(no subject)
Paul: "You know what I hate?"
Andy: "What?"
Paul: "People that are uglier than me."
The Dictionary defines a milestone as something which I really don't care to look up. Most people go their entire lives and never really experience something which can truly be defined as a milestone. Fortunately enough, I am very conceited, and simple things in my life are often times considered milestones. Within these past two days, I have managed to live through not one, but three milestones.
The first of these, is obviously the most important as without it, the other three could not have happened. I am, of course, speaking of Andrew Rusin's 18th birthday. Now, I don't speak of Andrew very often, so I have to make one thing clear: He is without a doubt, the greatest person I know. All my friends are pretty swell, but Andrew and I are so alike that it's sick. And like I mentioned earlier, I'm conceited, and someone acting just like me is the ultimate compliment.
The second of these milestones happens to be this very journal entry. Yes, never in the history of the internet has something been as anticipated as this very entry. Everyone that knew I was writing it (just Andrew) have been counting down the seconds until it was posted. And now you are reading it and I can promise you that before you are done, it will change the way you read things.
The third milestone, happens to be the Pilot gas station. I'm not sure I can talk about the wonder that is Pilot right now, but trust me, it's BIG.
As Andrew and I are best friends, we chose to spend his 18th birthday together. We wanted to do something massive, and what could be bigger than a trip back to the Utopian Haven commonly known as Cedar Point. As you will all recall from my last entry, Cedar Point is the greatest amusement park in the United States, a fact generally agreed upon by just about everyone.
Our trip started the night before we left, as both Andrew and I dreamt of the next day at The Point. My dream mostly centered around the lines to get into the park. I was with Andrew, Rob Tate, and his girlfriend Sara. We were all waiting in line, and whenever I got to the front they would send me away because the line wasn't set up to deal with people that were paying with credit cards. They would direct me towards another line, but whenever I reached the front of that line, they would send me towards another one. It was annoying, but at least I got to see Rob Tate.
Andrew's dream blew mine away. I had setup a surprise party for him (which would have been the thing to do) and all his friends were gathered outside a 7-11, about to embark on our journey to Cedar Point. We were standing around and I turned to him and said "There's only one guest left." As I said this, heroic music started to play and out of 7-11 came Matt Turner. This marks the second time Andrew has had a semi-erotic dream about Turner, a fact which makes him way awesomer than most people.
So, back to things that actually happened. My alarm refused to go off (probably because it knew I was dreaming of Rob Tate) and thusly we hit the road twenty minutes later than we would have liked. We were using directions from MapQuest, and as anyone who has used MapQuest before knows, using them will result in nothing but getting you horribly lost.
Thankfully enough, it's a pretty straightforward drive. Andrew decided to show the speed limit who the boss was, shaving nearly twenty minutes off our overall time. The drive there was mostly uneventful, except for our brief stint in a castle they are building along the road. It's not a literal castle, rather massive pillars which are being erected for future use in another highway or monorail type system. Andrew commented that they reminded him of a castle, and proceeded to bounce up and down in his seat for nearly five minutes mimicking the movements he would be making if he were riding a horse. It was brilliant.
Eventually we made it to the park, which is when the real fun began. Andrew, being the kind and loving soul that he is managed to bring along two Pepsi cans which each had ten dollar discounts on them. He was nice enough to give me one, and we each got in ten bucks cheaper. The girl at the gate totally flirted with Andrew, as most girls do when they see him.
We decided the first ride of the day would be one of the most thrilling in the park, the sky ride. The sky ride resembles a ski lift and is probably a little less thrilling. It takes you from the front of the park, towards a little further down in the front of the park. The time it takes to stand in line could easily be spent walking the distance that the sky ride covers. Needless to say, Andrew and I both had a great time on this. Thankfully, it did drop us off right near our favorite ride, Mantis. Being awesome, we didn't go on it, instead choosing to walk around a little bit. I forced Andrew to eat some food, and then we walked back towards the Mantis. We were faced with a 45 minute wait, which turned out to be pretty tolerable. The Mantis turned out to be a great opening ride, certainly one of the best in the park.
