Last weekend...Surprise Adventure Tour II

Over the weekend, we did our second Surprise Adventure Tour for Mike's 36th birthday. It was one of the best weekends of the summer. Everyone had fun, and we included a kid's option, so Emmett was able to come. We all bonded and had a completely awesome time.

Here's a portion of the email invite I sent:
THE “Choose Your Own Adventure” SURPRISE ADVENTURE TOUR
This year, we're doing a Surprise Adventure Tour for Mike's birthday, only we decided to give the option for being surprised. In case your new to this concept, Surprise Adventure Tours are “our take” on adult birthdays. Rather than doing something for Mike, we’re trying to make a memory with you. We give you the dates and times. We give you an approximate cost. We give you clues and tell you everything you need. You simply show up and we go. This years adventure involves the word “FUN” the word “RELAX” the word “INDEPENDENT” and the word “THRILL”.

Surprise Number One - Amusement Park
At about 10am, Mike, Phil, Chris, Anthony, Emmett and I made our way on a three hour journey to Knoebels -- a theme park out in the middle of nowhere PA that has no admission fee. It's like a place straight out of the sixties with old style paintings, wooden roller coasters, surprise parades, a dog show, and hundreds of rides. The place is well kept and stress fee, with affordable concession stands, lots of space to BBQ and picnic, and very clean grounds. We got to the motels around 1:00, dropped off our stuff, and went to the park. Emmett Chris and I hung out in the kid's section and everyone else did the adult rides.

Surprise Number Two - Rodeo
At about 7pm, we took off and went to a Rodeo about 50 minutes away. They had bull riding, a horse competition, and a horse doing "tricks". Chris and I both felt sort of disturbed by it all, but of course, we are not at all in touch with how those animals feel.

Surprise Number Three - Drinking at the motel
We went back to the Glosser Inn motel and Jessica and Colin met us there. I am very picky about motels, and this was a very lo-level. It was cheap and we had two adjoining rooms. They were both smoking, so I brought candles and aired it out for the day. It was okay when we got back, but it was no Best Western (my favorite hotel chain). I found out that Tammy Faye died and got pretty depressed. Emmett and I went to bed and everyone else went out to the surprisingly well stocked "motel bar" and drank to celebrate Mike's birthday. I was going through my own struggle with a bed that I couldn't sleep in. Literally, "my side" was sunken in. I got upset when Mike came back and realized once again that I hate non-chain hotels.

Surprise Number Four - Exploration in Edysburg
We got up the next day, checked out, and went to a weird flea market down the road. Phil saw a guy with his face blown off and another guy with several wooden limbs. I bought some antique party invitations, Phil bought some vintage lunch box thermases, and Mike got some sparklers. Emmett got a little remote control car (complete with a wire). We got lunch at a nearby restaurant, but it was really dinner. $10.99 for an all you can eat buffet. It was an insane amount of food and Emmett ate for free. At the end, they sang happy birthday to Mike and we all got ice cream.Back to Knoebles...we went for day 2 at the park. Chris played Laser Tag with Mike and Phil. Laser Tag for them turned out to be one of the highlights of the journey. None of them had ever played before. Emmett and I did more kids rides with the grand finale being a ride on the kid's roller coaster. Emmett was 1 inch too short, and when the guy told him he couldn't go on, his head sunk into Mike's shoulder and he was crying -- devestated. We took him on one more ride -- a big slide -- and that made everything okay. We got in the van and began our journey home.

Final Surprise - The City On Fire
The final tour involved a tour through Centralia a city that's been on fire (underground) since 1962. We walked around a little.

The Ride Home
We stopped at Turkey Hill and realized we'd eaten terribly the entire time. Anthony got in Jessica & Colin's car, and we stopped at the Cracker Barrel. I was craving a fresh salad. The ride back was actually one of the highlights for me full of laughter. And as of yesterday, all of us felt sort of hungover and tired.