Memories of my dad, part 3

Here's a picture of my dad. It was taken just a few years before he died, at a cousin's wedding. I think it catches his humorous side.


In August of 1988, I decided I needed a fun day. I called in to my job and let them know I wouldn't be in and then my dad and I took a trip up to Lake George. We went to the Great Escape and had a blast. I was 26, my dad was 66, and we acted like two teenagers. I can't remember when I'd had more fun.

We just decided to enjoy ourselves as much as we could, and boy, did we. I don't think there was a ride there that we didn't go on, and we went on the Steamin' Demon roller coaster several times. I think that was one of their newest rides at the time and my dad loved it. The park wasn't that full and what we did was get off and get right back in line. One time, there was this boy about 10 waiting in line in front of us. He looked at the two of us and then said, "Hey mister. You're standing in line to keep her happy, right? You're not going on the ride, are ya? You're too old. You'll have a heart attack or something." I thought my dad was going to piss his pants, he laughed so hard.

Now, there was one ride my dad really loved, even more than the roller coaster. I'm not sure it's still there because I don't know the name of it. I tried looking at their website but without pictures, it's hard to tell. It was this ride that started out horizontal. You fit one person to a pod, two if you were talking kids, and the pods kinda looked like silver slides or something. It started out going round and round, like a merry go round. Then, it started to lift up a bit and your pod would fly out a bit so you were even with the whole ride. It lifted up even more, until you were nearly vertical, so at the top you were upside down for a few seconds. No belts because the ride was going fast enough to keep you in place. Then it started to drop down again and then the ride was over. My dad absolutely loved it. He told me he could ride it forever, even fall asleep in it. I have to admit, after working up the courage to ride it, I loved it, too.

At the end of the day, we had some pictures taken as keepsakes. We'd eaten some of the usual fair-type food, bought cotton candy to take home to my nephew, and even had a huge ice-cream cone each. I think my dad ate his faster than I ate mine. But the bottom line was, it was a day that we acted like kids, blew off some steam, and just forgot that we were supposed to be adults. Everyone should have a day like that with their dad. It should be a requirement.