Bob and I had finally, finally confirmed our plans for the Halloween weekend: We were going to spend Saturday getting our fill of adrenaline rushes on the Cedar Point coasters, and then listen to the amazing, melodious voice of Ingrid Michaelson and her band members in Cleveland at night, where we would proceed to meet up with Michelle and Maya.
The trip started off with rain bubbles popping on the windshield of the Beast. It was gloomy, cold, and the kind of day best spent in bed with a novel. But we were on a mission. So, not even seven minutes into highway time, my van starts to rumble. I look over at Bob to see if he has noticed. He hasn't. I stare down at my gas gauge into the troublesome orange square that indicates LOW FUEL. My car rumbles again and this time Bob glances over.
Three minutes later, we found ourselves pulled over on the side of the highway not even three exits away from Behrend. Bob and I laugh, saying this would happen, and he offers to walk to the nearest gas station, which is maybe a ten minute walk from the van. After offering to come with him a million and one times, I found myself sitting in my van, listening to the rain and the tinktinktink of my four way flashers.
Twenty minutes, and three phone conversations later, I see Bob (the Hero) sauntering along the exit, his cheeks flushed with the cold and trudge of carrying gasoline uphill. I could have called AAA, but honestly, who thinks of that in such a situation? I had forgot I was even a member.
I held the mucky stick into my gas gauge as Bob tried, and kind of failed, at getting all of the gasoline into the tank. Mostly it ended up all over us and the back left tire of my van.
We drove off with laughable expectations, but goofy grins adorned our faces because who knew what would come next? We had the whole day waiting, waiting.
About 1.5 hours later, we decided to stop for lunch before reaching the park. Neither of us had 8 dollars to pay for a lone hamburger. Geez. So, after walking into the restaurant, we sat down, took off our jackets, and the fire alarm proceeded to go off. We stared at each other for what must have been five minutes, and then burst out laughing. We laughed and laughed, and ordered a million plates of food for cheap, and laughed some more. This was too absurd.
We eventually arrived at Cedar Point at 2:30 (the original plan was supposed to be around noonish), and giddily ran to our first coaster: Top Thrill Dragster. After waiting in line for about twenty-minutes, the ride broke down and we laughed again. If I would have gotten a ticket for speeding, that would have been the cherry, but I didn't, (thank goodness), and so we shook our heads and moved on to Millenium Force. We ended up doing all the coasters our hearts could have handled, and eventually got on the Dragster (which took my breath away, literally) last. After a solid five hours of line-waitin', coaster-hoppin' glory, we raced back to the van and I sped down the interstate to make sure not to miss Ingrid Michaelson.
The concert was mind-blowingly amazing, to say the least. Aside from the fact that I could not see much, and the ballroom was packed body-to-costumed body, I had an absolute blast. Michelle, Maya and I sang along and made complete fools out of ourselves. I bought two of her CD's and a poster that I would have loved to be signed, but she was not having any of the crowd. She and her band really put on a show, though, and no doubt will I be a returning fan to future concerts.
We stopped at Sheetz after the show because Bob and I hadn't eaten since lunch earlier in the day, and I was starving. And after the much-needed Sheetz run, we made our way back (blaring my new Ingrid CD's) to campus.
I walked back through the trash-ridden, pumpkin-smashed' Quad at 2 in the morning with sticky hair and glazed eyes, but I was genuinely happy. It was, for sure, one memorable Halloween.
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