Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Weeee!

I’m afraid of spiders.

I’m afraid of snakes.

I’m afraid of falling from great heights.

On occasion I feel a need to remind myself of things that make me scream—like this past weekend. Me, my husband and our three adorable children made a quick escape to Pennsylvania and visited Hershey Park and Dutch Wonderland. The trip was sort of our “Last Hoorah” before school started.

Kid #1 is eleven years old; things that excite him are fast, tall and usually make women and men scream like little girls.

Kid #2 is four years old; she screams like a little girl way too often and likes things that are fast and tall, but is only allowed on rides slow and short.

Kid #3 is one; she screams. Period.

To make things fair my husband and I rotated kid pairings. He and Kid #1 took off toward something called the Great Bear and the girls and I found food. Yes. Food. When the boys returned, Kid #2 and I rode a mid-level roller coaster she was tall enough to get on.

But this is all beside the point.

The point is my pairing with Kid #1. We stood in line for ten minutes to ride something called Storm Runner. It’s one of the water pressure coasters that launches riders forward at speeds capable of making your head plaster to the seat.

“Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God,” Kid #1 screamed.

Weeeeeeeee was the only thing coming from my mouth.

“Can we go on that one?” Kid #1 asked, walking down the exit ramp and pointing at a mammoth of a ride.

My fear of heights doesn’t apply to roller coasters. As long as I’m moving forward, I’m not worried about falling—and hey, the ride Kid #1 and I just got off of shot us straight up in the air at fighter jet speeds. I can handle anything. “Sure.”

But my brain wasn’t thinking logically. The other coaster shot us up and over the tall incline really fast; this coaster took a slow approach. The climb was so steep I felt as though I was sliding backwards out of my chair. Blood rushed to my head, making me feel tingly all over. Panic took control—I wanted off. My hands were sweating. I was going to fall. Someone please help me!

But my son was with me, so I had to keep these thoughts inside. We were not going to die; everyone else survived.

We reached the top, creeped over the edge and then shot straight down, up, around, sideways, in circles, upside down, this way, that. I’m blacking out. What the hell? Why am I still screaming? I need to breathe. ACK! Ride over.

I was woozy. Had to walk slow. Couldn’t think. Sweating from head to toe. What’s my name again?

I have a new fear: I’m afraid of Fahrenheit at Hershey Park.

30 comments:

  1. I'm afraid of spiders and heights as well however I'm not usually scared of roller coasters. This one you've mentioned looks like a doozy and may bring out my fear of heights. I want to ride Fahrenheit now to test this out.

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  2. Not afraid of spiders. Snakes, mice, rats and definitely fast moving roller coaster rides, terrified! You are very brave in my book. Sounds like you had a great time!

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  3. That's one wicked looking coaster! Sounds like you made one fabulous memory with the family. Way to go, mom!

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  4. You're afraid of EVERYTHING, Krystal! (You're a perfect fiction writer then, because you can make anything suspenseful!)

    j. //

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  5. Ha! My 'captcha' for that last comment was 'FEAR YA!'

    (Okay, the exclamation point was mine, but still!)

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  6. For anyone interested...here's a youtube front seat POV of the ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lqne9gTsFQ

    I highly recommend Storm Runner over Fahrenheit. ;-)

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  7. That looks like so much fun!

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  8. Yep, you're still fun.

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  9. It was fun---the next day!

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  10. OMG! Those roller coasters scare the life out of me! That moment when you slow down at the top and you know you're just about to fall - eeeeeeeek! Lovely post. x

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  11. HHTM and I are both huge roller coaster fanatics. The higher and faster they are the better. And yet I never hear her freak out than when there's a bug in the house.

    Too funny, Krystal!

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  12. @Matt--Does she run around and beg you to squish it for her?

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  13. I love roller coasters! That looks like so much fun. I want to do six flags again. My fascination with roller coasters began when I was little, which is weird because I've never liked heights, but I do love SPEED.

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  14. Anonymous9/07/2011

    I love roller coasters! I just had to live vicariously through you. ;c)

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  15. I love roller coasters... the faster, taller, crazier the better!!!! And I have kid#4 "too young to do anything but smile and look cute. Besides crawl, eat, and sleep." GREAT POST!!

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  16. Like spiders like snakes (non venomous, of course!)fascinating creatures up close and they have personality.

    Not too keen on heights but it is all programmed into me so I reprogramme myself by reframing whatever situation I'm in and remind myself that I don't need to react that way.

    I have had the benefit of some of the worlds greatest practitioners of NLP and of course given the results, I would recommend that to anybody subject to the expertise and ability and credibility of the practitioner

    Hey, why miss out. Go enjoy!

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  17. You see, before you got on that ride. Krystal. The smart thing would have been for The Carnival In My Mind to take the challenge. And let me say this, THERE IS NO WAY I WOULD GET WITHIN 3 STATES OF THAT THING;
    State 1. Conscious. State 2. Unconscious State 3.Lack of Consciousness

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  18. Fear creates great posts! Rock on my Girl!

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  19. LOL loved it! That was a really cute post! Of course now you have me all curious about this coaster....hmmm. Roadtrip! :P

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  20. Oh I feel your pain, the same kind of thing happened to me, this post brought me right back!!

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  21. Oh, Connie, if you go on that coaster...be prepared! LOL. Make sure you visit the Storm Runner though...that was amazing.

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  22. Anonymous9/08/2011

    Fun post! I feel like my mom could totally relate hahaha- I think I can totally relate...with your son....::halo:: Seriously though, really funny.

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  23. Sniffle. Regect....did you just say I'm old?

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  24. lol. I hate spiders and snakes...but I've never been on a real roller coaster so idk if I hate that. Heights make my head spin...does that mean I'm afraid??

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  25. You've never been on a real roller coaster? OMG. I'm so sad for you. Heights make me woosy and I get all nervous like the building will fall or something, but roller coasters don't have that same affect on me. Unfortunately, this roller coaster did because of its angle. You see the picture, I would not advise riding this. LOL.

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  26. I used to love Six Flags until I rode the Ninja and my head and neck were bouncing around. Rough ride. To top it off, we did the Freefall (sharp, terrible long drop in which my stomach collided with my throat; a truly pants-wetting experience. I won't be bunjee jumping, skydiving, spelunking or anything else that could kill me. Yep, I'm a chicken.

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  27. You describe it so well, I hate those blasted things, so I got a great ride without the fear. Love your opening bit as well, very funny and very enjoyable as always!

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  28. Anonymous9/16/2011

    Haha have you been to Cedar Point? There is a ride there called the Top Thrill Dragster that launches you forward at 120 mph, corkscrews you 420 feet in the air only to give you a moments breather at the top (with a beautiful view of Lake Erie by the way) only to drop you straight down another corkscrew at which point you go weightless for a moment.

    Once that's all done, the ride comes to a stop and you wobble out, wishing to go back and thinking that the hour wait was totally worth the seven seconds of awesome you just experienced.

    Man...now I want to go back! haha

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  29. Nope, never been there, Andrew. Now I want to...gee thanks! The moment at the top sounds like the best part!

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