Up to breakfast in bed so I can publish another post while we wait for the day to begin. Yesterday, nine of us agreed to spend a day at Six Flags, Magic Mountain, just 20 miles off trail, so we will take Gert and Captain Underpants will shuttle the others in his giant van. I have a second breakfast with Gert and we leave the hotel at 9.

While we wait in line to park, we see the van drive by that will deliver Rachel, Trailer Park, Nightcap, Ravi, Seeker, and Greg to the security gate. The park has a drink special where a $20 cup gets free refills on the day of purchase with a 15-minute wait in between, so some of us will do that, but Ravi is fine with water as electrolytes are expensive.

We get lost finding the large orange and green ride and a park employee is unable to help us. It’s a good thing there are only so many ways to get there. Most of us will ride Tatsu, and Ravi doesn’t think it was a great starter ride and already feels sick. The seats tip so that the rider can fly through the air, over band-aids, hair ties, and gum.

Viper is our next ride and we will not ride it again, even without a wait. It left the girl behind us with whiplash and the guy in front of us choked on his spit. Gert says it’s more dangerous than a rattlesnake and my neck hurts. I’m glad Caleb didn’t go on that one or it would be a different day for us. We were able to walk in and get on as the gate closed behind us and now I know why.

It’s hot out, and while we hike a lot of the time, we think about cold things, so a water ride, Roaring Rapids, is the next obvious option. Caleb, Gert, and Trailer Park are the driest when we disembark. Greg tried using his umbrella to stay dry but the man behind the curtain had something to say, and he closed it. There is a drying machine near the exit for $6 a turn that none of us will use.

Our next choice is Apocalypse, a wooden coaster that flies over the ride-loading area. The speakers along the line are making noises that Rachel tells Ravi are working if he’s scared. It was a fun ride and we’re all still having a good time. This is the largest group, outside of high school, that I’ve ever been to a park with. It’s lunchtime when we get in line for West Coast Racers, so half the group goes to find food while we think it’ll only take 15 minutes.

We’ll end up waiting 40 minutes, but that’s because you get to ride twice – once on the first half of the track and then again on the second half, so that it looks like the two cars are racing. Caleb has pretzels waiting for us at 130 so that the girls have enough energy to walk to the entrance where Trailer Park will meet us with the chicken and croissants. Gert gets us some Starburst gummy candy that was being passed out as people exited the park and we’ll go back in.

We walk through the long path of Goliath with four loops chained off, which lets us know how long the wait could be. It’s a fun ride but the abrupt stop to the gut has me sitting out while Rachel and Trailer Park go back for round two. I must’ve eaten too much that I also opt out of the Drop of Doom, but half the group gets the opportunity to pose with The Flash.

We are excited for the Twisted Colossus (so many fun facts about this ride), but some barf will take the car out, and there are two parked in the sun waiting to disembark. We watched them spray it down and towel dry it, but when the staff opened an exit gate, we took it. They would have to close the ride temporarily. I offered one more ride to Rachel as that’s all we had in us, but she was ready to leave too.

We see the others and get a last group photo. They will stay later until Nightcap’s mom returns to pick them up. She was here this morning, so they had a place (her car) to keep their giant, smelly bags all day. We find funnel cakes and ice cream but no stickers. Rachel thinks it’s cute that Caleb and I hold pinky fingers when our hands get sweaty.

Trailer Park and Rachel will take the bus to the parking lot while I stand and watch the water slide (separate park pass) drop people and splash the sidewalk. Those two will stay with Gert tonight, so we drive to the hotel and while Gert and Caleb get in the pool, Rachel and I will put our legs in. I’m not sure if she got in the bug-filled hot tub, but we all needed a shower.