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Control Freak Controls Cedar Point Sun

By Gloria Diaz

Check out Gloria's Blog — Edge of Gloria!

Fort Wayne Reader

2018-07-05

I admit it. I'm a control freak. If I think I can do it better, faster, more creatively, etc. I will take over.

But sometimes it's nice to let other people take over.

Sometimes.

Ivy Tech hosts an annual bus trip to Cedar Point, one of my favorite places on Earth. I'd never taken a bus trip there, and thought it might be nice from a cost point of view, and letting someone else do the driving for a change.

It was only $40 for the ticket and transportation over. Usually when I go, it's $50 for the ticket, another $40 for gas, $15 for parking, and at least a few bucks for a snack/meal. One time, I decided I wanted fries and shelled out $11 and change for soggy french fries and a Coke. I was livid, and after I left the park, stopped at the McDonald's on the way to the turnpike and got much better fries for a third of the price. I made sure to tell the drive-through staff their fries were superior and cheaper.

So I eagerly anticipated this trip. I got the time off for it, I didn't have to be into work early the next day, and all seemed well, until I checked the forecast. Rain. 80% chance.

The day before, I received a message. The trip was canceled due to the forecast. Since I hadn't been to Cedar Point at all last year, I was furious. I had to go. I. Had. To. Go.

I was broke, of course, and my car was in the shop. But I had a paid for ticket, right? So because I'm stubborn and resilient, I had the ticket delivered to my house (yes, I'm that special) and rented a car.

And I went. And it was one of the best trips ever. Sure, it rained on the way over there, but when I paid for my parking, the attendant said they hadn't had any rain. It DID rain during the day, but only for a brief while, when I was walking on the beach. And the sun came out. The sun always comes out for me at Cedar Point.

What made the trip so great was the faith I had that everything would be okay. And it was. I rode Millennium Force eight times, I think, because there wasn't any wait time. Well, there was a bit of a wait time, because I like to ride up front. But 20 minutes for front row beats an hour and half.

People were nice. I got a comment on my beloved, cozy Roots hoodie. Some guy high fived me and gave me a hug. I talked to someone who belonged to the Downtown Sandusky Improvement District (or whatever it's called). I told her how much I loved Cedar Point, and she agreed it was a great place. I won't ever be able to retire, but if I could, I'd retire to Sandusky, I think. It's more affordable than San Francisco (actually, pretty much everywhere is more affordable than San Francisco) and though I love California, I just don't think it's possible. Neither is Canada. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can rent out my house and move east and make it happen. To spend the rest of my days walking around Cedar Point and taking pictures and getting my ass kicked by Steel Vengeance.

It is a VAST improvement over Mean Streak, and rare in the sense that it actually made me a little nervous. I'm jaded and hard to impress, but SV is totally worth the hype. It made me think of what it would be like to ride a bucking bronco. Very fitting, since it fit in with the Frontiertown motif.

Cedar Point always brings out the feels in me. The “feeling like a bird” moment of Millennium Force. The Oh-my-God-turn-me-every-which-way-but-loose feel of Steel Vengeance. Walking on the beach beside Lake Erie's waves a furious gray-green with whitecaps peppered by a stiff wind and rain combo and getting a little teary-eyed. Getting a little choked up by fact that despite the weather forecast and my lack of funds, I made it anyway, and it was a great time.

I want to think of my first trip to Cedar Point this year as a sort of metaphor. It's going to turn out all right. The sun always shines for me at Cedar Point. And this trip has given me faith to maybe take the biggest risk of my life.