Day 5: Cedar Point

As I was searching for destinations along our trip home, I received several suggestions to look into going to Cedar Point, which is an amazing amusement park in Ohio and when I realized that it was already along our route home I was sold on the idea! Matthew and I both love roller coasters and I thought that this would be a great way to mix up our adventure a little.

When we arrived we were very excited. There were several amazing roller coasters and the weather was perfect. We went on several roller coasters before I came to the realization that although I love roller coasters, they are beginning to have unkind side effects on my body. We took a break from the coasters to get a small snack, which included one of the best soft pretzels I have ever had. We walked around for a little while, while deciding which coaster to do next. We were about halfway through the day and halfway through the park, so we were making good timing. We decided to take a small hiatus from the big time roller coasters and go on a water ride, since in was mid-day and hot. It was a great ride and we were very pleased to be soaked.

After the water ride we saw an opportunity to dry off a little on one of the other rides...a really big swing! This thing was amazing and terrifying all at the same time. I have been on big swings before, but what made this one stand out was the lack of over the shoulder straps to hold you in and by the climax of the ride the swing was completely parallel to the ground, which was 125ft away. Sadly for me, this was my last ride of the day. The overwhelming urge to

loose all of the contents of my stomach and a headache caused by all the twisting and turning had finally caught up with me. I was bummed out that I wasn't going to be able to experience the rest of the rides, but happy with what I did experience. Matthew was a good sport about it too.

We decided that we would just leave the park a little earlier than we had planned and get an early start to our next destination. We stopped and bought a magnet for the memory and a stuffed desert pretzel for our stomachs and as we were headed toward the exit, Matthew saw one last ride that he had to go on. It was called the Top Thrill Dragster, which is one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. It was designed like a Nascar Track and even had bleachers for spectators to sit in and watch. As I sat

waiting for Matthew he called telling me that the wait was approximately an hour and a half, and we were debating whether we really wanted to wait that long. As we were discussing it, some storm clouds started to roll in, with thunder and lightning accompanying them. Matthew said that a lot of people were getting out of line, but that he wanted to wait. I told him that the ride had stopped and wasn't sure if they would reopen it, but I could tell he was really excited about it, so we agreed to wait and see if the storm would pass. Within about 20 minutes, the skies cleared up and the ride started up again. Matthew was extremely glad he stayed in line because his wait time went down to about 30 min and it was worth it, even if the ride only lasted like 10 seconds. The video speaks for itself.

After the ride, we made our way back to the car. I was extremely tired so I was planning to fall asleep, but before I did so I noticed that we had just over 1/4 of a tank of gas. I reminded Matthew that the service stations were few and far between on the Ohio Turnpike and said that he should stop at the closest gas station just to be safe. I feel asleep and upon waking we were at a toll booth and just after we got past the toll booth Matthew exited. I questioned thisbecause our GPS told us to continue, whereupon Matthew(in a panicked voice) stated that he had missed the last service

station and that we needed to get some gas. Noting the panic in his voice I looked at the gas meter and noticed the gas light was on. I then asked him how long the light had been on and he said, "Oh about the last 30 miles." Now I understood the panic and had to resist questioning him or giving him a hard time because I could tell that he was already angry at himself and if I said anything it would just make it worse.

When we got off the exit there were no visible gas stations in sight...further panic ensued. Matthew started back to the freeway, but I insisted that we ask someone where the closest station was, so he went into a Subway and found out there was one just 4 miles away (he was also told that if he had gotten back on the freeway the closest station was at least 15 minutes away) so we headed to the station 4 miles away, hoping and praying to make it, but about a mile into the drive our car started to sputter. We made it up a hill and started to coast down, hoping that it was all downhill, but then the road leveled out and the car began to slow down. Luckily we just happened to stop right in front of a farmhouse...out in the middle of no where. Coincidence, I think not! We were definitely being watched over. Well, the kind man of the house took Matthew to get some gas to bring back to the car, meanwhile I called Matthew's mom to vent (I knew that if I called her I would be laughing about it by the end). When Matthew returned we were both able to laugh about it.

I think mostly because the feeling of not knowing what would happen was lifted and the realization and added confirmation that no matter the situation in our lives, Heavenly Father is watching out for us. We can always count on Him. I know we were safe in our journeys because of those people who were praying for us. Their prayers were answered. My prayers have been answered over and over and over again. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. They have been with me through many things and I know I can rely on them.