I've been gone for the past couple days (not that anyone noticed). Friday wasn't for the trip, although I did spend a lot of that day packing. It was Saturday that I went to Six Flags California with my high school's (and the rest of the city's high schools') orchestra.

I got up at 5:45 in order to get to the school by 7 o'clock. This is pretty early for me, the girl who wakes up at 7:50 to get to school by 8:10. So I showered, I finished packing, and Mom drove me down to the high school. The bus came, we hopped on, we drove away. Not much to be said of the three-hour trip on the blue charter bus. I listened to CDs and read my Bible and Left Behind (the former for the third or fourth time- it's a big Book!- the latter for the elenventh or so time) while everyone else... well... talked.

We got to Six Flags a little after ten (when the park opens). It took another half hour just waiting in line to get in. I was being bugged by my teacher to "hang" with "those two nice girls" or "that cool group." I, however, had other, simpler plans -- to "hang" (the teacher's word, not mine) with the kids from my school (only ten of us came, but two of them split off by themselves). I went in with sixty dollars, partly from a wonderful mother, partly my own to buy her a Mother's Day gift.

We got off the bus and walked all the way in (the tram lines were too long). Four guys and four girls- Sam (not the RinkWorks creator Sam!), Keian, Joey (my old stand partner and seat rival from orchestra), and Alfonso, then Cassie, Tenisha, Danae, and me. We got our tickets and went in.

First order of business- rides! The worst I'd been on before that day was the Revolution, which only has a loop or two, so I was a little uneasy when the boys led us straight to the Viper. If you don't know, that's probably what someone would call a "moderate" ride- a couple not-too-steep drops, tons of loops, and a bunch of sharp turns. It didn't take us long in line as the park had just opened, so we got in the cars and braced ourselves (well, *I* did). My stomach was beginning to protest by this time, and we hadn't even begun to move yet.

I almost fell out of my seat, and my backpack almost came out from under me, but it was fun. The bad part? I lost my watch on the ride! I *always* wear a watch when I'm not at home, because I'm one of those who like to check the time every five minutes. First ride I went on, I lost my watch, and I was stranded for the next eleven hours with no way to tell what time it was. Smooth move, right? (C'mon, Ria, that's what pockets are for- loose items!)

So my worst fears were squashed. The Viper was a little, uh, unsettling on the first couple drops (I learned to hate steep drops yesterday), but otherwise, it was fun. Even if I had my eyes closed the whole time.

Three of the boys took off after that ride- to the restroom, seemingly. All four girls (me included) and Joey sat at the bottom of the exit, waiting for them to come back, which they did. Off to the next ride- the Ninja.

This ride constituded a bit of a longer wait, but it was fun. No loops or steep drops- good for an easily upset stomach like mine.

Next order of business- food! It was around 11:30 or noon by then (how could I know without a watch?) and we were all hungry. We decided on the most popular teenage American food- pizza! There were a few places to choose from for that particular meal, but we wanted to sit down, so we went to the Laughing Dragon.

This "restaurant" opened at noon, and according to Sam, it was 12:10. "We girls" decided to look elsewhere for food instead of waiting, so we took off in one direction, only to almost immediately bump into a dead end. We could see the restaurant from there, and in the short thirty seconds we'd been gone, the doors had been opened. We ran in, and the guys were standing there, laughing at us. "Are you sure you can order your own food?" Sam teased. "You can't seem to make it around the park!"

We were soon seated. We took the menus and browsed through (that's a figurative statement; the menu was really only a little piece of folded paper). $10.95 for a pizza, okay. We'll order that. Then someone pointed out that it was $10.95 for an *individual* pizza- that means it was only about 6 inches thick and didn't even come with a drink. Uh, no. If we were going to spend $15 on food, we were going to spend it on real food. So we (the girls- the guys were at a separate table) took off.

What did we end up eating? Eight inch pizza- but this was only $5, so it was more worth the money. (See, even us teenagers can be somewhat money-wise.)

What did the guys do? According to Joey, who boarded the bus first (later on in the day), they sat around for an hour waiting for their pizza. They'd already ordered drinks, so they couldn't get out without a bill anyway. I almost felt sorry for them ;-P

That was when "the guys" and "the girls" split up. I don't know what they did afterward (Joey said that they kept walking back and forth, trying to figure out which ride to get on next, so he split), but we went back to the Viper. Hey, let's go torture my stomach even more! But it was better this time- I kept my eyes open on everything but the loops.

After that, then what was the third order of business? Watching cheerleading competitions. Oh, dear goodness, hold me back! Cheerleading, what joy. (Sorry for anyone who likes cheerleading, but my idea of fun is not watching elementary school girls in skimpy outfits making derogatory gestures, which is what the entire act consisted of.) We sat through three different schools' performances, then went back out.

Next, the Revolution. I'd been on this before, so it was no big deal. Fun for me.

