Fantastic!

So, I went to King's Island with Jake and his family today. It was pretty different from last year's trip. For one thing, we didn't make it there for the company lunch, so we stopped at a Bob Evan's somewhere along the way and had some food. We actually got to the park around 2 P.M. (and we left around 10:30-11). It took us a little longer to get there because we missed our exit and had to turn around.

Jake and his dad were up front (his dad drove), while his mom, sister and I were crammed into the backseat. It's a good thing that I'm comfortable with his family (at least the females, anyways), otherwise that might have been extremely awkward!

When we got to the park, we basically went straight for the White Water Rapids ride (after getting through the metal detectors that get angry if you have a tin of mints in your pocket). After that, we mosey-ed over to the Italian Job ride. That was actually better than I remembered it being last year. I still didn't like the fact that it went from 0 to 800 mph in about 2 seconds, though...not a big fan of that part.

After that, we stopped by the bumper cars on our way to the big log ride (not sure what it's actually called). They were fun, but I had trouble finding anyone I knew to bump into. I think they were all behind me. And when I finally did find someone, they stopped the ride...skanks.

The log ride was pretty fun, even though I was kinda scarred to get on it. They basically stick you into this big log that could hold up to 20-24 people, and they don't give you little bars to lock yourself in with, drag you up into the air about 50 feet high (that's about how high it felt, but I'm not sure about the actual height ;p), and then drop you down what can be best described as a big, curvy slide that has water running down it. When we reached the bottom, we didn't get that wet (at least our backs were dry, for the most part), but Jake decided that we should stand up on the bridge that hangs over the part of the ride where they splash the water up after coming down, and we got completely drenched! It was great! I even talked Jake into sticking around so we could do it again. And then we rode the ride again, and stood on the bridge one last time...it was great!!

By this time, it's about 6-6:15 or so, so we decide to head over to the entrance and start browsing around the shops and whatever. While the other 3 were taking a smoke break, Jake and I popped into a nearby shop and looked around for a bit. I found this green and white tie-dyed hoodie that I really liked, so I grabbed it, and Jake bought a necklace with a pirate coin on it (pirates are his thing right now, I guess).

I wanted to pick something Spongebob up for my Mom (probably to add to her Christmas presents), so Jake and I dashed over to the Nickelodeon store and I bought her a set of 4 cups that have Spongebob, Patrick, Gary and Squidward on them. I'm sure she'll love them, and they're something she doesn't have already.

We found the others after our excursion into Nick Land, and then headed over to the exit. Before we left, Mary had us pose in front of the "King's Island" sign at the head of the park so she could take a picture. I also grabbed a cup of Dip-N-Dots before we left (some sort of tropical flavored ice cream, but it was pretty good). Then we headed back to the car.

We stopped in Tipp City and went to the Frisches Big Boy there. The food was pretty good, but we were all pretty hungry and would probably have eaten almost anything. Jake's sister and I each got a slice of their deep-fried cheesecake to-go and we all headed back out to the car. We finally got back to their house around 10:30, and I was so glad to get out of the car!

All-in-all, it was a really good trip. The weather was so much better than last year's, and the lines weren't too bad. I hope that next year we get to do more rides and maybe have time for a little more shopping. :)