Surviving the Silverwood Fifth Grade Field Trip

Assignment: Help Chaperone Group of Fifth Grade Students
Destination: Silverwood Theme Park, Athol, Idaho
Mission: To Make It Through the Day With Sanity


Start off the day cruising "Thunder Canyon" with your daughter and her friends.Next time, share your tried and true Silverwood wisdom with fellow chaperones. DON'T WEAR JEANS TO SILVERWOOD, especially on the water rides. One word...CHAFING!!!
Check out the water bumper boats from above from the Parasailer.

More great views from the Parasailer, except for the evil roller coaster.
Visit the main attraction to the park, Roller Coaster Alley.
Be patient when your daughter says she wants to ride on the Skydiver "one more time".
Okay, I'm sorry if you are a ferris wheel fan. But, as you see, I am not riding on this ride. Roller coasters scare me to death. The rocking on the top when you have stopped is the WORST.

Okay, kids, please DO NOT MAKE ANY OBSCENE GESTURES at the camera while riding on the roller coaster.

I passed this test. It was close, but I refrained from being an idiot and standing up on the roller coaster. The seat belt and secure bar were also a bit of a deterrent. Make sure you read the stats on the roller coaster AFTER you ride it. Did you know that this roller coaster is named Timber Terror. (It was previously called Grizzly and changed to Timber Terror in 1996 so as not to conflict with Paramount's Great America and Paramount's King's Dominions Grizzly coasters.) It is a wood, sit down coaster that is 2700' long, and is 85' high. Riders reach a speed of 55 mph and it lasts 1:32. I survived this coaster by keeping my eyes closed for the majority of the ride.

According to ultimaterollercoaster.com, If you were to take a wild twister and shake it up with the airtime of an "out and back" coaster, the result would be Tremors, designed by Custom Coasters. Its very first drop plunges deep into an underground tunnel, crashing back above ground through the floor and ceiling of one of the park's gift shops. Four underground tunnels swallow riders as they traverse the path of Tremors reaching speeds of 50 mph. This coaster is 3158 feet long, and 85 feet high. Tremors has a 99 foot drop, and riders reach a top speed of 50 mph. The ride is 1 minute 40 second, and the G-Force is 2.5 G's. I was more familiar with this coaster, so my eyes weren't shut quite as much.
The Log Flume is a fun water ride. See how much fun the girls are having.
Up, up, up we go to make the plunge on the log ride.

Here is another plunge at the park...The Panic Plunge. I didn't get a chance at this ride. But it was fun talking to kids who did, and how thrilled and excited they were to experience the 140 foot drop from the top.Fifth graders feast on "elephant ears" at the end of the day.
Chaperones need funnel cakes.

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Mission Accomplished. Kids were great. A perfect weather day for a day at Silverwood.

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Sanity Still Here. (Well, to some that may be debatable.)

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Just standing by for my next assignment.

A Little Bit of This...A Little Bit of That

Here is my dog Peaches. She is a Keeshond. She is very good natured and seems to always have a smile. (Especially when there is cheese around...then she gets crazy cheese eyes.)

Why can't people at work be more like Peaches...it would sure make life less complicated.


Human resource management can suck the life right out of you.


This is the part of my job that isn't that fun. Dealing with employee issues can be a bit draining.


Hearing the complaints and concerns. Talking to all sides. Praying to God for wisdom to handle the situation. Having the meeting.


It just takes time, and energy, and it often can be a productive time, but working up to the meeting can be exhausting.


I hope after our talk she becomes a better employee.


Because that is part of my job. To help our employees work as a team, and for each of them to be successful, productive employees.


And most of the time it works great...but every so often there is a hitch. Today I dealt with one of the hitches. Let's hope progress was made today.

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I also went to the dentist for a check up. He told me my back top tooth on the right hand side was missing part of the tooth. It had chipped off. I'm going in next week to get it fixed. Dentists don't really bother me. I practically fell asleep during my cleaning. I've never needed laughing gas. Just extra novacaine as I grow older, to get my teeth area good and numb.

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I got a call from the editor of the local newspaper today. She is getting married on Saturday, and leaving for her honeymoon, and will be gone for about two weeks. She is a little concerned because she is understaffed. She wondered if I could make some contributions to the paper over the next few weeks. Poor thing. She doesn't need to be worrying about all of this the week of her wedding. I wish Icould help her more, but the last few weeks of school are crammed full of school activities. I will probably try and take pics at the school events, and send her what I can. I wish I could help more.
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I wrote a melodrama at the beginning of the year, and it is being produced by the local theater here in the Silver Valley. PKR is directing it, and he, myself, The Princess and three others will be performing it at the Sixth Street Melodrama this July in Wallace. PKR made the final cast selections today, and we start rehearsals on Monday. The name of the play is "Nightmare at Dream Gulch...or Wake Me When It's Over." It is based on a true story from the Murray Gold Rush I read in the book "Beneath These Mountains." I'll be sharing more on this adventure as it unfolds in the following weeks.
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Tomorrow Kiki Aru's 5th grade class is going to Silverwood Theme Park, and I am chaperoning. I went with the other two daughters, so now it is time to go with my baby girl. Kiki Aru is taking me through lots of endings...the end of Sunnyside Elementary, the last spring music show, and my last Silverwood Field Trip. And I'm sure there will be others.


Well, I'm nodding off as I write this, so maybe I should go to bed.

Goodnight!!