6 Flags Trip

I don't know who was more excited about our 6 Flags trip, Rhett or myself. I let him ride in a van with the boys while I rode with my friend Nancy and our preacher's wife Katherine although I was a bit leery about it. What if something happened to him in the van? But I got over it. Nancy about froze me out in my shorts I'd bought in the men's dept of JCPenney's the day before. They were softer and had more pockets than the women's shorts! I wore my matching beige G. R. I. T. S. (Girls Raised In the South) cap. I'd taken my buttons from my black New Mexico hat and put them on it. We all wore our new yellow Church of Christ t-shirts proudly. They probably "stuck out like sore thumbs", but they were our sore thumbs and a welcome site to my eyes. Some wore their turquoise ones from last year. Maybe we'll get neon green next year...

We stopped & had breakfast at a McDonald's on the way in a town that started with an H. We had family members with that name, but I can't remember it now. Rhett didn't eat much because he was so excited. I gave his sausage biscuit to someone.

I took Rhett's Rugrats back pack for all our stuff such as sunscreen, gum, camera his swimsuit, and towel while I held Don's small insulated camo bag to hold 2 small bottles of frozen water & a Pepsi in my hand. These were "felt" as we entered the park. I guess they didn't feel like a gun so I was allowed to enter.

I tried to be the "fearless" mom so Rhett wouldn't be scared to ride the rides. I couldn't believe Rhett wanted to ride the water logs first off the bat. He did good, but I don't think he liked getting wet. My glasses were dripping with water. I didn't bring my glass case with the good cleaning rag. Then we rode the runnaway mine train roller coaster. My head hit his little cheek and I know it hurt. He told me I couldn't ride with him on anything else, but of course I did. He kept telling everyone "My momma rode the Scream Machine 13 times!"

What I really loved about this trip was the way we all looked out for each other. Some of the other people would ride stuff with Rhett and I so we would not be by ourselves. We all stuck togther. The I-fear-nothing-boys and preacher went their own way to ride the rides I wouldn't dare put my big toe upon. To each his own.

The food we were served wasn't the best. The potato salad had been sitting in the sun for hours but I didn't get any of it. It was too hot to eat anyway. After that, we headed to the Scream Machine area. I just couldn't get my nerve up to ride it muchless let Rhett. I couldn't believe I'd ridden it before 13 times and still lived to tell the tale. Of course I couldn't hardly walk the next day. I certainly did not want to ride anything after eating so we headed to Skull Island where Rhett changed into his bathing suit. Luckily Nancy had told me to bring his suit & a towel for this. He went downt he smallest slide, but got water up his nose and just mostly played in the water. By the time we got back towards the Scream Machine, Drew and his girlfriend were bungee jumping while his mom took digital pictures of it. Then we saw Tiffany who was pale and looking as if she was going to barf at any moment. She had just gotten off the Scream Machine. That settled it for Rhett and myself. Even she said Rhett didn't need to ride it. We did bumper cars next. Rhett drove, but I had to help with the steering some.

He wanted to change out of his swim clothes back into his regular clothes after the bumper cars. I stopped at one drink booth to see if I could get a free cup of ice. He was next to the thing where you hit the spot with the sledge hammer & if you ring the bell you get a price. It cost $5 but it was his money. Luckily he got over 100 points so he won something. He got a superman's cape! I was able to get a free small cup of ice. While waiting in line, a man behind me asked if I had any sunscreen (probably because I looked like I badly needed it). He said he'd pay me for it but I wouldn't let him. I poured some in his hand. He had on flip flops and the top of his feet were really red. So I did my good deed for the day. If I had not, he may not have been able to walk the next day. If I had been anywhere else, I would have been leery of him.

We road the monster plantation boats. Rhett & Tiffany sat up front. Once we entered the darkness, I noticed how close he got to Tiffany. Nancy & I laughed about it. Nancy said, "You couldn't get a piece of paper between them." It was really a rather corny ride to me. I remembered it being scarier when I was in jr high. He rode one swing ride by himself. We rode another swing ride shaped like balloons together. He was on one side and I was on the other. I knew he was scared. I didn't particularly like it now myself. I told him to close his eyes and he did. I closed mine too. After it was over, he seemed to like it. Next he drove the antique cars SLOWLY.

We all headed to hear what we thought was a devotional were we got free ice cream with not so cold drinks. We sat on the curb in the shade. The ice cream melted & got all over us. Tiffany bought one of the tapes of the group singing 50's music, but their cd was religious oriented. We began to make our way back to the where we entered the park. At the bathroom I decided to wet a paper towel with cold water to wipe my face, neck, etc to cool off. Should have thought of that sooner; should have worn Kool Ties, but didn't know where mine were. I know I gave one to Don. If those were sold there, they would have made a small fortune! It started clouding up. I thought I saw lightning, but thought it was the flash of camera. It wasn't a camera flash. They shut down the rides. They shut down Goliath just as the preacher and the wild boys were about to get on it. Dillion was really mad. It happened to them last year. So we started heading to the vans. We made it before it started raining.

At first, the air in the car felt really good but, Nancy nearly froze me out and her blanket was in the trunk of the car! We stopped in Newnan at a Golden Corral to eat dinner. While I was at the food bar, my cell phone went off playing "Mandy". It was mom calling to check on us. I couldn't remember what eating place we were at & Carol had to tell me which was funny. The food was good. I sat with Rhett & some of the other kids. Savannah was mocking Casey but Casey was laughing with her about it. It was rather funny.

I talked with Katherine and Nancy about moving up to Indiana on the ride back. Katherine was very understanding. We got back to the church before 11 pm. When we got home, we discovered Jason and his family were on their way down from Indy and were spending the night with us! Rhett and I were too tired to wait up for them.