THE TRIP TO MAGIC MOUNTAIN

This is the story of how I spent over 350 dollars on my day at Magic Mountain:

It all began when my best friend Felipe Contreras brought up a team to Santa Barbara from YWAM's Mexico base. Each summer he brings a group up to see his hometown and have a little respite from the labor of building houses every week. Felipe also likes to take the group to Magic Mountain during their mini-vacation.

So I went to Magic Mountain yesterday. And I took four students with me. I was originally going to take just two students (Michel and Vittorio) and my sister and her boyfriend, but Catherine and Daniel canceled at the last minute, so 20 minutes before we were to leave we got two more students to join us: Gregoire and another French student from Valerio, Gigi.

The day was FANTASTIC! My best trip to Magic Mountain ever. This is what I rode on:

X (one time)
Goliath (four times)
Batman (two times)
Superman (one time)
Riddler's Revenge (one time)
Deja Vu (one time)
Tatsu (two times)
Viper (one time)
Scream (two times)

This is how long I went without eating that day:

15 hours

and this is how I spent 350 dollars on my trip to Magic Mountain:

I lost my car keys

What do you do when you are walking back to your car and you realize that your keys are missing? You run back to the park and go directly to Lost and Found in the Guest Services building.

And when they tell you that your keys were not picked up by any of the attendants on any of the rides, you feel sick and your body goes numb. Why? Because you are responsible for four foreigners who trust you and who have school tomorrow. The employee recommended I call back at 11 the next morning.

Well, after I didn't throw up I returned to the group, made some phone calls and decided to stay in a hotel for the night. We walked to a gas station who directed us to a Best Western just on the other side of the freeway. At 12:30am we walked in to find it completely booked. "But I heard there is one room left at the Holiday Inn," said the receptionist. The Holiday Inn was next door. Convenient, right? Except for the price: 169.00 for a single room with a King size bed, the only one they had left.

After I swallowed big, conferred with my comrades, and tried another hotel by phone with no luck, I decided to just bite the bullet and do it. At least the room would be nice and the amenities luxurious.

The three French boys made sure we got our money's worth. Even though it was 1:00am by the time we had settled into our room, they went out and used the Workout Room, the pool, and the 'business lounge' for free internet. When we left they took home with them some shampoo, pens, etc.

They actually really enjoyed the whole adventure, and had the best day possible at Magic Mountain, so that relieved a lot of my stresses throughout the ordeal.

In the morning I waited until 11 o'clock, and then promptly called Guest Services to find out that... No, they still hadn't found my keys. Time to bite the next big bullet and call the locksmiths.

145 dollars to get a replacement key for my car. The man on the phone asked for my car's model and year and then brought with him a box of 200 keys. Supposedly one of them would work on my vehicle. Crazy, huh?

So the locksmith picked me up from the hotel at about 11:20am and we drove across the way to Magic Mountain's parking lot where my little car sat waiting all night for me. He starts trying keys. He said sometimes it works right away, but if by chance none of the keys work, he will call his guy to come out and use a special tool to construct one from the lock. He tries each key one way, then takes it out, turns it over, tries again. For each key.

Guess what happened on the 199th key? It didn't work, of course! What are the odds of that happening? But on the very last key my car turned over. It worked! The very last key. Can you believe that? And I gotta tell you, it was hot out there. Valencia in the summer at about noon was 93 degrees out. And the sweat on my locksmith's head confirmed it.

"Incredible," he said. "The very last key." He couldn't believe it either. So he made a cut, tried it, made some adjustments, and I payed up. The 145 dollar key, plus the 150 dollar hotel room, and the 30 dollar park cost, along with gas costs and the fact that I was using minutes I didn't have on my phone (.40 cents per minute when I go over!) added up to more than 350 dollars.

But I am thankful that I am home now, able to write you this magical story of love and loss, and the wonder that is Magic Mountain.