This weekend, Bob and I stole away on an impromptu trip to the nearby Wisconsin Dells, Waterpark Capital of the World. And it was a ton of fun. Minus the getting stuck on a water slide moment.
This is the Scorpion's Tail ride at Noah's Ark Water Park.
At ten-stories high, it is a little intimidating. The scariest part is the beginning, when the trap door you are standing on drops out from under you, and you begin barreling down the tube. Supposedly you are supposed to go fast enough that you zip around the loop upside down.
But I'm brave, so I do it. I stand on the trap door, let it drop from under me, and zip down the tube in a near vertical position. I start the curve around the big loop and......
Suddenly, I'm not moving anymore. I open my eyes which have previously been sealed tight, and find I am still in the tube. I'm not in the happy little pool at the bottom of the slide. I am still in the tube and I am not moving.
Slight panic sets in. I look forward, and can see the peak of the slide just a few feet in front of my feet. I look back, and see the slide curve downward to where I had just been. I next envision Bob, who was behind me in line, barreling down at light speed and crashing into me in this tiny space, killiing me instantly. Later I found out that he is still at the top of the slide, yelling, "She's stuck in there! She's stuck in there! What have you done to my wife?!" I think this is when I started yelling for help and hitting the side of the tube, all the while thinking they can't hear me and they don't know I'm here. I try to push myself forward, over the tipping point of the ride, so I would get out of there. But my feet are above the level of my head, and with the stream of water gushing around me, I can't push myself that way. So I figure, I have to go backwards, because I'm sure as heck not staying here. All of this took about 15 seconds, which is, in other words, eternity.
So backwards I go, landing in the curve where the slide first makes an upstroke. I start hitting the tube again, hoping to be heard, and all of a sudden, a magical trap door opens above my head, and I can see the blessed blue sky once again. I stand up, step out on the staircase that is there, and am escorted by two members of the staff to safety.
And that was the time I got stuck in the water slide.
9 comments:
That does sound frightening. I am glad you made it out safely!
That is not my idea of fun! Lessen to me. Never go in that slide. I am glad you made it out safely and you certianly do have an interesting story to tell now.
Oh my! I am glad Bob did not barrel after you, killing you instantly! That would not have been happy.
So, did either of you get up the nerve to try it again?
...How...? Never mind. Only you, Sarah Dill Blanshan, only you.
I feel the stress just thinking about it!
I did not try it again, Polly, though I suppose I would have known what to do the next time. Bob did ride it again and said it was his favorite!
SO my first response is BAHAHAHAHAHA! But as I think about being stuck in a tube slide upside down, I think I would panic, as well. I'm glad you survived! Would have been a tragic way to go. =/
Love you!
You are good at telling stories and conveying the feelings of the moment. That's hilarious, and yet, I know how it feels to panic in water. So scary!
You've got to keep an eye on wives or your likely to lose them.
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