(Well, sorry this one took so long. I had the Econ Test From HELL to deal with and Saturday night wiped me out. Do NOT go to Clutch Cargo's if you're from Detroit..EL BORING-O. Strong drinks but rotten music and no one dancing. Someone said my butt looked like a thing of Jiffy Pop in my silver pants because it was moving so fast so that was about the highlight of the night. :P
The other thing: Sparty Jeff spelled my end REAL BAD this afternoon with the Gazer Dude pictures. I was in tears over it I was laughing so hard...and then I showed the picture to Iain Hendry. I had to run out of the room yelling when Iain said 'OH MY GOD! I KNOW HIM TOO!' and told me his DAD said "Oh hey, it's that dude" as he walked in his room and saw the picture!)
Anyway...
Jo and I took a spin on the Paddlewheel to give my foot a break and skipped Magnum so we could meet up with the one and only dear Hooper! I was sitting on the edge of the waterball pool thinking how tired I was, wasn't goint to make it through ERT, but when Hooper arrived and yelled "LET THE ERT BEGIN!" I knew it would be worth my while to stay awake.
Once he had his CM pin, we took off for the GOCC dinner over at TGIF's. I was starting to get loopy already; knew I was in trouble. Sit my butt down with Jo, Hooper, SpartyJeff, Brian, and a couple others. Heck, I think I'll have an Ultimate colada!
I think I'll have a..Malibu shot! ::HIC::
I think...I'll ::HICCUP:: a peach..da..quiri
HEY, how did THAT get there, there's a BLUE FLYIN' FISH on the table..WEARIN' A SIX FLAGS SHIRT..
Well, not really, but enough that I couldn't eat my chicken sandwich, which ended up in my pocket for future fun. (In a Baggie of course) I was too lushed to enjoy the free dessert we all got courtesy of the awesome Mr. Kinzel BUT I SURE WAS READY TO ERT.
Or not. The Famous EPT that Hooper spoke of began at Friday's. I thought I was safe until Hooper started going "HEEEYYYY..." "ERRRR..." at every other thing. Made it out of Breakers, got to Breakers East, and had to lay down in the road I was laughing so hard. GET ME TO A BATHROOM. Hooper is one of the funniest people I have EVER MET, and combined with Jo, I knew I was in trouble.
but.. but.. but.. Rammstein is there on July 22nd and I haven't been to Cargo's in a year....
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MF 2000 - 269 laps
MF 2001 - 68 laps as of (6/4/01)
Got in the park. This is not cool. My sense of composure got left behind at Friday's...but onward we pressed to Force. Hooper and Jo are killing me. Nothing on God's green earth is funnier than Hooper when he gets rolling, and Jo joins in, and then I jump aboard...and it's all downhill from there. We had so many "____ FOR ME, NONE FOR YOU"'s going on that I lost track....and then the two women in front of us joined in.
Now I was really in trouble. The liquid sunshine was making its presence known in more ways than one and everytime I'd get to equilibrium, Jo, Hooper, or the two women would set me off. I gave up. If I wet my pants, so be it. All in the name of fun. We went absolutely wild, yelling at the trains going by, screaming at everything, me hopping around like a Mexican jumping bean. By the time we got to the station ("WELCOME....") we were loonier than a Loony Tune Marathon. I'm seriously thinking I am not going to make it back to the potty and praying to the Gods of the park that I'm going to be okay. I seriously put down my sweatshirt on the seat thinking SOMETHING is going to come out somewhere. I survive the (awesome) ride and I my legs are moving before the train comes to a stop. I catapult out of the seat, I'm fricking levitating in my hurry to get out of the station, Jo behind me in hot pursuit. I bust into the loo by WildCat with flames coming off my feet...Jo skidding in behind me..and we start screaming. And we don't stop screaming for five minutes. We yell and scream for no reason other than to scream (and out of relief). You know CP's great when you even have to scream while on the toilet because they're so fun. Jo leaves. She starts screaming like a Banshee "ANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HURRY UP!!" and then I hear HOOPER COME INTO THE WOMEN'S BATHROOM TO START YELLING AT ME TO HURRY UP. I come out of the stall AND SEE HIM STANDING THERE!! I start screaming and chase him out of the bathroom, in TEARS with my sides killing me. Whenever I go in that bathroom I will always remember Hooper standing there making faces at me. To my grave I will remember that.
(Rob: RAMMSTEIN is coming to CC's?! Geeze...I'd think Harpo's...not CC...)
It's off to the daddy of them all. ERT line's already mammoth for Force. The three of us yabbering we walk off towards our goal. Poor Bryan E's standing by the entrance queues, unaware of what was in for him that night. Jo tells me about wanting to do something different everytime we go through the line...so as we walk in, we start by going backwards. Bryan chuckles. Little did he know. And there's Natalie, who saved my utter sanity that night (you know what you did!) and for it deserves a bunch of gold stars. She's the bomb diggity and a bowl of cherries. Never got to do what we had planned, but there's always next time (unfortunately). Off we go...Hooper screaming out that he MIGHT JUST SEE MAGNUMDAN and me and Jo whuping it up.
And again and again and again. We come into the line holding hands, skipping, you name it. Hooper and Jo carry me in, a leg in each arm, and Bryan yells "HEY! This is a family park!" Hooper carries Jo in over his shoulder. We come in singing "Cedar Point will moooooove you...". I hope Bryan got paid extra that night; he deserved it.
