2010: The Year I Failed at Blogging 2.0
Summer arrived. I couldn't do anything near what I achieved with the Summer of Sun: 2009, since I work full-time+, but we still managed to get in plenty of playing.
In June, I took Turtle to the Best. Place. On. Earth. Period. CEDAR POINT.
Those who have been, know. And those who have not, have not lived. Turtle always talked about the amazing coasters at Disney and 6 flags and such, and I scoffed. Because there are NOT coasters like the coasters at the Point. And now she knows this is true. We spent a whirlwind 3 days at the Point, with travel days before and after. It. was. epic.
We stayed at a super quaint place like 5 miles from the park. The first night we were there, before going to the park, we were sitting out in the hammock just talking (and trying to flip each other over, which I succeeded in, but I fell out too and hurt my knee, so fail), and as the sun was going down, Turtle started FREAKING out. Which, naturally, freaked me out as well. I tried to get her to vocalize, thinking she was having a heart attack, or saw someone out in the field, or the building was on fire, or something crazy. No. None of the above. She'd seen a LIGHTNING BUG.
LOL!!! She had not realized Ohio had them and had never seen them in such quantities. This, to an Ohioan, of course is hilarious. We used to catch them by the jar-full when I was a kid. Fireflies are so commonplace I didn't think anything of them - but to her they were beauty personified. She was SO excited. :)
Then we hit the park. We got there too early, of course, but no worries. I was SO EXCITED I couldn't contain myself. Seriously! It'd been like SIX YEARS since I'd been there! Way too long. I told Jessie I wanted to run straight to Millenium Force, which meant nothing to her. Since she was new to Cedar Point I was nice and agreed to work my way up the roller coasters in rank of awesomeness (which meant starting with lame-o's like Disaster Transport, Iron Dragon, etc., which no experienced Cedar Pointer will ride. Because they suck).
This will mean nothing to those who haven't been, but to those who have, you can oogle and be jealous.
Here's our ride tallys:
Day 1 Tally: Coasters: Raptor x2, Blue Streak x3, WildCat x1, Iron Dragon x1, Mantis x2, Millennium x1, Cedar Creek x1, Maverick x1, Top Thrill Dragster x1, Magnum XL x5!!, Corkscrew x1, and Disaster Transport x1. Extras: Space Spiral x1, Sky Ride x1, and Erie Railroad x1. Plus Turtle and I each won prizes stumping the workers at the guessing game. Plus eating (had an elephant ear for my Mom) and walking... we got alot done!!! And we're doing it all again TOMORROW!!!! God bless Vacation. :D
Day 2 Tally: Coasters: Raptor x2, Blue Streak x2, Millennium Force x2, Maverick x1, Mean Streak x4, Mangum XL-200 x1. Extras: Thunder Canyon x1, Snake River Falls x1, Giant Wheel x1, plus hours at the Water Park. Mmm yes. Water. Sun. Relaxation.
Day 3 Tally: Coasters: Raptor x1, Blue Streak x1, Erie Railroad x1, Mantis x1, Millennium Force x3, Thunder Canyon x1, Maverick x1, Mean Streak x3, Gemini x1, Magmun XL-200 x3, Top Thrill Dragster x1
We didn't bother to see shows or do anything like that. Too much coaster riding :) By the end of trip, no joke, I had bruises on my arms and legs from the coasters.
Camera didn't do 'em justice. They looked way worse than that. No pain, no gain. XD It was so worth it. And such a crazy fun time. I FREAKING LOVE CEDAR POINT!!!
Not 2 weeks later, we were in Idaho for the 4th of July festivities, and our annual rafting trip! Got to see my cousins, and take in some fireworks with all the little cousins.
Rafting was, as always, super fun. I didn't fall out of the raft once this time, although I did smash my knee on a rock when I was swimming T_T I have a permanent scar from that. Turtle, being the cold-blooded animal she is, opted for a wetsuit. The water WAS a little chilly. But we had an awesome time.
No near death-experiences like last year though, for which I'm glad!
I also took Turtle camping in Southern Utah (though there are no pictures of that). She'd never been and needed to see how pretty it was. So we went to Capital Reef. We had fun looking at the stars, though we didn't have a very good spot since we got there after dark. We'd keep our eyes peeled. The first day we were there, we did one of the hardest hikes, and me being a genius, I put Turtle in charge of water... so we didn't bring enough. At all. And we almost died before making it back. The view was awesome though. Maybe Turtle did try and snap some photos of the summit, but I told her to enjoy with her eyes and make a memory before a camera lens will never do it justice (at least not the camera we had, or our level of skill at taking photos). That hike was about 9 miles straight up. :) Good times.