After that, it was time for something I had never experienced before, The Millennium Force (300 ft, 93 mph). The line was pretty damn long, and we waited for well over an hour. There was a DJ who promised to play Britney's "Toxic" but I don't think he ever did. Eventually we got to the front of the line. We wanted to wait for the first car, but the queue was insanely long, so we got in the one for the last car instead. The drop on The Force was huge and pretty awesome. The speed definitely makes for a great ride. Turns out, the Force is probably my third favorite coaster in the park. Big drops and top speeds are fun, but I prefer the twists and turns of coasters like The Raptor and The Mantis. My biggest problem was that the payoff hadn't really been worth the wait. Still, good experience which I got to brag about.
After that it was time for The Raptor which I love dearly. There was hardly a line, and we waited about five minutes. It was rad, as always. Once we had successfully "kicked the sky", we decided it was time for the Magnum (200ft, I think about 70 mph). Again, another coaster I had never been on before. The line for this was about as long as The Raptor, and the lack of waiting definitely makes things better. As I had been told, the view from atop the Magnum is incredible. You get to look out at the rest of the rest of the park as well as the lake and it's just awesome. The ride itself is also very fun, and being in the back resulted in some fun moments of weightlessness over the last few hills.
At this point, we either road the Mantis again or got in line for the Top Thrill Dragster. As I have already mentioned the Mantis, I will talk about our Dragster experience. The Dragster is the tallest and fastest feem in the world. The drop is 400 feet, and it sends you off at 120 mph. Because of the height/and speed, people with glasses are treated like shit as to avoid losing them. I took my glasses off as we passed the first guy, but later in line, some stupid fuckass caught me and told me I either had to go purchase a strap or put them in a locker. Apparently normal pockets aren't good enough, even though everything else I had in my pocket was perfectly safe. Thankfully for us, the people behind us heard what was going on and were all like "Fuck you, dick" and offered to take my glasses and store them in their fanny pack. We thanked them and continued on in line which was the longest we had to wait in all day.
It was boring and the ride was pretty intimidating. I didn't really want to go on it, but Andrew did as he is a trooper. Eventually we made it to the front, which resulted in even more waiting. We got seats in the front, and eventually took our turn on the ride. I don't know how long it takes to get from 0-120, but as the entire ride takes about 10 seconds, it isn't very long. You know in movies when people are going really fast and you see their mouths stretch open? Well, that actually happens. The speed and the drop were cool, just like the force, but the length of the ride, and the time it takes to wait were not cool. I had fun though, and if there weren't the problem of the line, I would have enjoyed the ride a lot more.
As I had conquered my fear and rode upon the Dragster, Andrew agreed to go on the Iron Dragon with me. The Dragon is pretty tame, but I really wanted to ride it in order to see Marcy. She hadn't been around last time, and I was hoping she'd be there for us this time. As luck would have it, she was and I became extremely excited. She saw the two of us, gave me a hug, and we chatted it up for a bit. I told her about Andrew's birthday, and she proceeded to make up lies about a fake card. She is the best. She continued on by making fun of our hair, and then slamming the seat shut on Andrew. She asked us to come visit again and we lied and said we would.
The ride was boring and stupid. When we finished we hit the Mantis again which resulted in more good times. After that, it was time to eat. Andrew bought me a hotdog even though it was his birthday. The girl that took our order was stupid and could hardly speak the language and she purposely sabotaged our hot dogs. They were quite disgusting, and leaked an odd juice which probably contributed to the lack of taste.
After we finished eating, we were feeling pretty lazy and didn't want to do much. We sat around for awhile, and then decided on riding the train. The train was gross and stupid and we got off as soon as we could and took a ride on the Mean Streak. I don't know what it is, but for some reason I love the Mean Streak. It literally beats the shit out of your back, and for some reason I find that fun.
We walked back towards the front of the park, still feeling lazy. Andrew really wanted to try the Disaster Transport, and I wasn't going to let him down on his birthday. We got stuck in line with an annoying little kid. He kept coming up to each of us and saying "Mr. how long till we get to the ride?" I answered him once, and then we each ignored him. His family kept yelling at him but he didn't seem to care. I was really hoping that he would hug Andrew, but alas it did not happen. We rode the ride and it sucked.
