Oldest on the Water Slides

I was the oldest person in line for the water slides at the water park this week.

Not just by a little. By a lot.

We have season passes for Discovery Kingdom, an amusement park that is probably too far away for us to actually utilize season passes, but since it is just about the same price to visit once as to buy a season pass, we keep renewing them, and then hope that we will find time to get there at least a few times during the summer. Plus the season passes come with free parking! And since parking is $25 a day, the passes make sense for that benefit alone.

A bonus is that the amusement park company also owns a nearby water park, so our passes get us free admission and parking there, too. It was the last full week of vacation before school starts (boo!), so my son and I were reaching our “now or never” time for this summer’s activities.  We finally made it down for a visit this week.

The water park is about 120 miles away, so it’s not truly free to go there, not after you pay for gas. But since our nearby water park is charging $50 a head for admission now, a day trip didn’t seem like a bad idea. It’s also always nice to spend time with my son, and although he was on his phone for most of the drive, being together in the same space is a gift.

We went on four slides, total.  Three of them required you to grab a tube from a pile at the bottom of the slide and then to walk up numerous flights of stairs to get to the top, where well-trained teenaged life guards made sure that everybody waited their turn and behaved.

As my son and I climbed our way up flight after flight of stairs, I noticed something about the people in line with us.

Mostly, they were teenagers.  Or elementary schoolers. The few adults in line looked mostly to be in their 20s or 30s and had young children with them.

There were no other mothers with teenagers that I could see.

I was the oldest one there.

It was a startling realization.

I’m not used to being the oldest person anywhere, really. (This is possibly something I should start getting used to, though?)

Possibly it was the time of day. Maybe most 50-somethings are at work? Or maybe water parks are primarily venues for teenagers and their friends, or elementary school children and their active parents?

We avoided the rides that shoot you down the slide without a mat or tube. I have my back and neck to consider, after all. But the rides with tubes were smooth and felt safe. Best of all?

All the rides we went on had two person tubes, so we could ride together.

It was a treat to hear my son hollering and laughing as we sped down the slides.  It was a treat to holler and laugh with him.

Maybe I’m lucky that I was older when I had him. I’m also lucky that my 17-year-old doesn’t mind hanging out with me and wasn’t embarrassed to go on rides with me.

Would I go to the water park by myself, or just with a friend who was more my age?

Probably not by myself. But with a friend who also liked water slides?

Sure!

Because there was no stress or expectation attached to it. No need to perform. No score to keep.

And basically? Those slides are a lot of fun.

Maybe it’s not too late for us “older” folks. Maybe we can start a water slide revolution. If enough of us get together, we could ask park management to sponsor a 55-and-better event (that cracks me up, how marketing companies tell us that we are “55-and-better” instead of “55-and-older”), where we would climb the stairs slowly and take as much time as we needed to get ourselves down and into the tubes, without worrying that the teens waiting behind us are judging us for how slow we are.

Also? Why not install elevators to help people get to the top of the slides if they have difficulties with stairs? Something like that would make a “55-and-better” event a success for sure and would also make the excitement accessible for many more folks.

I was the oldest person in line for the water slides today, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  It shouldn’t be that way. I hope my age won’t ever stop me from doing things that are just plain fun. Even if I look silly. Even if I’m a little slow.