That night we'd scoped out a good stargazing spot, so we went out in a field and just watched. It was so beautiful. So many stars. So much amazingness words aren't proper. We were together in a sleeping bag in the middle of a field in the pitch black night. All of a sudden there's a noise behind us. Something BIG. Ummm, scary! So we freak and grab the flashlight and we hear pounding hooves. By the time we shine the light, there's nothing there. Okay, SCARY. Like WAY. We calm down, and start looking again. After a bit, more sounds. This time we figure out it's deer. We happen to be in the field where they SLEEP. Oops! So that was freaky. After a few more scares, we went back to camp. The last day we were there we did a river hike that I did the last time I was there. It's off the beaten path and follows a dry river-bed, going into slot canyons. The slots were flooded though, so that ended up being a disaster. I had to save Turtle from losing her shoes to vile mud. My GPS kept going haywire while we were in canyons and I didn't realize so I thought we covered ground way faster than we did, which made for an agonizing end of the hike. We had enough water this time, but it was hot, and we got tired. It was a pretty long hike. Then we hitchhiked in the back of a truck back to the park entrance and our car. That trip was way fun, and I'm definitely glad we went.
We attended various parties, and events, and hung with friends, and worked, and worked. Life was good, except when it wasn't. The friendship between Turtle and I became more and more strained. We had quite a few blow-ups. We stuck it out until September though, when we could get out of our lease and move to separate places.
After searching all around, I opted to forgo roommates and got my very own pad. Yay complete independence! This enabled me to not have to rely on anyone anymore, and I set out to build a new social life with new friends in a new city. It worked pretty well. As fall set in, and it got colder, I went out more and more, especially for hot cocoa with friends. Because there's nothing better than chatting over a steaming mug with people that you love. Turtle and I worked to redefine our spaces, and continue to be friends without all the extra. It's not been perfect, but it's going well, I'm happy to say.
I played Winter League as well, and we went undefeated 17-0. Being a champion was pretty wonderful, I must say.
Stay tuned for the wrap-up of my 2010 Adventures!
In June, I took Turtle to the Best. Place. On. Earth. Period. CEDAR POINT.
Those who have been, know. And those who have not, have not lived. Turtle always talked about the amazing coasters at Disney and 6 flags and such, and I scoffed. Because there are NOT coasters like the coasters at the Point. And now she knows this is true. We spent a whirlwind 3 days at the Point, with travel days before and after. It. was. epic.
We stayed at a super quaint place like 5 miles from the park. The first night we were there, before going to the park, we were sitting out in the hammock just talking (and trying to flip each other over, which I succeeded in, but I fell out too and hurt my knee, so fail), and as the sun was going down, Turtle started FREAKING out. Which, naturally, freaked me out as well. I tried to get her to vocalize, thinking she was having a heart attack, or saw someone out in the field, or the building was on fire, or something crazy. No. None of the above. She'd seen a LIGHTNING BUG.
LOL!!! She had not realized Ohio had them and had never seen them in such quantities. This, to an Ohioan, of course is hilarious. We used to catch them by the jar-full when I was a kid. Fireflies are so commonplace I didn't think anything of them - but to her they were beauty personified. She was SO excited. :)
Then we hit the park. We got there too early, of course, but no worries. I was SO EXCITED I couldn't contain myself. Seriously! It'd been like SIX YEARS since I'd been there! Way too long. I told Jessie I wanted to run straight to Millenium Force, which meant nothing to her. Since she was new to Cedar Point I was nice and agreed to work my way up the roller coasters in rank of awesomeness (which meant starting with lame-o's like Disaster Transport, Iron Dragon, etc., which no experienced Cedar Pointer will ride. Because they suck).
This will mean nothing to those who haven't been, but to those who have, you can oogle and be jealous.