We went back to the cheerleading, but this time, stayed for a couple hours. I nearly fell asleep, but the wild cheering and whistling of the girls beside us kept me awake.

Yes, time to go elsewhere! We played a few games at this time (Cassie and Tenisha spent about $20 each trying to get a baseball in a milk jug. I, however, decided not to waste my money when I know my lack of skill at throwing round objects with any type of real aim).

Then where? The Colossus! I'd been on this before, but there was a new twist. Cassie and Tenisha spotted two "cute" guys outside the ride and waved for them to wait for us. Oh, joy. I had fun on the Colossus, but afterward, I had "fun" lagging behind because I was (and am) *not* interested in boys, especially random people my group picked up. Oh, joy of joys. What made the matter worse? Because I was quiet, they hit on me. One of them kept putting his arm around me and trying to call me his girlfriend. These were obviously not Christian guys (they had the mannerisms of "ghetto druggies," which were actually their words), which is the only kind of guy I'll ever be interested in (maybe an exception if "he" has an open mind- sorry for seeming narrow-minded to any non-Christians), so I spent the rest of the day lagging behind just far enough to stay out of reach, and when I messed up, ducking out from under his arm. Gah, spare me.

We went on the Colossus again, and one of the boys actually grabbed my arm (gently, but it's the idea that upset me). I pulled away. Cassie and Tenisha tried to set me up to ride next to him, but I was lucky enough to have Danae sympathize and sit next to me instead. Whew.

Somewhere along the line I stopped in at the glass shop and had a vase etched for Mom. I had a cross put on the front, and I purchased a little resin hummingbird to hang from the side (she loves hummingbirds).

Cut the repetitive scenes with the girls and I walking around with two guys, me trying to avoid the guys. That got boring quick, even while it was happening.

Around came 9:30, which was when we were to begin leaving (the park closes at ten). I only knew of the time because I stopped to ask someone. Of course, Cassie, Tenisha, Danae, and their two new friends took off the go ride the Viper for a third time. I still had to pick up Mom's vase, so when they went running one way, I ran alongside for about ten seconds then took off the other way.

Peace, finally! No guys around to bother me. Of course, we had to be at the back of the park at the time, so I walked all the way up the the front (where the glass shop was) and had to wait ten minutes just for the guy behind the counter to put the vase in a box and pad it with tissue paper. Imagine a Ria with tapping fingers, tapping feet, a cocked hip, and a very, very impatient aura. That was me for ten minutes. Finally, knowing I had to leave *then* to get to the bus in time, I said, "It doesn't have to be perfect," grabbed the box, and took off. Sorry, dude behind the counter, if you're reading this. When you live one hundred or so miles away and you want nothing more than to get HOME, you do what you have to do.

I walked out the gates, only to find that the line for the trams extends through the gate. Terrific. My hips were really beginning to hurt by now, and my side was very sore. I decided, however, rather than to wait twenty minutes for the tram, to walk fifteen minutes to the bus.

I got on the bus just in time, but half the kids from my school were still missing- actually, everyone from my school. I plopped down in my seat (luckily for me, I had two seats to myself) and waited for the kids from my high school to get back. It was just them and a few others left.

Joey came back on first (alone), and we exchanged stories. Next came Danae, then Tenisha and Cassie.

About a half hour after we were all supposed to be on the bus, Alfonso came charging up the stairs with Keian and Sam right behind. Yes, we get to LEAVE!

More bad news. We don't get two hundred feet fromt he parking space before the bus stops and the driver gets out. I didn't compute *why* we had to wait another forty-five minutes until the teacher asked us if we had felt the bus hit a car. No, we all said, so she went out and told that to a police officer. Apparently, some lady had a dent on her rental car and decided to blame it on us. She didn't even have a driver's license with her, so I don't know why she even bothered.

Yes, we get to take off. I put in my "The Waiting" CD, having listened to dc Talk all the way there, and leaned my seat back. All of the lights were off, so I observed sleeping students with a very awakened mind. Don't ask me why I didn't fall asleep as well, because I don't know. Soon, my CD stopped and I put in Jars of Clay. I slipped off my shoes, put the arm rest between the seats up, and stretched out over my two seats. Relaxation time! That was a nice break from the tension of staying away from two idiotic males, plus I got to observe the guys from my group break off their tough facade while they were sleeping. Apparently, Joey snores. Loudly. Keian sleeps with his mouth open. I didn't see Alfonso, but Sam fell asleep alomst as soon as he sat down. Funny, I thought the kids in the back of the bus were supposed to play Truth or Dare on the way back. Scratch that ;-) Pretty soon, I feel asleep, too. Actually, it was more like half-unconciousness. I never could get into any type of real sleep while on a bus.

Soon enough, we were back home. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, covered my shoudlers with my blanket, grabbed the box holding Mom's vase, and stumbled off the bus and into Mom's car.

Last order of business: Sleep in a real bed. Ahh, rest.

ri "Tired, but never too tired to talk" a