Sunday....

(For any one who may have missed what's going on,

Kevin at Always Home And Uncool was given tickets

to Lake Compounce to give away and I won! 

 This is our trip to the park..)

Sunday morning would come casting glimpses of sunlight through the virtually impervious blackout curtains gently waking us from our Narnia style beds and our dreamlike comas....

...had we remembered to shut them.

Instead, come 630, the room was as bright as day.  None of that mattered though, as none of us moved form under the down comforters until after 730. Heaven.

After quick showers and breakfast, we were off to start our day at Lake Compounce. Armed with the GPS, we meandered our way through scenic side roads thanking the Lord that we could get there without getting on I84, occasionally consulting the GPS to ensure we were headed the right way.  The scenery was beautiful, country like, and serene.  We continued on, waiting to have this giant amusement park pop up at any moment.  We drove and drove.  Nothing.  We drove right off the GPS...

Really. Here we were, being directed into the parking lot and still...

Where the heck is the park?  Turns out, it's just well hidden.  Nestled deep in the Connecticut countryside is an actual Lake Compounce and appropriately named theme park.  Enter to the right with me...

While waiting to enter, I chatted with a nice older woman at the gift shop, who gave me the basic ins and outs of the park, and tips to make the day smooth and relaxing.  Seems unlike many parks, they allow for re-entry here.  So you can pack a cooler, exit at lunch time, make use of the picnic area to the right of the parking lot, then re-enter for the remainder of the day.  This little extra courtesy is especially great for us, because while there are some fabulous places inside the park to get the yummiest of amusement park foods, very few restaurants cater to a gluten free diet. 

Another great thing we discovered upon entering?  The rumors were true.

FREE SODA.

FREE.

All you can drink even.  And, for those who don't want soda, there's water on tap as well.  These little booths are set up throughout the park and clearly, instantly won the approval of Almost Hubs.  Honestly, I still think I may be still recovering from my Root Beer induced coma.

But the best part?  The part that made Youngest do this...

At 52" he could ride all but one ride.  All but one.  Which means for my thrill seeking, daredevil, I'll never survive his teens, Youngest, there was virtually nothing he couldn't do.  And so we did...

The Zoomerang pulls you up, drops you 60 feet, spins you upside down, and then stops 60 feet in the air.  How do you get down?  It drops you again, and you do the whole thing backwards. Fabulous.  Then there's Boulder Dash, a giant wooden coaster with a 145 foot drop, and a track that seems to span the entire back side of the park.

There's water rides as well that display warning signs of getting absolutely, positively, soaked.  No kidding...

Almost Hubs was so soaked from the Thunder Rapids, his clothes were still wet hours later. Saw Mill Plunge was also great, but not as much of a soaker. There are also plenty of water slides, most enclosed, and the most unique of all.....

The lighthouse water slide drops you right into the lake itself.  Pretty cool, huh?  There's an area roped off for the beach, and a boat for a casual sail around the lake.  By noon, the summer sun was beating down on us, and we were all a bit tired.  So we hoped upon the 1911 trolley...

and headed down to the ski lift.  Yes, the ski lift.  30 minutes of casually gilding through the air...

Look!  I can touch the tops of the trees with my toes!  (And I desperately need a pedicure) But when we rounded the corner, the view was spectacular...

Sufficiently worn out by 3pm, we left the park.  We are hoping to return next year and breaking it into two days, perhaps including a tour of the Mark Twain house and the Science Museum in Hartford. My sister is also thinking of coming with her kids, as they have a great kiddie area (clearly not seen here).  There was so much we didn't do, and Oldest missed a lot of it.  Sadly, after the first three rides, this was his position on various park benches the rest of the day...

Seems what ever he had, wasn't letting go any time soon.

He'll have a better time next year, I just know it.