Adrenaline Rush

Until I married Niel, I was a real pansy when it came to amusement parks and thriller rides. Just to give you an idea...my senior year of high school, my parents took me to Disneyland. I was so much of a pansy I wouldn't even go on the roller coaster ride, house of terror, or the hot shot at California Adventure Park, so my Dad had to go on them by himself.

I can clearly pinpoint when this stage came to an end. Shortly after being married, we went with our friends Jim and Amy to Lagoon in Utah. At this point, the scariest ride I would go on was the old, white roller-coaster. Niel and Jim decided they wanted to go on Wicked. It was about an hour wait since it was a new ride, so Amy and I decided to stand in line with them to socialize until they got inside the building. Somehow we didn't manage to make it out of the line in time and we were stuck inside the building...point of no return. We were both literally freaking out. I remember being strapped into my seat before the ride started sweating bullets and thinking, "I hope I make it through this!" (I know, really lame). We both screamed SO loud during the ride and were relieved it was over. But the strangest thing happened...there was a part of me that surprisingly LIKED it. Could that be? The adrenaline rush was actually fun and exciting! That got me thinking I might be able to try some other rides. I mean hey, if I could do Wicked, I could handle other rides right? And that was where it all started. The next stage of my development was Six Flags theme park in California. If it wasn't for being peer-pressured and stuck in line at Lagoon I would still be a scard-y cat enjoying the 'beginner thriller' rides.

NOW...onto the main story. There is a ride on top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas called the Big Shot. The Stratosphere is the tallest building in Las Vegas and the ride shoots passengers straight up 45 mph until they are 1,081 feet above the strip. We went on it and it was awesome! The view was amazing and it provided a good adrenaline rush. The suspense at the beginning is pretty intense when you are waiting to be shot up into the air. I will never forget the look of terror on Niel's face when we stepped into line at the top of the Stratosphere. Priceless.

This picture was taken at the top of the stratosphere overlooking the strip right before we got on the ride.

Niel took this picture of me right after we finished the ride. I wanted to go again!

Then we had a nice, relaxing dinner at the Venetian next to the panama canal where the gondola singers go by with Stephanie, Devin, & Kristin.

If you ever get a chance to go on the stratosphere DO IT!