Top Thrill Dragster

0-120mph in 4.0 seconds. Wow.
Jodi and I went to Ohio for Memorial Day weekend for the Ohio wedding reception for those who couldn’t make it to Texas. There are tons of stories from the weekend…and in thinking about it, I figured the best approach would be chronological. Here we go.
We arrived at Cleveland airport at about 11:30 Wednesday night, and took the long shuttle ride to the Hertz counter. I’m a gold customer because of IBM, so we just headed straight to the board that lists your name with the parking spot of your car. M128. I saw the number, but the letter didn’t seem to match with the row. Oh well, it’s the only “128″ spot here. As we round the corner, the car cast a silver glow and shined brightly from the hood ornament, as though a lone spotlight shone down from the clouds. A Jaguar XJ8?!? But I had registered for an economy car! We spun on our heels to head back to the gold counter to verify the treasure we had just discovered. I calmly explained that I must have gone to the wrong parking spot and would you kindly direct me to M128? A few clicks on the keyboard verified that we did, in fact, have the Jag (that’s what we called it). She said they were low on inventory, gold customers have priority, and have a good time. We’re off! Jodi slid into the soft leather seat, and reached behind her head to adjust the headrest. At first she was calm in searching for the adjustment lever or clip or whatever but soon started yanking with alarming strength. Me, being of much higher socioeconomic stature than Jodi (just kidding moms!), realized that this new-fangled thingie might just have one of them electronic switches. It did. Glad we didn’t break it! There are buttons that we never did figure out. (Incidentally, Jaguars tend to have problems. This one had a warning indicator that said “bonnet open” the whole time we drove it, and even more disconcerting, occasionally flashed the passenger side airbag indicator light.)
I wonder if any family thought we had a wad of money burning holes in our pockets…or if they thought we had suddenly turned to prudes who could drive nothing less than the best on our trips to crusty Ohio.
We drove to my cousin’s house in New London for the night (thanks Becky!). Thursday morning we headed up to Cedar Point. We hit the amusement park with more roller coasters, and more world-record holding roller coasters, than any other park in the world on a day with very low attendance (school’s not out yet!), though every mentally challenged person in the midwest was there from the looks of it (it was a special day, to say the least). We headed straight for the Top Thrill Dragster. This coaster accelerates from 0-120 in 4.0 seconds parallel to the ground, then turns 90 degrees to the sky, cresting at 420 feet, and falling back down to earth again perpendicular to the ground, and again reaching 120mph. Talk about a rush! To put this in perspective, this coaster is over 100 feet taller than the Texas state capitol building! AWESOME!!
There are a total of 16 coasters at Cedar Point, but the best one is the Milleneum Force at 310 feet tall and 93mph. This is a traditional coaster in terms of its construction, but not in size/length/adrenaline, etc. Wow. We rode it three times.
The coasters we rode are bold:

• Top Thrill Dragster
• Wicked Twister
• Milleneum Force
• Blue Streak
• Cedar Creek Mine Ride
• Corkscrew
• Distaster Transport
• Gemini
• Iron Dragon
• Jr. Gemini
• Magnum XL 200
• Mantis
• Mean Streak
• Raptor
• Wildcat
• Woodstock Express

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with friends and family. Jodi got to meet a huge pile of people. We spent most of our time with my sister and her family. Julie is one year old and thinks everyone is dadda. Hugs are kisses. She naps when she’s supposed to and smiles for everything. Anthony is three and can alternate winks. He smiles at everything too and his most common phrase right now is “what’d you say?” We all agree that he really does hear, but chooses not to listen. He fights naps creatively.
The reception was beautiful. Some relatives drove from as far away as seven hours just to spend two hours there. Very sweet. The reception was fairly informal, though decorated nicely, with great appetizers, a video of the wedding, free superballs, and a photo feast. Thanks so much to all family and friends who worked so hard to set it up!! …especially Mom! Thanks extra! It was fantastic! Pictures!