I made this masthead probably in March or so. I liked it for awhile, and then somewhere around June, I decided I hated it - vehemently. I saw a million things I could’ve done better, but I had somehow lost my original PhotoShop file, so I couldn’t change it. That made me hate it even more.
I like it now. It’s OK. If I had to do it over again, I’d lose the blue border, but that’s alright. Sometimes creating a masthead that matches the site template colors is too boring, and I’m too lazy to change the template colors every month. Sue me - I work full time, people!
Anyway, I found an image of the Tilt-a-Whirl sign, and discovered that there was a Tilt-a-Whirl font available. The pickle on a stick was a no-brainer, but I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate someone or something holding it until I found the State Fair gopher mascot. Skeeball also had to be a part of this, because when I win the lottery someday, I will install a skeeball machine in my house.
The irony is that with our busy schedules and wedding preparations hogging all our weekends, we might not even get to go to the fair this year.
Which would be a shame, because who will eat all the alligator nuggets, huh? WHO?
On Thursday evening, well before the Dumb Valleyfair Incident That Would Bring Me To My Knees For 36 Hours, Jason and I tried a new restaurant.
He was excited because the restaurant is owned by one of his favorite musicians, GB Leighton. I was excited because the name of the restaurant is Pickle Park. (Also, I was excited because our dinner was to be followed by a trip to Half Price Books, where I haven’t been for a long, long time, and finally, BOOKS!)
We got to Pickle Park and after being appropriately impressed by the plethora of televisions (Jason: “Of course…the Twins aren’t on tonight”), we gazed hungrily at the menu. I literally could not decide what to order, which usually means I end up with the chicken fingers, but at the last second, I spotted the Buffalo Bacon Extreme. JACKPOT.
And that was before I realized it was served with a side of spaghetti. Let me repeat that: My huge sandwich of buffalo chicken, bacon and cheese…was served with spaghetti.
It was beyond delicious. And Jason’s burger was just as delicious and portions-busting.
Our bill was (with drinks) less than $30. Awesome. Next time, we’ll go there during a Twins game or when they have live music.
And maybe I’ll have the chicken fingers.
Rating: 5 out of 5 pickles
Here we are after first arriving at Valleyfair, all sun-squinty and excited at the prospect of 8 hours of unparalleled fun.
And here’s Jason six hours later on Wild Thing, posing for the camera alone while the couple behind him makes out. Where was I, you ask? Well, I was sitting at a table with my head in my lap, trying to coordinate the stomach spinning with the head spinning so that I could buy enough time to make it back to the car without dying.
The really sad thing? Is that I suffered for a day and a half from a ride that lasted two minutes.
I’ll take DISAPPOINTING AMUSEMENT PARK EXPERIENCES for $200, Alex
Answer: When can two people go to Valleyfair and not have fun?
What is: Yesterday.
This is the third time that Shauna and I have gone to Valleyfair in the past five years. Each time we’ve gone, we’d go on each of their 6 roller coasters multiple times, take the plunge on their Power Tower, and even free fall on Ripcord.
A few years ago, Shauna even convinced me to bungee jump at the State Fair.
This all ended yesterday.
On our fourth ride, some form of a giant swing, Shauna took ill. Not losing your lunch on a ride ill, but her stomach started turning. Hard.
Besides the water park, the rest of our day was spent sitting in the shade, waiting for this to pass. It never did. Shauna valiantly tried to work up the courage to go on other rides, even going on two more roller coasters. But our day ended not going from ride to ride, but walking from park bench to park bench. We even had to sit down after sitting for a half hour while getting our caricatures done.
Shauna claims we’ll be able to go back someday; I believe otherwise. Rides she had never batted an eye at two years ago were getting the best of her. This has been a gradual decline since she has banned “spinning rides” like the Tilt-A-Whirl years ago. I think time has finally caught up with her.
It looks like we will not be planning our skydiving trip anytime soon either.
