August 29th - Rain, again, at Hershey Park

I must preface this entry by saying last year we had a horrible experience at Hershey Park. There were lightning storms and torrential downpours throughout the day. We were only able to go on 5 rides and went home soaking wet. Eliza was sobbing and the other 2 were on the verge of tears. At that moment we swore to them we would NEVER go to Hershey Park again on a day where there was any rain in the forecast.

Fast forward one year...

The month of August was extremely dry...not one drop of rain had fallen in 27 days. This was setting up for a beautiful day at Hershey Park. We picked Friday as the day we would go and left Saturday as a back up, just in case there was rain. Wouldn't you know it, we watched the weather forecast Wednesday night and rain was predicted for both Friday and Saturday!! Of course the rest of the week was sunny once again without a drop of rain. But due to other things going on and work, we had to go one of those two days. We picked Friday, because they said occasional rain showers and no lightning. Saturday was suppose to be more humid and lightning storms.

Friday morning...

We set out with all our gear including an extra pair of clothes, ponchos, jackets, and extra shoes. (I didn't want a repeat of last year) The 1 1/2 hour drive out there it was overcast, but not raining. Good, I thought, I can live with that. Well, literally the second we hit Hershey town limits, the rain started coming down. And it kept coming down for the next 11 hours. Not stopping once. But we persevered. The ponchos and jackets went on and we rode just about every single ride in the park. Eliza loved Super Dooper Looper and went on that about 4 times. Dad, Julia and I tried out the new Fahrenheit ride. A little rough, but definitely thrilling. Anna loved wiping out on the Wave Rider boogie board ride they had. And Eliza, Anna and I had a blast on the new water slides they put in this year. It wasn't fun dealing with the rain and cold the entire day; but, there were no lines to speak of and just about everything stayed open. So for that, it was worth it. As we were leaving the exit gates at 9 p.m. , the rain finally stopped! Such a poetic ending.

P.S. Not a drop of rain or lightning on Saturday :{