To make a short story shorter, I received two free passes to Busch Gardens through work. Not sure how I felt about theme parks, I invited Sarah Pate to go with me. I trusted her to encourage me to get over my 'fear of the unknown' of roller coasters. Upon arriving at the park, it was decided that Apollo's Chariot (see photo) would be the first one we rode. During the wait, we talked through my fears and as it came time to get on the ride, I was still anxious, but excited...that is until the first jerk of the coaster as the ride got going. Then all hell broke loose in my mind. I wanted off, but that wasn't an option...I was well aware that the incline we were making led to a massive drop. I kept my eyes closed and took countless deep breaths. That first drop was it....and I was done. And while I barely survived Apollo, I knew I wouldn't be getting on it or any other coaster again. After this, we headed towards Roman Rapids...I thought "Oh, I've done this at Kings Dominion when I was a kid." and I knew I could handle it.....erm, probably should have waited longer...
There is a sign on rides talking about no loose items. In this case, any that fell into the water became property of Busch Gardens. Keep this in mind...Sarah and I shared a tube with two fathers and their young sons...neither boy could have been any more than 8 years old. As we came around the final waterfall and were headed up the incline back to 'home base', a violent queasiness overcame me. No sooner than I said to Sarah, "I think I'm going to throw up." I turn my head and let loose into the water. So now, my vomit is the property of Busch Gardens. And luckily, I don't think the other four passengers realized what had happened.
We thought maybe it would be good to get something on my stomach so we walked from Italy to Germany for a pretzel. Upon first bite, I had to rub the salt off. I barely ate any of the pretzel and was sad to know that our day was going to be cut short. On a scale of 1 to 10 of feeling bad, I felt 11 or 12. I felt like I had ruined Sarah's day, but she wasn't hearing any of that! It couldn't be helped. Maybe I should have realized that by getting car sick, surely I would get sick from a roller coaster, but I didn't go with the obvious...d'oh!
We left the park and I got home shortly before 5 p.m. I slept from then until 12.30 p.m. Sunday afternoon and my insides were still out of whack. My plan was to conquer a fear and I did...it just so happened that it conquered me instead.
There is a sign on rides talking about no loose items. In this case, any that fell into the water became property of Busch Gardens. Keep this in mind...Sarah and I shared a tube with two fathers and their young sons...neither boy could have been any more than 8 years old. As we came around the final waterfall and were headed up the incline back to 'home base', a violent queasiness overcame me. No sooner than I said to Sarah, "I think I'm going to throw up." I turn my head and let loose into the water. So now, my vomit is the property of Busch Gardens. And luckily, I don't think the other four passengers realized what had happened.
We thought maybe it would be good to get something on my stomach so we walked from Italy to Germany for a pretzel. Upon first bite, I had to rub the salt off. I barely ate any of the pretzel and was sad to know that our day was going to be cut short. On a scale of 1 to 10 of feeling bad, I felt 11 or 12. I felt like I had ruined Sarah's day, but she wasn't hearing any of that! It couldn't be helped. Maybe I should have realized that by getting car sick, surely I would get sick from a roller coaster, but I didn't go with the obvious...d'oh!
We left the park and I got home shortly before 5 p.m. I slept from then until 12.30 p.m. Sunday afternoon and my insides were still out of whack. My plan was to conquer a fear and I did...it just so happened that it conquered me instead.
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