Missing Frightmares

This is the time of year, Molly and I would always go to Frightmares in Lagoon. We went annually from freshman year until we moved to Missouri last summer. So 3 years in a row may not be the biggest tradition, but it became a part of my fall routine that I loved, and not being able to relish the tradition 2 years in a row is kind of sad.

We have so many funny memories from Lagoon, (the only amusement park in Utah) and Frightmares is a 2 month stint during Sept. & Oct. where the park opens in the evenings and it is decorated for Halloween and they have different haunted house type things throughout the park, in addition to some pretty good live entertainment, employees walking around trying to scare people in crazy costumes, etc.

Here are a few favorite Frightmare memories.

1. Our first year, Molly had a hook up with a friend to get discount tickets--she was a former employee. We tried to rally a group to go with us, but it seemed everyone had last minute conflicting plans so it ended up being Molly, me, and this guy in our ward named Rhett Crapo. Let me preface this story with my first interaction with Rhett:

A few weeks earlier, we went to our singles ward and for Family Home Evening, they had a BBQ and volleyball. Molly and I were both 18 year old freshman, loving life our first few weeks of college. It was one of the first Mondays in Sept of 2003, so 4 years ago. Molly met Rhett as a member of her volleyball team. After volleyball she and he were talking and it came up he was in a band, she was excited and told him she'd love to know about any gigs, so she gave Rhett her number just as I strolled up. She briefly filled me in on the band member status and I blurted out: "Sweet! We'll totally come and be your groupies!" Molly gave me a sideways glance and Rhett finished the conversation and walked off. She turned to me and said "What's with the groupies?" I didn't know what she meant. "You know, we set up the equipment, 'check 1,2,3, check,' pass out towels...you know...groupies." She busted up laughing. "You meant roadies. Groupies are the band sluts. The girls that sleep with the band after the show." I WAS MORTIFIED. My naive rock terminology led me to tell a complete stranger...from church...that I wanted to be his slut. So later that week when he called to inform Molly of an upcoming show, and she ended up inviting him to a dance with us I objected. "Why did you invite that guy? I'll be so embarrassed." In the end it was the beginning of a great friendship and obviously something more....maybe my embarrassing introduction kept him coming back for more. ha ha

So at this point we had hung out with Rhett once, maybe twice. At Lagoon we met another group of kids and it was a fun night. At one point we were waiting for a ride in a line, still getting to know each other and we asked Rhett where he served his mission--Italy. We asked if he'd been back, no but he was planning a trip the following spring, and he would like to take his wife there on the honeymoon. At this idea I objected. "Dude, you should just go somewhere close for your honeymoon and go to Italy later. You don't want to feel like you have to spend your time running around to see the sites. In fact, if we still know each other when you get married my family has a house in St. George you should use. I know when I go on my honeymoon I don't want any obligations outside the bedroom." What the crap was I saying? I was a virginal 18-year-old telling almost a stranger my plan for my future sex life? Also to note: I don't enjoy saying this but at this point in my life I had never even held a boy's hand, so never been kissed or had a boyfriend. Nice. So all my expertise really gave me a valid position to educate everyone on their future honeymoon plans. Molly have me the look and conversation went on, and it wasn't till later that night that she could again tell me she couldn't believe what I had said. I couldn't either. But it I meant it, and he kept hanging out with us. I'll never forget that moment and where each of us was standing. If you're ever at Lagoon, and see me there, I could recreate the embarrassing tale and show you exactly where it occurred. And the funny thing is we did end up going to the St. George house for our honeymoon and to Italy 2 years later, so basically I did have a great plan.

2. That same momentous first Frightmare experience, we went in a haunted house called "Labyrinth". Molly is frightened easily, not really frightened, but she has amazing reflexes and jumps and screams when slightly startled. So we start going through these narrow alleyways, and the kids would jump out or scream, or grab your arm. She was screaming and jumping all over the place, so I was behind her, actually with her in a headlock guiding her along, so she wouldn't fall down, also, I would turn as a body shield if one of the employees would reach out at her. It was hilarious. At one point I said "Molly, it's OK." The kid caught on and started creeping: "Moollly. Come here Molly." and the next kid would catch on so we went through with the ghouls chanting her name and she was terrified. Rhett was right behind us and it eventually opened up into a room with white strips of fabric hanging from the ceiling everywhere. You had to swim through them and there were kids dressed all in white so all the sudden a hand would reach out from nowhere, etc. I had lost grip of Molly and someone scared her and she started spinning to see where they were, winding her head up in the fabric strips. I ran over to her, stopped her and pulled open the head cocoon of fabric so she could breathe and helped her get untangled. At this point she wasn't having fun and wanted to get the heck out of there. Just as we were leaving this mummy room, an unwise kid said boo or something and she reflexed a punch right in his clavicle. He was shocked: "Hey. You totally punched my collar bone!" he whimpered rubbing his shoulder. Molly will have to fill in her reply but we kept going and somehow Rhett got in front of us, so she was gripping him for dear life and I got in the headlock position behind. At one point someone jumped out from the side and Molly jumped away, taking the train with her, and all three of us almost crumpled to the ground. It was hilarious. We finally got out and she was a little shook up, but we all busted up laughing, and decided the haunted houses with 4 spiders next to them on the description were too intense for us.

3. The last year I was able to go was 2005. Rhett had to work, so Molly and I went early in the afternoon and the rest of the group was going to show up in the evening. Whenever I would go anywhere in high school, and college, I would have "the tote". It was a canvas tote bag I got from a ballet festival and I would stock it with treats for the event. In high school the group of guys from my neighborhood would tease me by calling me "Mother Kelly" because we would have the tote at all the $1 movies, sports events, etc. and I would pass out fruit snacks, candy, etc. to everyone. So for this frightmares I packed in the tote a little something special--a roll of cookie dough. Two years earlier before I got married and Molly and I were roommates she was obligated to go to a play on campus for a class, and was given two tickets...I was her date. We went to Smiths before hand to select the filling for the tote. She wanted to buy a roll of cookie dough. We discussed it, and I finally shot the idea down thinking it wasn't theatre appropriate. The play stunk and I was haunted by my decision not to let Molly take the tube of cookie dough as her tote treat. It would have been hilarious.

So I redeemed myself 2 years late by toting a tube of cookie dough. I showed her and we were both so pumped. We got in a ride called Roll-O-Plane, which is small cages that spin forward or backward as they lift in a vertical circle. First of all, we get in and the seat belt hooks as you shut the door. It was too tight and the employee was leaning into the door to get it shut. "Are we too big?" we asked with each shove cutting us in half. "Nope." they said full on heaving into the door with their shoulder and full body weight. The door clicked and we were pinned to the ride. We just chatted waiting for the ride to fill. Finally it started moving. The spin is controlled by your momentum, so we were rocking forward and back, trying to get our cage to flip, obviously limited in motion from the tourniquet seat belt. We finally got momentum and started flipping forward over and over. All the sudden all the tote contents started flying about the cage. Granola bars, salt water taffy, crackers, all in mayhem. All the sudden it was as if slow motion the tube of cookie dough open at one end worked its way to the top of the tote and slowly flew through the air. "NNNNNOOOOO!" Suddenly an angelic arm reached out and grabbed the cookie dough mid-air before the cage tumbled upside down again. Honestly, I don't know which one of us caught the prized treat, our identities often get confused when we are together, but we were laughing so hard we almost wet our pants, and the pressure on our bladders from the seat belt only contributed to the potential soilage.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from any of the Frightmares adventures, but I did have the Halloweenish pictures of us from carving pumpkins our freshman year...notice my tribute to Goonies with my collaborative work: "Sloth"