(Really) Great America

We happily wore ourselves out yesterday at Paramount's Great America, which is about an hour south of here. It was the annual UoP picnic. (Last year's was held at the SFZoo--see blog archives for October '05.)

Lucky for us, the new dean was looking to make a good impression, scoring us tix for $5 each (with a value of $45+ each, including meal and parking).

We all had a blast on the rides--a great balance of kid stuff in Kidzville and adult stuff like "Top Gun," "Invertigo," "Drop Zone," and "Vortex," thanks to the tag-teaming we did with our friends the Javadis.

The biggest family fun, though, was probably the "Rip Roaring Rapids," a 6-person water ride with plenty of dipping splash. Not only did the little river soak us, but sadistic voyeurs could shoot water from dry land at our rafts for a quarter. Needless to say, we were drenched (hair, pants, shirts, shoes, socks) at the end of the ride, but it was such an adrenaline rush we went back twice.