Taking on THE ROCKET

There is a ride at the Amusement park where we live called the ROCKET. It is a huge metal tower that is 217 feet tall. You sit in what looks like an H-Shaped high chair for adults. There are a row of seats across all four sides. Your feet dangle off the edge and a metal bar lowers down across your chest and  pins you safely in.  When the ROCKET first opened, I was scared to death to go on this ride but my son begged me to give it a try. After lots of begging and pleading I gave in. I remember sitting in the seat and telling myself not to freak out. Slowly, my seat began to rise until at last we reached the top. When we reached the very top of the Rocket the ride stopped. I looked around and it seemed like I could see the entire state of Utah. I saw places I had never been to before!  I could see beautiful gardens that I wanted to visit.   I saw places in the park that I didn’t know existed.  The view was amazing and I was calm.  This was so cool.  It seems like we were up there high above the park for quite a while.  It wasn't really long at all but it was long enough for me to totally relax. I had been worried for nothing!

I can still see the look on my son’s face as I leaned to the left and said, “That wasn’t at all scary like you said it was! At least the view is good way up h…."

insert huge, loud

s c r e a m……

With no warning at all we dropped straight down and then shot all the way up to the top again, only to free fall back to earth and do it all again 4 more times. This ride had just punk’d me. I had foolishly believed the ride to the top was the hard part but it wasn’t. Why on earth did I assume the worst was over already?? Did I expect the ROCKET to give me a different experience than everyone else? It was crazy of me to think for one second that I would be given a different ride than all the other people who had strapped themselves to this thing. The only things different about this ride, was it’s riders.

Some of the riders had eaten right before they got on this ride and a few of them were now sick. There was a guy who was upset that he had lost his glasses when they blew off his head, even though the sign at the entrance had clearly stated NO GLASSES or HATS. Another guy had spent the whole ride trying to show off to his friends down below by acting like he wasn’t strapped in and now he was getting yelled at by his girlfriend. I saw the lady who had been laughing during the whole thing and she was already getting back in line. There was me, trying to regain my composure after my scream of death and then there was a girl on my right yelling at her friends for making her ride the ROCKET.

My “The Rocket” experience was the topic of discussion yesterday at our house. We talked about how our lives are just like that darn ride! We slowly inch our way up the metal tower and just when we think we are over the worst, we free fall. We fall down and just before we get all the way to the bottom the ride shoots back up again. We shoot up and down, Over and Over and Over, until we get off the ride for good.

Each and every one of us gets a ride on the ROCKET but we all have separate experiences. My older kids are so excited to get on the ride but they have no idea what they are really in for. They are just happy to finally be tall enough to stand in line! My younger kids enjoy the rest of the park and as they grow, inch by inch, they begin to get more and more excited about finally being tall enough to go on the big rides.

The really cool thing is the view at the top. Every single time I felt myself plunge downward to uncertain death, I would stop just in time and find myself back at the top with a quick glance at that amazing view. Over and Over again I would look and see places in the park that looked beautiful. I would catch a glimpse of places in the park I hadn’t even know about before. Places that I would have never tried to get to had I not taken a ride on the ROCKET.

Now, instead of screaming when my life is in free fall, I just hang on and wait for that view at the top. When the ride is finally over, I hope I will have had enough glimpses of the park to find my way to those beautiful gardens where I plan to meet up with my family and other fellow riders who just like me, survived the ROCKET.

There is a ride at the Amusement park where we live called the ROCKET. It is a huge metal tower that is 217 feet tall. You sit in what looks like an H-Shaped high chair for adults. There are a row of seats across all four sides. Your feet dangle off the edge and a metal bar lowers down across your chest and  pins you safely in.  When the ROCKET first opened, I was scared to death to go on this ride but my son begged me to give it a try. After lots of begging and pleading I gave in. I remember sitting in the seat and telling myself not to freak out. Slowly, my seat began to rise until at last we reached the top. When we reached the very top of the Rocket the ride stopped. I looked around and it seemed like I could see the entire state of Utah. I saw places I had never been to before!  I could see beautiful gardens that I wanted to visit.   I saw places in the park that I didn’t know existed.  The view was amazing and I was calm.  This was so cool.  It seems like we were up there high above the park for quite a while.  It wasn't really long at all but it was long enough for me to totally relax. I had been worried for nothing!

I can still see the look on my son’s face as I leaned to the left and said, “That wasn’t at all scary like you said it was! At least the view is good way up h…."

insert huge, loud

s c r e a m……

With no warning at all we dropped straight down and then shot all the way up to the top again, only to free fall back to earth and do it all again 4 more times. This ride had just punk’d me. I had foolishly believed the ride to the top was the hard part but it wasn’t. Why on earth did I assume the worst was over already?? Did I expect the ROCKET to give me a different experience than everyone else? It was crazy of me to think for one second that I would be given a different ride than all the other people who had strapped themselves to this thing. The only things different about this ride, was it’s riders.

Some of the riders had eaten right before they got on this ride and a few of them were now sick. There was a guy who was upset that he had lost his glasses when they blew off his head, even though the sign at the entrance had clearly stated NO GLASSES or HATS. Another guy had spent the whole ride trying to show off to his friends down below by acting like he wasn’t strapped in and now he was getting yelled at by his girlfriend. I saw the lady who had been laughing during the whole thing and she was already getting back in line. There was me, trying to regain my composure after my scream of death and then there was a girl on my right yelling at her friends for making her ride the ROCKET.

My “The Rocket” experience was the topic of discussion yesterday at our house. We talked about how our lives are just like that darn ride! We slowly inch our way up the metal tower and just when we think we are over the worst, we free fall. We fall down and just before we get all the way to the bottom the ride shoots back up again. We shoot up and down, Over and Over and Over, until we get off the ride for good.

Each and every one of us gets a ride on the ROCKET but we all have separate experiences. My older kids are so excited to get on the ride but they have no idea what they are really in for. They are just happy to finally be tall enough to stand in line! My younger kids enjoy the rest of the park and as they grow, inch by inch, they begin to get more and more excited about finally being tall enough to go on the big rides.

The really cool thing is the view at the top. Every single time I felt myself plunge downward to uncertain death, I would stop just in time and find myself back at the top with a quick glance at that amazing view. Over and Over again I would look and see places in the park that looked beautiful. I would catch a glimpse of places in the park I hadn’t even know about before. Places that I would have never tried to get to had I not taken a ride on the ROCKET.

Now, instead of screaming when my life is in free fall, I just hang on and wait for that view at the top. When the ride is finally over, I hope I will have had enough glimpses of the park to find my way to those beautiful gardens where I plan to meet up with my family and other fellow riders who just like me, survived the ROCKET.