Monthly Archives: August 2009
Before and after
Here I am, standing in line for the Diamondback ride at King’s Island.
And here Summer and I are after the ride. Note the Diet Coke Der Bingle purchased for me to help settle my motion sick stomach. This is before the wait for the White Water Canyon Ride and the subsequent ride . . . which was eventful.
Yeah, THE ride. DIAMONDBACK
factoids: New in 2009 is Diamondback – the tallest, fastest and meanest roller coaster to ever strike Kings Island. Diamondback stands 230 feet at its highest point with a first drop of 215 feet at a 74 degree angle and snakes its way around 5,282 feet of track in excess of 80 miles per hour! The ride features 10 vertical drops overall including drops of 193, 131, 129, 110 and 106 feet, two helixes – one at 323 degrees and the other at 287 degrees – and a spectacular splashdown ending.
They have a new name for me at the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse: Ms. STUPID.
Many stories from the trip
It is Sunday morning and here I sit again in my little place here at the PBC&R Cafe. They didn’t exactly have to carry me out here, but I did pretty much make a bee-line to the spot, followed by mighty plop. We had our trip; Summer had her birthday; Grandpa made a special effort to arrange to spend half of the day at Kings Island with her; we parked really close; the park was not crowded; we stayed until closing; we got caught in a huge traffic construction jam and it took two hours for the 45 minute trip home to the Ohio Redoubt Apartment. Fortunately, the AF base and the Wright State University made it profitable for pizza places to be open and delivering after midnight; we retrieved Sydney from Mother’s; we had a cake with a frog picture on it.
Oh . . . and there is the tale of “well, grandpa rode Diamondback and so grandma did and that led to the gma eventually hurling FIVE times on the white water canyon” . . .
Later. I will get into details. With pictures.
A little trippie
We are off to Ohio and Kings Island – Alison, Summer and I. Tomorrow Summer will be 13 and I will be 10 – count them: 1,2,3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 10 – years older than when she came. Ten years. Yes, I know I skipped 9, but 7 ate 9, don’tcha know. Anyway, the Summer birthday thing is the reason we are headed off on this trip.
Now I have to run around like a chicken with her head cut off to get ready. HA! Like I will ever be ready.
Aha! So this is the movie . . .
When Glenda was here she mentioned the movie Julie & Julia and asked if I were going to see it. Well, I hadn’t heard of it, nor seen a preview. But just a few minutes ago, I did. There was Meryl Streep, accent and all and food, food, food and stoves and food accidents . . . and yes, I will be going to that movie.
Teetering
Did I spell that correctly? That teetering word. It’s not one that I write too often. Well, okay, I am not getting a dashed redline heads-up so it is probably right. Actually, it’s starting to look okay to me now.
See, that’s the start of my day; I feel as if I am teetering on the top of a peak and could lean and go any way. Not that by saying “peak” I am implying that all possibilities are downhill. No, no. Leaning a certain way might actually land me on the raft of good humor. You guffawed, didn’t you? Or snorted? How is it you get the feeling that is probably not the prevailing wind of my personality? Oh, yeah, experience.
I am starting to get a hint of the day’s direction and it is the path of Chicken Little. That’s probably too extreme. Maybe it’s the “I never birthed no babies, Miss Scarlett” frenzy coming on.
Of course, there is the remote possibility that this might be the first teeter on a journey of assuming the determined and commanding demeanor of General George S. Patton . . . It would be easier, though, if I had a tank.
I’m back
Yes, yes, I know that I said I’d be back sometime yesterday, but I goofed up, okay? I’m here now, and in a pretty good mood after having three cousins – my dad’s nieces stop by.
Here they are, plus my dad’s great-granddaughter:
Susie, Summer of a later generation, Glenda and Ann.
We sat out on the porch here at the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse and talked about whatever and what was. Summer, of course, just made a brief appearance because I forced her.
Glenda called from the Village View Bed&Breakfast to give me a report – and it was good. They are staying in this room – the Upson. Glenda also told me the lady who greeted them, and I am assuming it is the one who runs the place, is very nice. The village the name refers to is Howe, Indiana and it used to be known as Lima. My grandmother graduated from Lima High School in 1900; I wonder if she ever stared out a school window and looked at a place where her granddaughter’s cousins would spend a couple of nights 109 years later. Probably not. Although I sometimes drive by a prison and wonder if someday I will be visiting my granddaughter there.
Hey, don’t get on my case . . . her grandpa and great-grandmother figure she doesn’t need a college fund as much as a bail money fund.
The second of August
Blue . . . ACK, ACK. Der Bingle just put a Diet Coke in the cooler before leaving for the Ohio Redoubt after having loaded up with the cold ones that spent the night in ice . . . and it exploded. Right in his face. On his glasses. We couldn’t type that fast so this isn’t really live blogging; it’s delay blogging and we did censor out one word.
As I was saying, blue skies are outside and the radar map shows the rain to the east. And now, I’ve forgotten what I was going to say. Okay, I’ll be back later.