Midland/Cedar Point Travelogue

aka "Everything You Might Not Want To Know About Our Epic Trip But Didn't Ask Because You Were Afraid We Would Actually Answer."  HERE GOES!:

Beckie Comments are in regular type.

(Aaron Comments are in parentheses.)

(Driving to Midland from D-town)

Pulled into the first parking lot we saw in Midland and saw this tree. Stuff grows here.

Wandering behind a building by Davenport U and saw this bucket-o-butts.  (The person responsible is probably breathing through a hole in their neck.)

(Modern explorers.....because people who live here need to go on vacation a lot to stay sane?)

A boring looking building, but it's special because it used to be a delicious place to eat called "Hot 'N Now" (where you could buy a basic burger for 29 cents and a "deluxe" burger for 89 cents. I'm pretty sure the most expensive item on that menu was $1.29 for 16 ounce ice cream sundae)

A current delicious place to eat called "Rally's" where we ate a Big Gulp of seasoned fries.

Apparently this was a cool grocery store when Aaron was there.

This is the inside of it. 

TRIDGE!!! 

(Midlanders get so excited about this piece of wood.  Beckie got a Midland Tridge shirt to remember the link between the farmers market, the Frisbee golf coarse and the skate park)

MORE TRIDGE!

TRIDGALICIOUS

HASHTAG TRIDGE SELFIE

DAFFODIL+TRIDGE

In Michigan they took all their unused railroads and turned them into bike/walking paths. Hence, the Rail Trail.(30 miles long, this trail is no joke)

"Downtown" Midland. If you can call it that. 

"Overlook Park." I think they had to haul in the hill as well. 

Everything in Midland is because CHEMISTRY.

Aaron loved this place growing up. It's just down the street from the church so they'd always come here after mutual. 

(Beckie is fuzzy.)

To continue the schtick of Aaron In Pictures With His Mouth Open

Nacho's Supreme.

We had to get a Banana Split because it was always what Aaron got. Turns out it was not as good as he remembered it.  (It was like they just emptied a box of slightly freezer burnt store brand Neapolitan on a banana and topped it with stuff.  The fudge was still good)

We died. 

The crappy movie theaters we always remember from our childhood! (Now shut down.)

Ditto from post above, but about a bowling alley. (Not shut down)

Mongolia + Midland = Aaron!  (We didn't eat there though.)

"M" for Mormon. Apparently lots of "friends" that went to this church had a grudge against the LDS church, but we love them anyway!

"M" for Midland Mall!

The "Smith's Marketplace" of Midland. Pronounced "Meyer"

Aaron's mom for some reason always had cravings for this seafood salad....( at 11:45PM on Saturdays)

The better movie theaters!

The hospital in which Aaron was birthed!

The bishop's office of the good old Midland Second Ward! Thanks to the missionaries who were just finishing a zone meeting and let us in to be tourists.

Aaron reenacting a scene from a play in which he acted as Richard Nixon. Not a joke. Not a crook.

Thanks again, Elders!

The old Scout room.

All churches look the same... :)

So green there!

You can only guess what kind of times were had at this pizza place....

Northeast Junior High

...the Vikings

Aaron had a class in this old relo. I mean, what are they called in Michigan? 

(They were called modular classrooms, and I had a French class in the one on the right with a half insane FOB lady teacher.  She go off on screaming french rants in which she called us disrespectful little snots who couldn't speak french because we paid attention to our bon bons more then we did the teacher and then would storm out of the room.  Apparently I wasn't one of the disrespectful snots because I understood these rants)

"Mom, I forgot my homework, go in the back door so I can sneak in"

(Pretty sure this was every other day.....and the night janitor still scared me)

(Home of Northeast Little League.  My machine pitch team won the league.  I didn't do so well against real arms though)

Now I understand the movie Super 8 better. These water towers are all oooooover the place in the middle west. 

"The Fun Zone" is a big wooden playground

(we snuck out during a sleepover for Newells birthday and came here once. Hidden in the maze of wood were two less then clothed young adults smoking pot.  That's what you get for disobeying parents)

Flower child.

Aaron's heart will go on.

Re-enacting the TRIDGE on the MINI TOY TRIDGE

The Bullens have left their mark in the park! Even Paisley the dog had a hand in it. (bwah ha)

My, how Aaron's hand has grown. 

(I'm a big boy now---wow)

"This is where we used to live"

(Too bad we didn't break in)
Actually the guy who bought the house from the Bullens still lives there! He was very nice to let use walk around the back yard. Couldn't let us in though, in fear of his wife being embarrassed by the messy house. Thanks, guy!

"in the backyard..."

(We built a tree fort in our yard, despite not having a million dollars. Last BNL reference, i swear)

(eating the scenery, its a thing I do....in pictures)

(good place for hide and go seek

, also a shortcut from the basement to the yard)

We were there! Look!

(Burlington/Fire fly park.  We use to catch fire flies here in the summer)

(Too old to climb a tree)

Too old for this toy too but that's not stopping him!

(The Wilson's house.  The Wilsons were the family that had a counter part child of the same age for every Bullen child.  Fun/Shenanigans/Easter egg hunts were had a this location)

(My friend Drew Tack use to live near here)

(Chestnut Hill Elementary playground)

(I used to run on the steam roller till my legs were numb)

(The cactus!  We would play blind mans bluff (aka. tag with eyes closed) on here.)