Here's our ride tallys:
Day 1 Tally: Coasters: Raptor x2, Blue Streak x3, WildCat x1, Iron Dragon x1, Mantis x2, Millennium x1, Cedar Creek x1, Maverick x1, Top Thrill Dragster x1, Magnum XL x5!!, Corkscrew x1, and Disaster Transport x1. Extras: Space Spiral x1, Sky Ride x1, and Erie Railroad x1. Plus Turtle and I each won prizes stumping the workers at the guessing game. Plus eating (had an elephant ear for my Mom) and walking... we got alot done!!! And we're doing it all again TOMORROW!!!! God bless Vacation. :D
Day 2 Tally: Coasters: Raptor x2, Blue Streak x2, Millennium Force x2, Maverick x1, Mean Streak x4, Mangum XL-200 x1. Extras: Thunder Canyon x1, Snake River Falls x1, Giant Wheel x1, plus hours at the Water Park. Mmm yes. Water. Sun. Relaxation.
Day 3 Tally: Coasters: Raptor x1, Blue Streak x1, Erie Railroad x1, Mantis x1, Millennium Force x3, Thunder Canyon x1, Maverick x1, Mean Streak x3, Gemini x1, Magmun XL-200 x3, Top Thrill Dragster x1
We didn't bother to see shows or do anything like that. Too much coaster riding :) By the end of trip, no joke, I had bruises on my arms and legs from the coasters.
Camera didn't do 'em justice. They looked way worse than that. No pain, no gain. XD It was so worth it. And such a crazy fun time. I FREAKING LOVE CEDAR POINT!!!
Not 2 weeks later, we were in Idaho for the 4th of July festivities, and our annual rafting trip! Got to see my cousins, and take in some fireworks with all the little cousins.
Rafting was, as always, super fun. I didn't fall out of the raft once this time, although I did smash my knee on a rock when I was swimming T_T I have a permanent scar from that. Turtle, being the cold-blooded animal she is, opted for a wetsuit. The water WAS a little chilly. But we had an awesome time.
No near death-experiences like last year though, for which I'm glad!
I also took Turtle camping in Southern Utah (though there are no pictures of that). She'd never been and needed to see how pretty it was. So we went to Capital Reef. We had fun looking at the stars, though we didn't have a very good spot since we got there after dark. We'd keep our eyes peeled. The first day we were there, we did one of the hardest hikes, and me being a genius, I put Turtle in charge of water... so we didn't bring enough. At all. And we almost died before making it back. The view was awesome though. Maybe Turtle did try and snap some photos of the summit, but I told her to enjoy with her eyes and make a memory before a camera lens will never do it justice (at least not the camera we had, or our level of skill at taking photos). That hike was about 9 miles straight up. :) Good times.
That night we'd scoped out a good stargazing spot, so we went out in a field and just watched. It was so beautiful. So many stars. So much amazingness words aren't proper. We were together in a sleeping bag in the middle of a field in the pitch black night. All of a sudden there's a noise behind us. Something BIG. Ummm, scary! So we freak and grab the flashlight and we hear pounding hooves. By the time we shine the light, there's nothing there. Okay, SCARY. Like WAY. We calm down, and start looking again. After a bit, more sounds. This time we figure out it's deer. We happen to be in the field where they SLEEP. Oops! So that was freaky. After a few more scares, we went back to camp. The last day we were there we did a river hike that I did the last time I was there. It's off the beaten path and follows a dry river-bed, going into slot canyons. The slots were flooded though, so that ended up being a disaster. I had to save Turtle from losing her shoes to vile mud. My GPS kept going haywire while we were in canyons and I didn't realize so I thought we covered ground way faster than we did, which made for an agonizing end of the hike. We had enough water this time, but it was hot, and we got tired. It was a pretty long hike. Then we hitchhiked in the back of a truck back to the park entrance and our car. That trip was way fun, and I'm definitely glad we went.
We attended various parties, and events, and hung with friends, and worked, and worked. Life was good, except when it wasn't. The friendship between Turtle and I became more and more strained. We had quite a few blow-ups. We stuck it out until September though, when we could get out of our lease and move to separate places.
After searching all around, I opted to forgo roommates and got my very own pad. Yay complete independence! This enabled me to not have to rely on anyone anymore, and I set out to build a new social life with new friends in a new city. It worked pretty well. As fall set in, and it got colder, I went out more and more, especially for hot cocoa with friends. Because there's nothing better than chatting over a steaming mug with people that you love. Turtle and I worked to redefine our spaces, and continue to be friends without all the extra. It's not been perfect, but it's going well, I'm happy to say.
I played Winter League as well, and we went undefeated 17-0. Being a champion was pretty wonderful, I must say.
Stay tuned for the wrap-up of my 2010 Adventures!
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