After this, the day was a blur. The lines had pretty much died down on most of the rides. We hit up The Raptor a couple times in a row, and then it was off to The Mantis where we spent most of our remaining time. One of the people working the ride actually started to remember who we were as we rode it so many times in a row.
Andrew decided he wanted our last ride to be special, so once again we joined the longass queue for the Millennium Force. The sun went down and the lights in the park went on. The Millennium Force lights up like a rainbow, which I found kind of odd, but it still looked pretty neat. The line was a bitch, but it was the last ride of the day so it was worth it. We got the last car again, and went out with a bang. Though I do prefer other rides, The Millennium Force was an awesome way to close the day.
We left the park around 10:30, and actually got back on the road around 11. Map Quest managed to get us lost as hell, but thankfully enough, we managed to get where we were supposed to be going though I think we went out of the way. When we made it back to Michigan, we were pretty low on gas (even though we'd filled up on the way there. Andrew's gas tank is like the size of a bean. A sexy bean. Like his sister, who we call Bean.) and we stopped at a Pilot Gas Station. Pilot seriously revolutionizes the way you pump gas. Don't ask me to explain their futuristic technology, but if you ever happen to stumble upon a Pilot station, you are a lucky person.
After filling up with Pilot gas, we were able to make it home in record time. Andrew and I said our goodbyes, and then it was off to my bed for 13 hours of undisturbed sleep. Without a doubt, the best day I've had all summer. I'm really looking forward to going back again, a trip I intend to make soon.
Keef and I were throwing around dates tonight, and right now the tentative date is July 6th. I'm wary about this, being so close to a holiday and all, but it's really the best day for Keef to be able to go. I'm going to extend some personal invites to people that don't reply, but if you are reading this odds are, your presence on the trip would be welcome. Give me some feedback as to how the date works out (yes, cheap excuse to get comments) and we'll see what we can work out.
Andy: "What?"
Paul: "People that are uglier than me."
The Dictionary defines a milestone as something which I really don't care to look up. Most people go their entire lives and never really experience something which can truly be defined as a milestone. Fortunately enough, I am very conceited, and simple things in my life are often times considered milestones. Within these past two days, I have managed to live through not one, but three milestones.
The first of these, is obviously the most important as without it, the other three could not have happened. I am, of course, speaking of Andrew Rusin's 18th birthday. Now, I don't speak of Andrew very often, so I have to make one thing clear: He is without a doubt, the greatest person I know. All my friends are pretty swell, but Andrew and I are so alike that it's sick. And like I mentioned earlier, I'm conceited, and someone acting just like me is the ultimate compliment.
The second of these milestones happens to be this very journal entry. Yes, never in the history of the internet has something been as anticipated as this very entry. Everyone that knew I was writing it (just Andrew) have been counting down the seconds until it was posted. And now you are reading it and I can promise you that before you are done, it will change the way you read things.
The third milestone, happens to be the Pilot gas station. I'm not sure I can talk about the wonder that is Pilot right now, but trust me, it's BIG.
As Andrew and I are best friends, we chose to spend his 18th birthday together. We wanted to do something massive, and what could be bigger than a trip back to the Utopian Haven commonly known as Cedar Point. As you will all recall from my last entry, Cedar Point is the greatest amusement park in the United States, a fact generally agreed upon by just about everyone.
Our trip started the night before we left, as both Andrew and I dreamt of the next day at The Point. My dream mostly centered around the lines to get into the park. I was with Andrew, Rob Tate, and his girlfriend Sara. We were all waiting in line, and whenever I got to the front they would send me away because the line wasn't set up to deal with people that were paying with credit cards. They would direct me towards another line, but whenever I reached the front of that line, they would send me towards another one. It was annoying, but at least I got to see Rob Tate.
