Cedar Point

Last Friday we took a trip to Cedar Point for a day of roller coasters, food, fun, and laughs. We rode Max Air to get started and then headed for Millennium Force. After that we rode The Mantis.

Next we rode the Raptor, several water rides, the Gemini (about 8 times - I spoiled the ride one time. The Gemini is the old wooden roller coaster with two tracks. The car on one side can race the car on the other side. We got ready to take off one time though and I gave a high five to someone standing in line after we started moving. So the guy running the roller coaster stopped our car and warned me not to do that. We started way behind the other group. Sorry for "single handedly" ruining that ride.)

After the Gemini we rode the Dragster (the best ride there - definitely worth the wait). And we finished the day with a ride on the Power Tower. See pictures below.

The first ride of the day (a great ride to warm up with - similar to the Delirium at King's Island)

Joel standing by Millennium Force (notice the riders behind him).

We got a little obsessed in line with trying to take pictures with people riding the ride in the background (we needed to find some entertaining way to burn the time).

One more...sorry!

Picture of Jordan and Joel riding in the front seat on Millennium Force.

The picture I took to send into Pepsi for a Diet Pepsi advertisement. The misting fan in the background...downing an ice cold Diet Pepsi...so refreshing!

Lunch time...thanks to Holly for the ham salad...mmmm!

You know those people at the entrance to amusement parks who want to take your picture and then try to get you to buy the picture they took later...we decided to take their picture. Here is Joel posing with a few of them...they didn't want to buy it for some reason though.

Natalie getting ready to ride the Raptor.

Greasy Yummy French Fries Break

The Dragster while we were waiting in line...awesome!

We decided to take pictures of random people on our way out of the park. Joel posed with this couple...not sure what that guy is trying to do to that penguin. Glad they were good sports.

I snapped this picture of a family posing for a family picture. The mom was trying to get them all lined up and ready, so I stepped up and snapped a quick one. They loved it.

This guy was selling glow in the dark stuff. I walked right up and took the picture without saying anything...I think I confused him.

Golf Trip 2007

This past weekend I went to Kentucky for the annual "Carp Classic." I drove down with my dad and good friend Matt to meet the other guys who went for a weekend golfing marathon. This year there were 28 guys (slightly down from last year). We also changed our location for this year. Because of some trouble at the course last year, we decided to take a one year break and try some other place. The name is Bright Leaf Resort. I couldn't believe it, but when I got there I realized that this was the same place that my Grandpa and I went for spring break one year with a friend of mine and his grandpa to play golf when I was in middle school. It's a small world.

We left Thursday afternoon and arrived Thursday night around 10:00 pm. Since they had a lighted 9 hole par 3 course, we decided to get things started right by playing a few holes that night. So we played 12 holes on the par 3 course. The last hole was completely in the dark because they turned the lights out on us.

We went to bed around 12:30 am Thursday night and woke up at 5:00 am so that we were around and ready for a 7:00 am tee time. We played 18 holes Friday morning. My team was Ron, Randy, and my dad. We finished 6 under par in third place. We ate lunch at the resort restaurant (see pictures).

We got started with the afternoon round on Friday at 12:30 pm. My team in the afternoon was Jamie, Tim, and Jim. We finished 7 under par and tied for first with Matt's team. To break the tie we played a 5 hole playoff and got beat, so we finished second. This brought our golf total on Friday to 41 holes. We were dead tired after being up so late the night before and having played so much golf in 95 degree heat with insane humidity.

We went for a dip in the pool to cool off. We planned on playing some par 3 holes that night, but we needed an hour nap first. So we went to the room and laid down at 8:30 to take an hour nap, but the hour nap turned into a 9 1/2 hour nap. We didn't wake up until 6:00 am Saturday morning.

Saturday morning we played another 18 holes starting at 7:00 am. My team was Matt (not the same Matt I rode down with), Colin, and Chris. We finished 5 under par and in 3rd place. We did lunch again and played 18 more in the afternoon. My team in the afternoon was George, Pat, and Steve. We finished 8 under par and in 2nd place. After 36 holes of golf, we got some guys together to try to play ANOTHER 18, but daylight only allowed us to play 13. It was a four against four competion. I played with Matt (the one who rode down with me), dad, and Joel against Randy, George, Matt, and Jim. We were right with them through 7, but fell apart after that. They beat us. All in all we played 49 holes on Saturday (a new record) from sunrise (7:00 am) to sunset (9:30 pm). We even missed dinner that night, so we hit the pool and ordered pizza. What a blast!

Sunday morning we played our final 18 holes. My team was Steve, Jim, and Tom. We were obviously worn out, as most of the other guys were as well after a long weekend of golf. We finished 2 under par and right in the middle of the rest of the pack. It was a great way to end the trip.

Another highlight for Sunday morning was the competition between Matt and me for the Miller Cup. This was Matt's third year going on the trip with me. After his first time down two years ago, Matt left a few cans of Miller Lite beer in my cooler. When I emptied the cooler out back home, I put his leftover beer in our fridge to get back to him. I never got a chance to get it to him, and the beer sat in the fridge until the next summer. So I took one can along to use as our "trophy" to compete for between the two of us. Since we play five organized rounds each year, we keep track of how many times my team beats Matt's and Matt's team beats mine. Whoever gets the most wins out of 5 wins the "Miller Cup." This year I won the first round Friday morning. Matt won the second round Friday afternoon. Matt won Saturday morning as well, but I won Saturday afternoon. As a result, we were tied going into Sunday morning. Our teams actually tied Sunday morning though, so we did a chip off for the win. My dad chose three spots for us to chip from around the 18th green. Whoever won two out of three won the tie-breaker. Matt won the first chip. I won the second and the third. So I won the Miller Cup this year, but Matt is determined to take it next year.

When we were done we drove home in our comfy rental car (see picture). We got home around 6:30 pm Sunday night. It was another great trip...and another golf marathon (120 holes of golf).

Chicago Cubs Game

Last Monday (July 30th), I went with Jeff, Jordan, and Joel to Chicago to watch the Cubbies. Jeff won 4 tickets to the roof top seating that surrounds Wrigley Field. So we made the trip for the night game last week against the Phillies. Chicago got beat 4-1, but we had a great time.

We began the trip leaving Avilla around noon. We had to stop at McDonald's on the way to get the trip started right.

When we got to Chicago, we parked on the south side of town and rode the train to Wrigleyville. We decided to grab a small bite to eat (this was three hours after the McDonald's stop) at my favorite restaurant near Wrigley, Goose Island. I have eaten there twice before and told the guys that we had to go there and eat their barbecue chicken sandwich...it did not disappoint. While we were there, I was totally and pleasantly surprised to run in to our friend Lindsey (she goes to school in Chicago, but I had no idea she worked at Goose Island). Not only did we run in to her, we were seated in her section. Unbelievable! It was great seeing her.

After Goose Island we walked around the stadium and headed toward our building outside of left field. The pictures below show you are view. While we were there, all of our food and drinks were included and unlimited. We enjoyed hot dogs, meat balls, ribs, cheeseburgers, barbecue chicken, pulled pork, brownies, and cookies. It was great. We had an awesome time...and didn't get home until 2:30 am. Thanks Jeff for winning the tickets. Good times.