I haven't been to King's Island for about 12 years and I was excited to be going back, especially since I was going with Melissa. We went on Saturday July 21, 2001. I would have preferred to go during the week when it would have been less crowded, but one of the guys I work with got me a really good deal on the tickets and they were only good for July 21.

We got up early Saturday and got ready for our trip to King's Island. I thought it would take us about three and a half-hour or so to get there, so I wanted to leave as early as possible. We got out of the apartment around 9:00 am. I had been to an outlet mall that is near Interstate 71 the year before, which is the Interstate that King's Island is on, so I kind of knew my way, but I still printed out a map with directions. . Most of the roads we had to take were two lanes, but it was a nice drive.

Melissa and I got to King's Island around 12:30 or so, after we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. As I expected, it was really crowded. We had to park like a mile away, but I was in a good mood so I didn't care.

When we got in the park, the first ride we rode was the Drop Zone. Neither of us had ridden it before. It basically raises you about 315 feet in the air and drops you straight down at about 65 mph. The line was kind of long, but we wanted to ride it. We had to wait in line for about an hour or so. When we finally got on the ride, we were kind of nervous, at least I know I was. It took us up kind of slow and when it got to the top, it stayed there for about 2 seconds. It only took a few seconds to fall but it seemed a lot longer. We felt kind of weightless for a few seconds as we fell.

When we got off the Drop Zone, we decided to ride the King Cobra, which is a standing roller coaster. It does a few vertical loops and a few spirals. Melissa had ridden it before but I never have. The line was as long as the line for the Drop Zone. We waited in line for an hour or so again. I actually like roller coasters, I just haven't ridden a lot of them. It was a lot of fun though.

After we got off the King Cobra, we decided to get something to drink. We were both hot, as it was 90 degrees or more. Melissa got some water and I got a cherry icee. We sat down for a while in the shade and just watched the people for a little while and talked.

For our next adventure, we decided to go ride the Vortex. On the way to the Vortex, we stopped and rode the Scrambler, since the line was short. When we were finished riding the Scrambler we went and got in line at the Vortex. The line was not as long as the others were, but we still had to wait 45 minutes or so. I have never ridden the Vortex either. Melissa said she had ridden it every time she had come to King's Island. I was a little nervous, especially going up the first hill. I am not sure how many loops it went through, quite a few though. At the last loop in the ride, there are cameras set up to take your picture. After we got off the ride, we went to look at the pictures. They weren't the best pictures of us, with our hair blown back and I had a terrified look on my face. We bought the pictures though, since they were a good souvenir of our first trip to King's Island together.

After the Vortex, we decided to head back toward the car. We did stop and ride the Viking ship, since there was almost no line for it. We were finally ready to head home so we found our car and headed back home. We both had a very good time and I would love to go to more amusement parks with Melissa in the future, since we have a lot of fun together.