Andrew's dream blew mine away. I had setup a surprise party for him (which would have been the thing to do) and all his friends were gathered outside a 7-11, about to embark on our journey to Cedar Point. We were standing around and I turned to him and said "There's only one guest left." As I said this, heroic music started to play and out of 7-11 came Matt Turner. This marks the second time Andrew has had a semi-erotic dream about Turner, a fact which makes him way awesomer than most people.
So, back to things that actually happened. My alarm refused to go off (probably because it knew I was dreaming of Rob Tate) and thusly we hit the road twenty minutes later than we would have liked. We were using directions from MapQuest, and as anyone who has used MapQuest before knows, using them will result in nothing but getting you horribly lost.
Thankfully enough, it's a pretty straightforward drive. Andrew decided to show the speed limit who the boss was, shaving nearly twenty minutes off our overall time. The drive there was mostly uneventful, except for our brief stint in a castle they are building along the road. It's not a literal castle, rather massive pillars which are being erected for future use in another highway or monorail type system. Andrew commented that they reminded him of a castle, and proceeded to bounce up and down in his seat for nearly five minutes mimicking the movements he would be making if he were riding a horse. It was brilliant.
Eventually we made it to the park, which is when the real fun began. Andrew, being the kind and loving soul that he is managed to bring along two Pepsi cans which each had ten dollar discounts on them. He was nice enough to give me one, and we each got in ten bucks cheaper. The girl at the gate totally flirted with Andrew, as most girls do when they see him.
We decided the first ride of the day would be one of the most thrilling in the park, the sky ride. The sky ride resembles a ski lift and is probably a little less thrilling. It takes you from the front of the park, towards a little further down in the front of the park. The time it takes to stand in line could easily be spent walking the distance that the sky ride covers. Needless to say, Andrew and I both had a great time on this. Thankfully, it did drop us off right near our favorite ride, Mantis. Being awesome, we didn't go on it, instead choosing to walk around a little bit. I forced Andrew to eat some food, and then we walked back towards the Mantis. We were faced with a 45 minute wait, which turned out to be pretty tolerable. The Mantis turned out to be a great opening ride, certainly one of the best in the park.
After that, it was time for something I had never experienced before, The Millennium Force (300 ft, 93 mph). The line was pretty damn long, and we waited for well over an hour. There was a DJ who promised to play Britney's "Toxic" but I don't think he ever did. Eventually we got to the front of the line. We wanted to wait for the first car, but the queue was insanely long, so we got in the one for the last car instead. The drop on The Force was huge and pretty awesome. The speed definitely makes for a great ride. Turns out, the Force is probably my third favorite coaster in the park. Big drops and top speeds are fun, but I prefer the twists and turns of coasters like The Raptor and The Mantis. My biggest problem was that the payoff hadn't really been worth the wait. Still, good experience which I got to brag about.
After that it was time for The Raptor which I love dearly. There was hardly a line, and we waited about five minutes. It was rad, as always. Once we had successfully "kicked the sky", we decided it was time for the Magnum (200ft, I think about 70 mph). Again, another coaster I had never been on before. The line for this was about as long as The Raptor, and the lack of waiting definitely makes things better. As I had been told, the view from atop the Magnum is incredible. You get to look out at the rest of the rest of the park as well as the lake and it's just awesome. The ride itself is also very fun, and being in the back resulted in some fun moments of weightlessness over the last few hills.
At this point, we either road the Mantis again or got in line for the Top Thrill Dragster. As I have already mentioned the Mantis, I will talk about our Dragster experience. The Dragster is the tallest and fastest feem in the world. The drop is 400 feet, and it sends you off at 120 mph. Because of the height/and speed, people with glasses are treated like shit as to avoid losing them. I took my glasses off as we passed the first guy, but later in line, some stupid fuckass caught me and told me I either had to go purchase a strap or put them in a locker. Apparently normal pockets aren't good enough, even though everything else I had in my pocket was perfectly safe. Thankfully for us, the people behind us heard what was going on and were all like "Fuck you, dick" and offered to take my glasses and store them in their fanny pack. We thanked them and continued on in line which was the longest we had to wait in all day.
