Personal Narrative: The Ride At Knott

Driving a car is not always what most teenagers think it is. Most beginning drivers drive uncontrollably because they think as if they are race car drivers. When I thought I was a race car driver, I drove without thinking, which cost me a trip in the ditch. You never realize how frightening a car wreck is until you experience one.

It was 4:30 p.m. at the carnival. My little brother Rudy went on this ride called space Shot. Where this ride goes up strolling and goes down fast, like a meteorite falling from the sky. Rudy begged me to come to the space shot ride, but I didn't want to, because I'm scared of heights. I tried to keep him away from the ride.

Over my spring break I was lucky enough to get to go to Florida with my college baseball team and I got to see one if the most beautiful baseball stadiums in the US, JetBlue Park. I got to watch Florida Gulf Coast take on Florida State at JetBlue Park, which is used as a spring training field for the Boston Red Sox. My initial thought of the field is it’s almost exactly like Fenway Park with the same field layout, the big green monster in left field. Which surprised me because this was only a spring training field, very few games will be played or broadcasted here. This ballpark was unexpectedly nice and an experience I will never forget.

My friend Mason’s Mom took me and Mason to Cedar Point at nine in the morning. We had to drive over a long bridge to get there. We saw signs with funny jokes on them. By the time we got there it was packed we finally found a parking spot.

Even through the 1950s, Kansas City and Chicago were very well connected major Midwestern cities. As an upper middle class college-aged man from Kansas looking to make it in the late 50s and achieve his own American Dream, Chicago was a natural place for me to move for college. In 1957, I was a college junior at Loyola University Chicago, a Jesuit university on the north side of Chicago. Surrounded every day by minorities and immigrant groups in Rogers Park, as well as living in a larger dense urban environment, it should come as no surprise that Loyola students were more social-justice oriented than many students in other parts of the United States (Loyola Chicago).

My shorts and tee shirt did little to protect me from the chilly air of March.   It seemed as though winter did not want to change into spring quite yet. Allison and I patiently waited in the never ending line for the log ride at Silver Dollar City.  We had traveled a couple hours from Edmond, Oklahoma to Branson, Missouri for Spring Break. The log ride was something I talked Allison into doing, the possibility of rafting through the waters too enticing.  As we slowly made our way to the beginning of the line, the ride instructor helped us into the log ride not before chastising the children before us not rock the ride. Slowly the log ride gained momentum down the watery track, after winds and turns we were nearing the top of the ride.

I am a piece of clay, just as every person is. We are not just any kind of clay, though, we’re that special molding clay that never dries out. Because of this, we are constantly molded by almost everyone and everything surrounding our lives. At the beginning of life, we are molded by the hands of loving parents, but once we leave that safe-place, we are on our own. At that point, we can be tossed, slammed, poked at, and sometimes even ripped apart. One important event in my life that molded me and has helped make me the person I am today was my first roller coaster ride. Amusement rides don’t usually change a person’s life, but the first time I went on a roller coaster, I found myself stepping off the ride as an entirely different person. Most people conquer their fear of heights or fast-moving vehicles on thrill rides, but instead, I conquered the one thing most people are terrified to face. Something that’s more horrific than monsters and demons, and that is yourself. For me, the ride was more of a journey than anything. From the beginning to the end, I learned a

It all started on one hot summer day riding in the Jeep with the whole family, windows were down and laughter was floating freely through the air. I can still remember it like it was yesterday; the temperature was about 87 degrees and the humidity wasn’t bad at all. As we were driving down the road, the top down on the Jeep and the radio playing as loud as it could go, my favorite song came on the radio, “Ride the Wind” by Poison. It is so amazing and it always helps when that right songs comes on the radio which sets the mood for the rest of the day. We even had our 6 year old dog with us. He’s always content with his head sticking out the back glass and his ears flopping in the warm breeze.

It was a luke warm day in the summer of 2016. I was in my moms car for almost 2 hours I was not alone I was accompanied by my mother how planned this whole trip for me and my brothers friends, also my brother who would leave my family in a month to go to college, he had his girlfriend Mary she is really cool, and then there was my friend Cole. Cole was in the same year as my brother he did not graduate, and he formed a small colony of kids who were kicked out of their parents houses off in the hills of mount diablo, he was like a real lord of the flies.

I am beginning to wonder if my entire treacherous expedition into the heart of America has been in vain. I came in search of cities more mighty and impressive than Tenochtitlán, but all I have found are some simple farming villages.

Everyone was excited to be going to Dorney Park on August 30th. We had to bring money for food and swim suits for the wild water kingdom. It was an hour and a half bus ride. On the bus we did challenges. Someone brought 4 bags of hot Cheetos so we got in to 4 teams of 2 and each team got a bag a Cheetos. These Cheetos were in the big bag and they were the puffs. We had to eat the whole bag before 5 minutes. Our hand were bright red. Tiara and I were on the same team. When five minutes was up my team lost and Asia and Danielle won. After that I took a short peaceful nap and when I woke up we were ten minutes away.

The last ride began with the team getting pumped for their last game against Youngker High School, the team bringing high spirits into this game and finally arrive at Younkers.

My experience with my group could be considered a bit of a wild ride. At the beigining there was trouble contacting everyone and getting a messaging group formed. It’s understandable that not everyone could have seen the email right away, being busy college students and everything. As time went on and the deadline got closer eventually responded and stepped forward to see what they could help with on the project. Because I was a over worried that no one would respond at first, I had already done essays on cinematography and changing the theme of “Stagecoach” ahead of time, so everything was going smoothly. The last night before the project was due I was putting the finishing touches on my two word docs for the project when disaster struck.

This year has been dedicated as our year of travel and so far we've been off to a great start. With the summer right around the corner and the kids officially out of school, I've been thinking of places to see and things to do. Last summer after one of our road trips we passed through beautiful St. Louis and that photo you see above is the photo that we took while driving on the highway. Not me of course, but I did hand my phone to my daughter so she could get a photo for me since she was in the passenger seat. St. Louis has always fascinated me and today I want to share with you my top 5 reasons why I want to visit St. Louis.

We unpacked our bags as we asked our parents where we were. “Branson” they said as we laid on the bed. We ate dinner then we went to bed. The next day we went to Silver Dollar City. We had never gone before we had been to Branson but never to Silver Dollar City. We got there to see lots of rides. We went no tons. Then my mom said “Lacey you should come with me and your sister to ride The Powder Keg roller coaster.” So of course