally settled on buying the portfolio (8 shots and a �leather-like� binder=$69.00), and a package that includes 3- 8�x10�s and 6- 5�x7�s ($115) and about 50 wallets ($40). With the sitting fee, that is over $250. Crazy! And we are getting off for far less than several of our friends did, because I still have to take all of his �outside� shots myself. Now, if only I could find a way to pay myself the amount the photographer charged us��.
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