XLR-8 tion

Cyclone

This picture really captures our experience at Astroworld yesterday - Kathryn screaming her head off and me laughing my ass off. Sadly, this was both the first and last time we will ever ride The Texas Cyclone.

The entire group consisted of Albert, Kathryn, and me - Albert going for the nostalgia, Kathryn going for the love of rollercoasters, and me for both reasons. If you have known me for any amount of time, you may be saying, "wait a minute... Bonnie loves rollercoasters?"

I may have been a big weenie in the past, but things change. The first rollercoaster I ever went on was Excalibur at Astroworld. It was our National Junior Honor Society trip, and Tonya Shotwell convinced me to ride it. I remember screaming "oh my god" as we were going over the edge on that one tiny drop Excalibur had. That experience really didn't do much to foster any good feelings toward rollercoasters.

It was not until a fateful family trip to Disney World and DisneyQuest that I started to develop a taste for thrills. Brian and I went on a 3 day tear through all of the parks. We rode everything under the sun, but it was the DisneyQuest 'Design Your Own Rollercoaster' ride that really did it for me. If you've never been, it's pretty hard to describe how a simulator, even with 360 degree motion, can feel anything like the real thing, but it does. The flips were definitely real, and that's what I discovered I loved. If I was filthy rich, I would get one of these bad boys installed in my house.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm still a weenie to some extent... I still get that "oh @#$%*, what did I get myself into" feeling, especially when I'm at the top of an 80 foot drop, but it's something I quite like pushing myself into these days. That's why I'm laughing the entire time down.

I'd just like to say thanks for the memories, Astroworld. We had a blast yesterday waiting in line... getting slammed against various lap bars and shoulder restraints... hanging out with white trash folks (the lady with 4 teenage kids in front of me at the gift shop said she got married at Astroworld 5 years ago)... getting hit on by 10 year olds (the kid was barely taller than my waist)... and getting sick off of two bites of funnel cake. If you can't see the fun in that, you're missing out on a lot of things in life.

XLR-8, my all-time favorite rollercoaster, you will be missed.