Waterslide + Weight = Whiplash

Our apartment is on the third (top) floor of our apartment building and it's just TOO hot to handle! Thankfully we have purchased a Pass of all Passes so this weekend we decided it would be the perfect day to beat the heat by taking a little trip down to Seven Peaks in Salt Lake.

Without realizing it, this was a first for Dan and I in our relationship (side-note: I love those moments of "firsts" you get to experience with your spouse). We had never ridden on a water slide together!  So Dan and I, along with Dan's youngest sister Laura got ourselves a three-man tube to ride the water slides with.

The very first slide we went on was called "Downpour"... little did I know this slide was going to temporarily rain on my parade.

 Laura sat in the front, I was in the middle, Dan in the back. When the lifeguard gave us the okay to go, Dan jumped on the back of the tube to give us a solid start down the slide.

However, this plan wasn't so great.  We came to the first turn in the slide pretty quickly and Dan was still getting himself situated on the tube. Due to Dan still flopping around on the back of the tube, we flipped, and flipped fast and hard!  My head hit the side of the waterslide, and then my neck was crushed by the weight of the tube flipping on top of it. OUCH.

We were determined to make to down the slide on the tube, so the three of us got back on the tube and pushed off.   Things went much better down the slide until we got to the bottom.

You know how at the bottom of each water slide there is a splash pool to land in? Well I don't think anyone ever calculated how much longer it takes three people to stop at the bottom of this slide.  It was at least 30 feet long, but when we came whizzing out, we cleared the ENTIRE pool going full speed ahead! We weren't decreasing in speed at all when we slammed in the cement sidewalk in front of the pool! The lifeguard was quite taken back by the whole scene, and the guy that Laura ran into on the sidewalk as she flew out of the tube was pretty alarmed as well.

Three lessons learned from this:

#1- Read those annoying signs at the front of each slide. They say important things like "the heaviest person should always ride in the front of the tube"... who knew?

#2- After severe whiplash from a tube with your husband landing on your head, and then slamming into the side of the cement sidewalk, take 4 Ibuprofen and give yourself an hour of rest... you will be able to ride again and finish the day strong. (However 4 Ibuprofen will need to be taken three times a day for at least three days after)

#3- When riding with your husband on a water slide for the first time, calculate the effects of his weight and yours so you can be a little more prepared! Speed, stopping time, and injuries are increased.