On the Road Again

Travel day tomorrow. I probably won't make very good time with a U-Haul trailer. But, I got a sleeper sofa! I can cross that off a very old to-do list.

Get this: one of my friends placed #58 out of around 1,200 competitors in the Danskin triathlon. I know, I know, I said it wasn't about times. But c'mon, #58!!

To celebrate we went to MGM Studios - OK I'm skipping the part where we had wine and froofroo drinks by the pool at the Contemporary resort - but anyway, we went on Star Tours, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. This morning, after one of our group threw up and the rest of us had sore backs and necks, we all agreed that we were too old. I believe I called out for a defibrillator once the Tower of Terror found terra firma. Not very funny in retrospect, but I don't think I was being funny at the time, either.

But we were glad we did it. Not because it was fun, but because it proved, for the umpteenth time in our extended adolescences, that we are not chicken. I bought the pictures they take at the most frightening moment of the ride as evidence. Our hair under those conditions is the most frightening thing of all.

You know you're getting old when you're just as thrilled by the quality of set decoration in the queue-up area as by the ride itself.

So I'm retiring from at least one Disney thrill ride - but at least my very last ride on Tower of Terror was a doozy. I'd say we took about 4 or 5 big plunges, and got weightless on the way up one time as well. Unbelievable.

If you've never been on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster, let me just say: start bracing as soon as you get in the car. Best to go ahead and put your head back against the headrest. Now that I've survived it, I read that it launches you from 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds, with the force of an F-14. This is information I was not provided in advance, probably with good reason.

You know how there's always one person in the group who says, "no, c'mon, it's not that bad, you have to do it"? And then, once you've stood in line for 20 minutes and are actually approaching the boarding area, said person suddenly starts to look a little queasy and says something like, "I don't know if this is such a good idea"?

Yeah. She was with me. I have the pictures to prove it.

I love my friends. We are far cooler and more bonded than any of those chicks in the silly chick movies. We don't go around saying Ya-Ya. We do tend to burp a lot in each others' presence, though, for reasons likely linked to Cooler Ranch Doritos and Starbucks Frappucino drinks.

It was 89 degrees in Orlando today. I'll try not to bring it back with me.