The big trip

Warning: Vacation pictures to follow... Though this trip was awesome and full of dozens of stories and details, these things may not interest all readers. Feel free to skim. =)

So, if you know us at all or have ever read this blog you know that we just went on a trip that we've been saving for and long anticipating. We left our children with Dwayne's parents and flew to Ohio on August 11th to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I could say soooo much about this trip, but if you can believe it, the following is an abridged summary of our 6 days away. (I should note, we only took our camera to Cedar Point for 1 day because we didn't want the worry of carrying it around every day. Also, theme parks don't make for great photo locations...we're not really looking our best, and all the rides are more magnificent in person. But, this is the best we could do for giving people a glimpse of our fantastic time.)

At the park entrance.


Dwayne getting soaked on the log ride. (This was the one ride where we took turns going on because there was nowhere dry to leave the camera.)


Dwayne, post-log ride- soaking wet with the Skyhawk flying in the background.


Cedar Point in on a peninsula onto lake Erie. It's a really cool location and very beautiful. There is a big water park with access to the beach. Behind me you can see 2 yellow twisting spirals. That's the Wicked Twister. You get strapped in and it shoots you forward where you spiral all the way to the top facing forward, then you fly backwards all the way to the top of the other side facing down... 5 times. I was almost too scared to get on, but I'm glad I did. Super fun. I think we did this ride 4 or 5 times.


Millenium Force was rated the best roller coaster in the world last year. It was one of my favorite rides. Below is a picture of the way up the first drop. You can't tell from the picture, but it takes you up 310 feet and drops you down the other side at an 80 degree angle. Again, I was almost too scared to get on this one... Soooo glad I did! Oh man. When you're at the top all you can see is lake Erie for miles and miles...

This is the Power Tower. It has 2 sides- the red and the green. The green one takes you up 240 feet slowly and then drops you from the top. The red side shoots you up 240 feet from the bottom and you slowly bounce back down. I couldn't manage the green side, but I probably did the red side 10-12 times while we were there. There was NO line. You could walk on this ride for a quick adrenaline fix and head on your merry way.

This is us strapped in on the Power Tower.

This is the Top Thrill Dragster from below. This was the one ride Dwayne couldn't convince me to try. He did it twice. It shoots you out like a gun and you go from 0-120 miles per hour in 4 seconds. (yes, 120 miles/hour, basically 200km/hour...) It takes you up 420 feet where momentum then carries you over the top and you drop at a 90 degree angle back to the start. The whole ride lasts 17 seconds. This one is hilarious to watch. It's totally entertaining. They actually have bleachers beside it so you can watch everyone as they're in the cars about to be shot up in the air. Spectators are only about 12 feet from the riders. It's pretty funny. Especially the people in the front row looking up at this looming 420 tower they're about to ascend. Most have a sort of sick, "I-can't-believe-this-is-about-to-happen" look on their faces. Some are praying. Some are swearing. All of them are screaming once they take off. Awesome. This was Dwayne's biggest thrill. =)

This is MaXair. Hard to capture on film. One of my other favorite rides. It's a giant arm that swings back and forth, getting higher and higher, while the whole wheel is slowly spinning. The reason I love it is that it looks really tame, but it's crazy high and it just feels like you're free falling. It's really fun, but actually totally relaxing for me. I think I did this one 10 times too.

Aside from travel days, we had 4 full days in Ohio. After 2 days at the park, we took a day off to drive to Canton, Ohio where the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located. (We went back for a 3rd day at Cedar Point the next day.) The drive was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Lots of good bonding time for Dwayne and I with no kids. Plus, the car had XM radio so we plugged 6 of our favorite time-periods or genres of music into the pre-set dials and flipped back and forth everytime we were in the car. (Of course, we made a game of it by seeing who could name the song or artist first, complete with a point system.) =) I wasn't sure if the Hall of Fame would be that exciting for me because I LOVE football, but I'm a pretty recent fan of the NFL and thought all the old records and such would mean nothing to me. But, I'm so glad we went. It was really interesting and fun and interactive. Plus, after the Hall of Fame, we found great shopping and outlet centers, so it was a good mix of activities for the day. =)

Here we are with the Vince Lombardi trophy. Doesn't Dwayne look like he just won the Super Bowl? =) So excited!!!

Dwayne and I with the displays from our favorite teams.

So, this room is crazy! This is the actual "Hall of Fame" part of the building. Everyone who's been inducted has their own bust! It's very weird. You walk into this whole room of heads. Talk about immortalized. It feels like you're actually standing in front of Dan Marino...

(As a side note, I have to say that this place was cool, but nothing beats walking into the trophy room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. There it's like a cathedral. Stain glass vaulted ceiling, dim lighting, reverent hush, sort of like sacred territory. This wasn't the same. But still cool.) =)

Last but not least, this is the picture of the B & B where we stayed. It was about a 20 minute drive to Cedar Point. What a great choice! This big, beautiful house is almost 200 years old. It's right across the street from the home where Thomas Edison was born. Judy, our host, was superb. Our room was so comfortable and quiet and our breakfasts were yum-yummy. It was a great retreat after the busy days at Cedar Point or roaming Ohio.

So, there's some highlights for those who made it this far. I didn't get pictures of many rides, and there were many. We enjoyed them immensely. If you like rides, you have to get to Cedar Point at some point in your life. It really lives up to it's reputation as the greatest.

I LOVE going to new places. I thought Ohio was really pretty. I'm glad we got to visit it. Our kids did just fine without us, which I expected. Thanks to nana & papa for such great child care! Dwayne & I needed the break from the constant demands of parenting. If you have little kids, I totally recommend a few days without them. =) Although, we are looking forward to going back to Cedar Point in 10 years or so with both our kids in tow.