When my mom and I went to Pensacola, we had planned to hit the water park one day. We didn't make it, but the idea was planted in my head.
I suggested to Nicole that we take a day and drive to one some time, and she was also excited to do it. I threw a text message out there to some friends asking if they wanted to participate.
To my shock, most said not only yes, but heck yes. So on Sunday, July 20, we packed up Leigh's mom's Queen Ranch -- Leigh's mom previously scored us a cheap room for Paul's bachelor birthday, making her my Mississippi sugar momma -- and headed to the Gulfport water park.
First we stopped at Waffle House. Duh. Joe drove himself and met us -- Paul, Kelly, Bert and Jacob were also aboard -- there, and I went the rest of the way with Joe to keep him company.
We were near the front of the line to enter the water park, and there was no line the first time I went on a slide. That would not be the case the rest of the day.
Rain, and heavy rain at that, was in the forecast, but I was convinced it wouldn't rain. Joe, and I'm sure some others, thought we were fools for going. Well, it drizzled for five minutes, and that was it.
There are five slides. Here are two, one featuring several quick drops and the other with some nice turns if you get three people in the raft for leverage.
That one is what I called the Willy Wonka ride because it was dark and there was no earthly way of knowing which direction we were going.
A slide in the far corner that I didn't get my camera close enough to take a picture of was the best. It had six lanes so you could race.
You got on your belly on a mat and took three drops before hitting a straightaway that it took me all day to figure out how to hydroplane farther on.
The race was to the advantage of bigger people. I would get off to these great jumps, only to see Bert and, especially Joe, go flying by me near the end.
Bert attracted a Punkstain No. 2 -- the first one was on a train to Chicago in 2006 -- while in line to race.
Punkstain: do you like horror movies?
Bert: they're Ok.
Punkstain: did u see the one with the ghost?
Bert. No. I didn't catch that one.
Punkstain: me neither.
I saw several kids with wrestling swimsuits. Uh. Umm. Moving on.
We wasted an hour eating some badass chicken fingers, but we all still got our fill of the water park, even if Joe and I had to sneak in a few extra rides as everyone else was packed and ready to go. I went on 15 rides total.
The Mississippi education system was called into question as I observed several 10-12 year olds examine the height requirement sign. The height requirement is 42 inches, and the scale shows measurements at one, two and three feet, before the final 42-inch mark.
However, these kids thought the 42 represented a different height. They thought the height requirement was 4 feet, 2 inches. Sigh.
At least they were only eight inches off.
SLEEPOVER
For the past few years, I've been working until midnight or 1 a.m. on Friday night and then showing back up Saturday at 1 or 2 p.m. By the time I drive home, fall asleep, wake up, get ready for work and drive back to work while picking up lunch, there's no time for anything else.
Every time I show up Saturday, I say "Damn, I was just here. I may as well have slept here." Other coworkers have joked about doing it as well.
But last week I actually did it. I slept on the floor at work Friday and woke up already at work Saturday. I had lunch and watched some TV before working.
It was great. I didn't waste 45 minutes driving back and forth to work, and I was ahead of schedule because I started work early.
Nicole, however, was incredulous. She thought I was lying when I told her at 10 a.m. Saturday that I was at work and had slept there.
You decide. Smart move by me? Or am I just plain crazy for doing that?
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