Monday, March 7, 2016

The Cyclone

Today was our first full day in Canada. After an early start to the day, the babies (Mara and my bestie's son who is 6 days younger than Mara) napped and then we (my bestie Glenna, her son Rayden, her mom, her sister Megan, her friend Brittany, Corky, Mara and me) packed up and headed to West Edmonton Mall to go to the indoor waterpark there.

On my first trip to Edmonton in 2009, we went to the waterpark and it was so fun, so I was excited to go again.  Once we all got changed we headed straight out to the wave pool.  

This picture is from 2009, Glenna and me standing in the wave pool.

Mara and Rayden played and splashed to their little hearts' content!

In this picture from 2009, Glenna and I pose in front of the 2 most extreme water slides in the park.  

The purple one on the right is still there.  And actually, the red ones are too but they've changed.  One is yellow (the one on the left) and the other is blue, but the biggest thing that's changed is that there's now an even MORE extreme water slide that drops you out just to the left of where the red ones are in this picture.  It's called the Cyclone and it's crazy!
In this photo (thank you google images), the Cyclone is the magenta one that looks as though it does a loop-de-loop. 
You never actually go upside down but you are basically inverted in this magenta tunnel. 

Glenna, her mom and her sister minded the babies in the wave pool while Brittany, Corky and I went on the Cyclone.  Up and up and up we climbed.  At the very top there are only 2 water slides, the Cyclone (which had no line) and the Twister (which had a massive line). 

We bypassed the Twister line and I heard a few people exclaim, "oh! They're going to do it!"

When we got to the top, there was an upright capsule with a clear door/lid thing. Corky went first. He stepped into the capsule, crossed his arms and legs, and waited. The attendant closed the door, turned a key and pushed a button. This voice counted down, "three, two, one..." and Corky vanished.  Just like that.  Britny and I stared over the railing and in less than 15 seconds he appeared at the bottom, in a huge splash of water. 

"I'm not sure how I feel about this.." I said to Brittany. I do like roller coasters but I'm not a fan of free falling.  I had never SEEN a water slide such as this, much less considered DOING a water slide such as this. 

"It's really not that bad," Brittany assured me as she climbed into the capsule. The door closed, the voice counted down, and the floor opened up and Brittany dropped out of sight. 

When she appeared at the bottom, the capsule door hissed open and it was my turn. 

"Not that bad?" I asked the attendant, an awkward looking guy in his early twenties. 

"It's rather relaxing," he drawled, not at all convincing. 

I took a deep breath and climbed in. I didn't want to look like a chicken in front of everyone in the Twister line (who were, in fact, watching. I looked) not to mention Corky and Brittany. And Glenna, Megan and their mom who were all waiting down in the wave pool. 

I crossed my arms and legs. The door closed with a whoosh. 

"Three," said the voice. 

Well, this is it, I thought. No turning back now. 

"Two..."

Even if I wanted to get out, I can't.  At least it's over pretty quickly. 

"One..."

I steeled myself.  

And then I was falling.  My stomach nearly came out my mouth, swear to god. I couldn't tell which way was up.  All I saw was magenta and felt the cold water all around me and the hard plastic slide against my back.  Water splashed up from all directions and went up my nose, in my eyes, in my ears and in my mouth. I clamped my arms tightly against my body, desperately praying that my bikini top wouldn't disintegrate from the sheer speed of this slide. 

And then, as soon as it had started, it was over and I was sliding out in 6 inch deep water on the run-out track at the bottom. My hair clung to my face (the hairtie hanging on by literally 10 hairs that had fortunately knotted themselves around it) and my nose burned from the water, but I had survived the Cyclone. 

"That was rad!" I said to Brittany and Corky who were waiting at the end of the slide for me. "Let's do it again!"


No comments:

Post a Comment