It was boring and the ride was pretty intimidating. I didn't really want to go on it, but Andrew did as he is a trooper. Eventually we made it to the front, which resulted in even more waiting. We got seats in the front, and eventually took our turn on the ride. I don't know how long it takes to get from 0-120, but as the entire ride takes about 10 seconds, it isn't very long. You know in movies when people are going really fast and you see their mouths stretch open? Well, that actually happens. The speed and the drop were cool, just like the force, but the length of the ride, and the time it takes to wait were not cool. I had fun though, and if there weren't the problem of the line, I would have enjoyed the ride a lot more.
As I had conquered my fear and rode upon the Dragster, Andrew agreed to go on the Iron Dragon with me. The Dragon is pretty tame, but I really wanted to ride it in order to see Marcy. She hadn't been around last time, and I was hoping she'd be there for us this time. As luck would have it, she was and I became extremely excited. She saw the two of us, gave me a hug, and we chatted it up for a bit. I told her about Andrew's birthday, and she proceeded to make up lies about a fake card. She is the best. She continued on by making fun of our hair, and then slamming the seat shut on Andrew. She asked us to come visit again and we lied and said we would.
The ride was boring and stupid. When we finished we hit the Mantis again which resulted in more good times. After that, it was time to eat. Andrew bought me a hotdog even though it was his birthday. The girl that took our order was stupid and could hardly speak the language and she purposely sabotaged our hot dogs. They were quite disgusting, and leaked an odd juice which probably contributed to the lack of taste.
After we finished eating, we were feeling pretty lazy and didn't want to do much. We sat around for awhile, and then decided on riding the train. The train was gross and stupid and we got off as soon as we could and took a ride on the Mean Streak. I don't know what it is, but for some reason I love the Mean Streak. It literally beats the shit out of your back, and for some reason I find that fun.
We walked back towards the front of the park, still feeling lazy. Andrew really wanted to try the Disaster Transport, and I wasn't going to let him down on his birthday. We got stuck in line with an annoying little kid. He kept coming up to each of us and saying "Mr. how long till we get to the ride?" I answered him once, and then we each ignored him. His family kept yelling at him but he didn't seem to care. I was really hoping that he would hug Andrew, but alas it did not happen. We rode the ride and it sucked.
After this, the day was a blur. The lines had pretty much died down on most of the rides. We hit up The Raptor a couple times in a row, and then it was off to The Mantis where we spent most of our remaining time. One of the people working the ride actually started to remember who we were as we rode it so many times in a row.
Andrew decided he wanted our last ride to be special, so once again we joined the longass queue for the Millennium Force. The sun went down and the lights in the park went on. The Millennium Force lights up like a rainbow, which I found kind of odd, but it still looked pretty neat. The line was a bitch, but it was the last ride of the day so it was worth it. We got the last car again, and went out with a bang. Though I do prefer other rides, The Millennium Force was an awesome way to close the day.
We left the park around 10:30, and actually got back on the road around 11. Map Quest managed to get us lost as hell, but thankfully enough, we managed to get where we were supposed to be going though I think we went out of the way. When we made it back to Michigan, we were pretty low on gas (even though we'd filled up on the way there. Andrew's gas tank is like the size of a bean. A sexy bean. Like his sister, who we call Bean.) and we stopped at a Pilot Gas Station. Pilot seriously revolutionizes the way you pump gas. Don't ask me to explain their futuristic technology, but if you ever happen to stumble upon a Pilot station, you are a lucky person.
After filling up with Pilot gas, we were able to make it home in record time. Andrew and I said our goodbyes, and then it was off to my bed for 13 hours of undisturbed sleep. Without a doubt, the best day I've had all summer. I'm really looking forward to going back again, a trip I intend to make soon.
Keef and I were throwing around dates tonight, and right now the tentative date is July 6th. I'm wary about this, being so close to a holiday and all, but it's really the best day for Keef to be able to go. I'm going to extend some personal invites to people that don't reply, but if you are reading this odds are, your presence on the trip would be welcome. Give me some feedback as to how the date works out (yes, cheap excuse to get comments) and we'll see what we can work out.