Kinda Loopy

I loved roller coasters when I was younger.  I wanted all the loops.  All the dips.  I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs with my arms in the air. The more extreme the better. Disneyland was cute, but I preferred the thrill of Magic Mountain. I got excited just looking at the Colussus sprawling across the park. It was so pretty, and massive, and it was my favorite. These days...no. I haven't been to a major amusement park in a really long time. The last major roller coaster I rode was The Big Apple Coaster on the roof of New York, New York Hotel in Las Vegas. I only did it because my sister insisted. So much fun! I have the guts for it mentally, but not physically. We got jerked around so much I thought my neck would break. When we go to the fair, mild rides are the way to go (if at all), and only before I've eaten or else I risk being nauseated for the rest of the day.

Since my Magic Mountain days are over, I suggested Universal Studios Hollywood to kick off Spring Break.  Not only has my tolerance to 360 degree loops changed, but so have the prices. I still remember the days when you could get into Disneyland for $20 something bucks, so I was shocked to find out that $114 bucks is a special Universal Studios Southern California resident online only rate. Forget about upgrading to Express for $169 bucks.  I mean really? That's almost $200 dollars.  Just for kicks I checked the prices of Disneyland Anaheim ($97-$135) and Six Flags Magic Mountain ($59.99 online only special up to $89.99).  Wow.  Okay.  Moving on.

It's funny, but somehow I forgot about the fatigue of spending the better part of an entire day standing in lines.  We waited two hours for Harry Potter, but mostly an hour for everything else.  We should have done solo rider.  We did that on our last ride, even though the solo rider option was technically over, getting us in and out in 30 minutes.  I love zombies (and the show) so The Walking Dead attraction was my favorite. The cool thing about amusement parks today is that there's an app for that. We were able to view up to the minute wait times and create an itinerary from our phone. I didn't even have a cell phone the last time I went to an amusement park! My how things change. I still wouldn't pay the money, but I totally get why people upgrade to Express. We did pretty good, fitting in six attractions, but my feet and back were so dead tired at the end of the day. The rides and shows were pretty great, and I'm glad we went so it was all worth it. I'm also glad we decided to spend the night before and the night of in a Hollywood hotel.  And you know what else I'm really glad about? That I had a spring break at all. It's not really a thing as an adult, but I'm a lucky girl for getting a real summer break last year and a real spring break this year. I'm glad MJ was here for me to enjoy it with. I would have never taken the week off if he wasn't coming home.

We made a pit stop to Pioneertown on the way to Universal Studios.  It was actually a bit of a detour, but I heard it was worth a visit, and since we already on the road I wanted to check it out.  Well.  I definitely enjoyed looking at all the adorable western buildings, but there really isn't much to do and the only restaurant in town had a two hour wait. I'm glad it wasn't a trip in and of itself. We made it to our hotel in time for the free hotel happy hour, then ate the most delicious burgers at Stout Burgers and Brew.  We hadn't eaten since breakfast, so we were starving.

Later on that week we enjoyed a relaxing couples massage and a carbohydrate filled Italian dinner out celebrate my birthday.

Our time together is weird these days.  When I say weird, I guess I mean different, because it's a huge departure from what I used to consider our normal. We don't live together. We visit each other. There is usually lots of luggage involved, and it's been going on for one year and eight months. The Thanksgiving before last I went to Germany and we spent our Thanksgiving in Rome. In July/August last year I traveled to Germany then we spent most of the time traveling in Europe. This Thanksgiving he was barely home for one night, and our week together was spent traveling to the east coast. He stayed in Germany for Christmas. In January we met up in Baltimore for another family trip to the east coast, and said good-bye at the airport in Atlanta. In February we missed out on attending a wedding and  MJ's time at home got shortened to three days, but the upside of that whole situation is he got to come home twice instead of once. Last year he surprised me by showing up for my Birthday (and got my sisters to do the same). This year he had to leave the day before. Our time together is always temporary and never normal.  We haven't had normal in so long. I've forgotten what normal is, but I know I want it back.  Long distance lovin' 'aint easy, but I try to make the best of it, because I love my husband and our marriage is worth it.

I've seen him three times in three months, and I'm grateful, but a long distance marriage is not for the faint of heart.  It's about as loopy as all those wild roller coasters I used to ride. It's up. It's down. It's round and round, and you can only ride for so long.