Day 6 – Time to Get Soaked
We planned to spend all afternoon at Soak City Water Park, so we saved up our energy in the morning. That gave me the opportunity to catch up on the blog and take the bottles back to recycle. I received $.64 for taking back a sack full of bottles to earn the CRV rebate. Then I went to the grocery store and spent it on two more gallons of water and a loaf of bread. I think the grocery store always gets the good end of the deal. While there, the recycling kid told me that the retirees who collect bottles out of the trash and bring them in make $50 or more per day, “which is more than I make.” Considering that this teenage guy just stands there and counts bottles while listening to music on his car stereo, I wasn’t surprised.
Anna wanted me to post some of her pictures from the week. She has drawn the sights that she has found interesting. Here they are, with her description.
Windmills and cactuses
Mountains with rocks
Rocks
Palm tree
Sun
Mountain with spots that look like squiggly lines
Cactus
Giraffe
Camel
Tortoise
She was quite proud of her drawings.
Knott’s Soak City is a large water park here in Palm Springs. We’ve never taken the kids to a place like this, mainly because we didn’t know if we could trust them when they were smaller. It seemed like a good time to try it out. Let me begin by saying how enjoyable of an afternoon this was. There were plenty of things to do and it was perfect hot weather for being in the water all afternoon. Even though we all wound up with sunburns, I think we were glad to go.
However, this waterpark experience reminded me of the racket that is the American Theme Park.
Ticket Prices: $81 for the 5 of us to go.
Parking: $7
Locker Rental: $8
Sandals: $16
Total cost: $112 for 5 people to spend 5 hours, or $4.48 per hour per person.
(We ate off park before and after the afternoon.)
Unfortunately, my sandals had melted in the heat on the day that it was 114. They just came unglued. I felt the same way when I went to the Surf Shop at the park and saw that it cost $16 for replacements. After walking around on the sidewalk in my bare feet for an hour and a half, I bit the bullet and spent the money.
Here are pictures of some of the features at the park.
David, Anna, and Alex in the Wave Pool
Alex headed down a small water slide
The Typhoon Tower drops down at about a 100 degree angle. Adam did it early in the afternoon. He really didn’t know what it would be like, but he’s young and innocent, so I let him go. I couldn’t believe he didn’t chicken out. He said he felt like he came off of the surface and that it hurt going down. Well, I couldn’t be shown up by my 9 year old, so I took the plunge at 5:30. I can attest that it was painful in ways that can only be left to your imagination. Adam and I posed in front of this ride that we conquered.
Anna and Sandy went down the Sea Snake together. Anna liked it, but Sandy thought it was too dark.
In the Beach House were all kinds of areas to climb and get wet in. Alex didn’t want to go much higher than this yellow water slide.
By 6:00 p.m., we were hot and tired, but glad to have been there. I put on a shirt to cover my sunburn, which was about the same color. Alex isn’t very happy to leave, but the park was closing, so we had no choice.
We made a quick run to El Pollo Loco for supper. We had eaten at one last time in California, and it’s pretty good. Kind of a mix between KFC and Taco Bell, but the chicken is all cooked over an open flame, and the Mexican food seems more authentic. We met a very friendly Palm Springs resident who talked our leg off. At the end, I thanked her for the conversation, and she thanked me for bringing the family and leaving so much money there during the week. I haven’t added it up yet, but I’m afraid she’s right.
We finished the day at Toys R Us, where the kids each bought a toy to play with and remember the week by. Alex bought two Mega Man figures, Adam bought Backyard Basketball for GameBoy, and Anna bought a Polly Pocket Boutique.
Back to the resort. The pool was full of new residents, but we had enough water for one day.
Next time: Day 7 – Winding down
Anna wanted me to post some of her pictures from the week. She has drawn the sights that she has found interesting. Here they are, with her description.
Windmills and cactuses
Mountains with rocks
Rocks
Palm tree
Sun
Mountain with spots that look like squiggly lines
Cactus
Giraffe
Camel
Tortoise
She was quite proud of her drawings.
Knott’s Soak City is a large water park here in Palm Springs. We’ve never taken the kids to a place like this, mainly because we didn’t know if we could trust them when they were smaller. It seemed like a good time to try it out. Let me begin by saying how enjoyable of an afternoon this was. There were plenty of things to do and it was perfect hot weather for being in the water all afternoon. Even though we all wound up with sunburns, I think we were glad to go.
However, this waterpark experience reminded me of the racket that is the American Theme Park.
Ticket Prices: $81 for the 5 of us to go.
Parking: $7
Locker Rental: $8
Sandals: $16
Total cost: $112 for 5 people to spend 5 hours, or $4.48 per hour per person.
(We ate off park before and after the afternoon.)
Unfortunately, my sandals had melted in the heat on the day that it was 114. They just came unglued. I felt the same way when I went to the Surf Shop at the park and saw that it cost $16 for replacements. After walking around on the sidewalk in my bare feet for an hour and a half, I bit the bullet and spent the money.
Here are pictures of some of the features at the park.
David, Anna, and Alex in the Wave Pool
Alex headed down a small water slide
The Typhoon Tower drops down at about a 100 degree angle. Adam did it early in the afternoon. He really didn’t know what it would be like, but he’s young and innocent, so I let him go. I couldn’t believe he didn’t chicken out. He said he felt like he came off of the surface and that it hurt going down. Well, I couldn’t be shown up by my 9 year old, so I took the plunge at 5:30. I can attest that it was painful in ways that can only be left to your imagination. Adam and I posed in front of this ride that we conquered.
Anna and Sandy went down the Sea Snake together. Anna liked it, but Sandy thought it was too dark.
In the Beach House were all kinds of areas to climb and get wet in. Alex didn’t want to go much higher than this yellow water slide.
By 6:00 p.m., we were hot and tired, but glad to have been there. I put on a shirt to cover my sunburn, which was about the same color. Alex isn’t very happy to leave, but the park was closing, so we had no choice.
We made a quick run to El Pollo Loco for supper. We had eaten at one last time in California, and it’s pretty good. Kind of a mix between KFC and Taco Bell, but the chicken is all cooked over an open flame, and the Mexican food seems more authentic. We met a very friendly Palm Springs resident who talked our leg off. At the end, I thanked her for the conversation, and she thanked me for bringing the family and leaving so much money there during the week. I haven’t added it up yet, but I’m afraid she’s right.
We finished the day at Toys R Us, where the kids each bought a toy to play with and remember the week by. Alex bought two Mega Man figures, Adam bought Backyard Basketball for GameBoy, and Anna bought a Polly Pocket Boutique.
Back to the resort. The pool was full of new residents, but we had enough water for one day.
Next time: Day 7 – Winding down
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
6:39 PM