Then the other target. Hooper's on a mission to get Robin Innes to ride with him. He tries it all. Robin takes the bait...and gives Hoop' a power trip that just keeps going. He ends up riding with him five times while we all wilt with jealousy. And my God, he even got to ride with MAGNUMDAN. Hooper, we all hate you, and hope little gnomes come and steal your Pass tonight. You are touched by the luck gods. I felt bad for Robin; the look on his face having to ride with us and putting up with our antics. I'm chewing on my chicken sandwich, Hooper's calling out sonnets to Dan, Jo's just going insane. Each round the camera shot got more and more bizarre. Eric told me he stayed up on the platform all night just to watch us. I'm in pain I'm laughing so hard. I am beyond pain; I'm on an endorphin high as my sides give out. Everyone stares at us, even the two women from the Force line. Dan doesn't want to admit we exist. Natalie can only shake her head.
We lost track of how many times we rode. 15? Maybe so...and then we shut that baby down for last ride. I had lost touch with what a kick-bootay ride Magnum is...but I got it back with a vengeance that night. Nothing tops getting in that steel monster at night, riding the rails like they were on fire, and going through airtime a bronco would be jealous of. There is nothing like Magnum...never was, never will be again. It's the classic, and what I will always measure everything to. Life began and ended on that platform for me as far back as I can remember; my heart's always in that back left seat on 1. Force took some of the shine away, but when it all came down to it, riding it in the darkness with awesome, amazing friends brought me back to my roots. "Even when I see it, I still don't believe it..."
We leave behind the fantabulous Natalie with fond farewells and trek off to hit the big MF. I almost would have been happy going at that point...nahh. ;)
Hanging around for last ride, we ran across two other GTTP'ers...Skykicker and I can't remember the other dude's name...but they rocked! :D In fact the gang was all there, including our own irreplaceable SpartyJeff. Surrounded by love, I was. Wait's only about 20 mins...but then as we come to the "home stretch" Jeff gets a beep and has to leave! :( Bummer...we mope about it for a bit, and then it's our turn to ride.
NO.
NO.
IT CAN'T BE....HOOPER, THAT DIRTBAG, GETS TO RIDE WITH ROBIN INNES --AGAIN--. There is NO fairness in this world. He gets to ride with him SIX TIMES and EVEN MAGNUMDAN and all i got was this lousy pin and a compliment on my tattoo. I need to go drown my sorrows in a tub of colada with 151. No, I'm going to go hang myself with my now useless ::sob:: Pass lanyard facing Magnum and kiss this cruel world goodbye. ALL THE FAMOUS PEOPLE FOR HOOPER...NONE FOR ME. Facing the truth that I was a pathetic nobody who would never get to ride with anyone famous, we took our (always mindblowing) night last ride of CM 01 blowing our lungs out screaming. When I'm coming out of the first turn, all I can do is look up at that sucker changing colors in all its glory and throw it a big MWAH. We are SO LUCKY to have so many incredible rides at our park. I honestly get teared up half the times I take nightrides on Magnum or Force...I just can't get over how spectacular we have it.
And then it was over. Nothing left but a walk back to our cars, park silent, a few people trailing out. Jo, Hooper, and I squeeze the last bit of life out of our jokes as we leave. I'm looking around thinking, this is what life is about. Being at the place I love more than anything, with friends that I can't believe I'm so lucky to have...priceless, utterly priceless. I walk into the park and I know I'm surrounded by friends and I'm always seeing smiling faces of people I know whereever I seem to go. This is what it's all about for me.
I had the time of my life, guys. It's so perfect to be surrounded by people that UNDERSTAND this, being a Po!nter. Either you get it or you don't...and we all do. The people that I was with on CM were red-blooded Po!nters through and through who know what it's like to be able to relive every smell, sight, sound, and event of the park and cherish it all. The fun never ends for any of us because it only keeps getting better...I'm proud to be a part of it. Seems like whether you've been Po!nting all your life, like myself and others, or you've just discovered what it's like to wear the badge of devoted, we all feel the same thing, and that's why we're all here. To Jo, Hooper, Natalie, SpartyJeff, Dan, Brian, and the rest of the GTTP family who was around for this event...you're the best. I hope to always see your smiling friendly faces around the park and on the platforms as we keep doing what we do best...Po!nting, of course! Hugs and luv to all you guys and can't wait to meet more of you and have more awesome times like CM.
To CM '02!
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Millanneium Force
AIM SN: ACEerCP
And oh poop, you guys have me spoiled. I'm going back tomorrow with Mantomatic and Saturday with Brian Ondrey (anybody gonna be around either day? Say hi!) and now it won't be the same without the antics of CM :P BAH on you...at least I get to go bug the Natster tomorrow ;)
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*-CP Irvine-*
The FewER, The Proud, The Po!nter Girls
I know who's fault it is!
AIM SN: ACEerCP
Anne..You make me blush to mention my all important beep..:)..serious to them but not to me..damn it made me miss last ride though...curse them :-)
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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html mf laps = 100! No More No Less!!
*** This post was edited by Jeffrey Spartan on 6/6/2001. ***
Oh and did our trip Wed. ever prove that you don't need a ton of time to have a CRAZY trip to CP! TR coming in a few hours!
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Jeff Tobe
tobejeff@pilot.msu.edu
I know who's fault it *REALLY* IS!