(Oh Principal Veit, deadpan "Chip, chip, hooray!", accusing Newell of being in a gang, making me write "I will not throw snow balls 300 times"....  Pretty sure he had on an Edgar suit.)

(United Church of Christ. The roof is ideal for skateboarding of throwing a baseball)

No, we did not engage in that behavior on this trip. 

Thanks! I feel welcome. 

(Chestnut Hill park, known for its dangerous bike trails0

It was just this gorgeous little park. So green and fertile and...mossy. 

(eating the park)

(green)

Mancino's! I'd been hearing about this place for years. 

(best sandwich on earth)

(loaded cheese steak)

(chicken bacon ranch)

Yummy and a great sandwich! ...Buuuuut...I will withhold my pronounciation of "Best Sandwich On Earth" until I have eaten more sandwiches on this earth.  

(chemicals run this town)

(my family purchased many a car from this location)

(Midland High School tennis courts)

(Midland High School football stadium)

Aaron didn't even go here, he moved before high school. But, picture nonetheless. 

(After games we would wander the stands to pick up pop cans and turn them in for the 10 cent refunds.  I think I made like 15 bucks once, which equals 150 airheads)

(home to a really rad swimming pool, basketball courts, volleyball courts, wallyball courts and the like.  I lost many a game of basketball here.  I also consumed many a hot dog from the pool side hot dog stand. Swimming around a mushroom waterfall makes you hungry)

It's all about the pose, really. 

(I never came here before I moved. Only reason people seemed to come was to get homecoming/prom pictures taken)

(tastes like chicken)

(every teardrop is THIS WATERFALL)

(forget me yumyahnunum num..............whah.....)

(I am Maleficent)

(bunny)

(closer bunny)

(not maleficent)

(bridge to Tokyo)

So, really it was just a gorgeous Thanksgiving-Point-like gardens where we took pictures and admired the plants. 

Lilies of the valley? I believe? 

(why are the flowers shaped like pink butts?)

HEARTS. They are hearts, and it's supposed to be sentimental. 

So is this!

(you knew it was coming)

(Alden Dow house/bunker?/swamp kingdom?)

(poor little crow had a broken leg)

Who knew this was how pine cones worked? Wait, everyone? What, did I miss that day in 8th grade?

Mossy.

Bridgey. But not TRIDGEy. 

(creepy statues)

(see below)

This place. 

(I was in many community theater productions as a kid. I always remember this big red lobby to the theater, too bad I couldn't go inside)

(Each year we came on a field trip here)

(been pendulum-ing since I was a fetus)

(Dinosaur bones! DNA! Inventions!!!)

(blending in)

(Bay City)

(Bay City house.  I saw not one stucco house here or in Midland)

(Frankenmuth Inn)

Really, you have to appreciate a town named Frankenmuth embracing their Bavarian history. 

(Bronners-World's biggest Christmas store. As big as a mall, but for Christmas stuff only)

Seriously, we walked in and they handed us a MAP. 

(Biaggi's restaurant on our way to Sandusky)

We were excited about going to eat at places they don't have in Utah, till we found out there was a Biaggi's at the Gateway. But it's not there now, so...COUNTED.

(Act like part of the scenery and you won't get eaten)

MADE IT!!!!

(the ride you see in the gate picture above-fastest tallest longest wing coaster-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKpz9_kXBOw)

This was probably my favorite ride. They were all awesome. But this was....great.

(In da line)

(Tallest roller coaster.....in 1989-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPG4l9-LkM)

(Hey, they got the centennial screamer here too! But no one rides it)

(Magnum XL)

This was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world....when it was built....in 1989. Still awesome! AND, as a bonus, it was made in Utah!

(Time to relax on a cheesy car ride)

(obligatory)

(rode this beauty three times-SO SWEEET!-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BwMEVlabk8)

The lines the first day were so short, because of a chance of rain that never fell, that we rode this one twice IN A ROW. 

(Mantis-standing coaster. They have one of everything here-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcXPyAWe2Ig)

(The Corkscrew-yeah, creative name)

(The Raptor in the background. Hanging coaster-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qt1LutrWnY)

Gatekeeper. It guards the gate of the park. 

(Through the eye of the needle)

(watching spongebob in a pizza hut in sandusky)

(Mean streak-huge rickady wooden coaster-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPQ4AusAgqU)

(The Maverick-don't even know how to describe this one-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbyB9N4mvq4)

(the beach at cedar point)

I mean, a theme park AND a beach? All it needs is a mountain to camp iand a European city and it's pretty much everyone in the world's favorite vacation spot. 

(lines on wednesday)

(lines on Thursday)

(Wicked Twister-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMXcr1Oln4w)

Oh man this ride scared me soooo bad. It was super crazy. But multiply that by 45x and that's how I felt about TOP THRILL DRAGSTER. We don't have a good pic. But it killed me. EVERY. TIME. 

(bridge over the Maumee river in Toledo on the way back to D-Town)

And then, it was over.

Congratulations on making it to the end of this post! If you actually did read this far, leave a comment saying any one of the rides from Cedar Point and I will - SERIOUSLY - congratulate you again! YOU ARE AWESOME!