Adventure

So, yesterday I went with my friends to Islands of Adventure. The purpose of this excursion was to give my friend Kevin's foreign exchange pal a good time here in America. And a good time was had by all.

It seemed, though, like everything was against us on the trip. We left dark and early yesterday morning and stuffed eight people in an SUV that could only seat seven (though I would personally say six, tops). They said it couldn't be done, but we figured out the right arrangement.

Kevin's dad drove. As we embarked, it got unbelievably rainy. It turns out that we were being hit (though not directly) by Tropical Storm/Depression Arlene. Kevin's dad talked of turning around, but at one point the rain stopped and it became a beautiful day. So we kept on going, and we made it to Islands of Adventure at around 10 or 11 in the morning. Most of the rest of the day was uneventful, with one exception.

When I went to Islands on a class trip in May 2003, my friends and I thought we could take another ride on the Dueling Dragons twin roller coasters, but we ended up being a little late and had to run back to the bus after we were supposed to have been there. It's hard enough running from this corner of the park all the way to the bus parking lot, but try doing it while keeping track of about six of your friends. While we were running as fast as we could, I set my watch back minute by minute so we could say we didn't know we were late. I ended up setting my watch 15 minutes behind, so we arrived back at the bus right "on time." The principal and our teachers weren't amused, but we didn't get in trouble.

Back to yesterday. By the time we got to the area of the park with Dueling Dragons, the weather was beginning to look a little dreary. The lady by the entrance of the ride said that they were closing it due to lightning within a five-mile radius, but that we could go ahead and wait for it anyway. So we did. The line for this ride is extremely long and winds around not only outdoors, but indoors as well. When we walked inside we came across a bunch of people who had the same idea as us: they were determined to ride the Dueling Dragons, no matter what.

Inside the building, which was decorated like a dungeon, the line moved forward, but not because people were getting on the ride. (They constantly played a pre-recorded message over the sound system saying that the ride had been closed.) People were actually abandoning the line. But my group didn't give up. Eventually we got to the end of the line, in the area where you're supposed to get on your track of choice. But we could see that it was raining buckets outside. Relentlessly.

We sat around a bit (there was hardly anyone there by that point) and then eventually got towards the boarding areas when things started looking better. Finally, they took off the trains that had apparently been caught in the downpour and opened for business. And there was much rejoicing. So we got to ride the ride and all that, but only after having to wait for two and a half hours. I think Dueling Dragons is unlucky for me.

I took some pictures too. This one is of our group (and I took the picture).

Quentin is third from right. He didn't smile in any photograph; I think it's because he has braces or a retainer or something. Or maybe they just don't smile in France. I was looking through my photos on my camera when Quentin asked to see. When he gave my camera back, I had one less photo of him. Now, it annoys me when people refuse to be photographed, but when they destroy my photos -- my property -- I find it extremely rude. Never mind that it was a bad shot of him, anyway. It's a thought-provoking moral dilemma.

(On a similar note, my sister's friend Katherine -- third from left -- is really photogenic, even though she doesn't seem to think so. It would be cool to have her do a photo shoot or something.)

We left when the park started to close at around 8:00. We changed (the water rides left us wet), ate dinner at Friday's, and then went to our hotel to sleep.

This morning we drove to Melbourne, which Kevin's dad wanted to go to because he wanted to see the waves for which the almost-but-not-quite-coastal city is renowned. The town that is actually on the coast is called Indialantic. We ate lunch (we didn't have breakfast) at a Wendy's on the beach there. And then we drove home.