Turbulence

Yesterday I took the day off (thanks to my amazing best friend babysitter who took the kids for the day) so I could go to Lagoon with my three sisters.  My fabulous and charming sister Christina is moving to the East Coast in a week and half so we wanted to do something special.

Our "Sisters Day" was a blast.  We laughed and had such a great time together.  But with all the crazy rides, the tasty treats, and fun times there is one short moment that will live on in our memories forever.  We'll probably always refer to it as the "Barfstar."

We were only a few rides into our day and Kathryn and I were already white and clammy.  We inherited motion sickness from our Dad and our chances of surviving the day weren't looking good.  After another bout of nausea following "The Bat," a family-friendly (aka wimpy) roller coaster, Kathryn decided she was done with heavy rides.  I felt slightly recovered and assured myself I could deep breath my way through the banked turns of the Jetstar 2, "a high-speed roller coast-type ride."  I'd been motion sick before and never lost it, but I sat in the back of our middle compartment just in case.

I made it through the first drop and turn without much of a problem.  It was the second turn that brought the danger.  Before I could stop myself I had thrown up in my mouth.  I tried to hold it in until the ride was done, but when a second wave of vomiting came over me I exploded over the side of the car.  Christina (and the two guys behind us) reacted in alarm as they received a (fortunately quite mild) splattering.  My face, hand, and the track took the brunt of the mess.

Finally the car came to a stop and everyone scrambled to get out.  Cyndi made a quick retreat, dry heaving, and Christina notified the ride attendant that there was some sanitation work required.  Just at that moment I turned, grabbed the guide bars that lead down from the platform and threw up twice more right in the middle of the walkway.  In my hasty escape to find a bathroom I glanced up and saw the ride attendant making an urgent phone call.

After I was cleaned up we walked back that direction.  (I was feeling much better and ready for the bumper cars!) We were surprised to find that Jetstar was completely shut down and there was some poor girl cleaning up my mess while the young ride attendant looked on with his hand over his mouth. 

Despite that fiasco we found other avenues for fun and played at the park until 10:00 p.m.  Eleven hours of non-child interrupted sister bonding...it's what fun is!

Now, on to better things.  Today my sisters and I (with kids this time) took a day trip to Israel and the Sea of Galilee.  We drove out to Antelope Island to play in the Great Salt Lake.  Although the Great Salt Lake is really more geographically like the Dead Sea, I was going for the scenic similarity.

Sea of Galilee

Great Salt Lake

My great ideas often don't take into consideration the harsh details of reality.  I had forgotten how bad the biting gnats are and the distance of the sandy trek from the parking lot to the water, but despite the challenges we had a fun time. But I think I'll save all future trips to Galilee for the real thing!