Reclaiming summer at Dotty Dumplings

Megan Schultz: "After a splendid day at the nation's largest waterpark, we are now consuming fine local brew on this last day of summer. Good food, good times, good friends."

That was blogged directly from Dotty Dumplings Dowry in Madison, WI. Technology is so great.

Annie: Alison, how was your day today?
Alison: It was fantastic!
Annie: You're funnier than that. Why was it so fantastic?
Alison: Because we went to the biggest waterpark in America.
Annie: You like waterparks, don't you?
Alison: I f***ing LOVE water parks. You can't type that.
Annie: I'll bleep it out.
Alison: How did you like the waterpark?
Annie: It was all I hoped and dreamed it would be. The funnel cake was the best. You look tired.
Alison: I am tired. It's because I feel like I've been through a washing machine.
Annie: You have been through a washing machine.
Alison: That toilet bowl sucked.
Annie: Yeah, I think I pulled my sternocleidomastoid.
Alison: Well, hopefully we can rest it up in the car tomorrow on our drive into the lands of badness.
Annie: You mean the badlands.
Alison: Yeah. And by the way, you have some really attractive friends.
Annie: Thanks, I'll be sure to let them know by publishing it in my blog.

The toilet bowl Alison is referring to is the first ride we went on at Noah's Ark, The Time Warp. The ride is a giant enclosed toilet-bowl-like structure ("monstrosity" would be Alison's choice of word) that sends you on a tube into darkness and whirls you around like you're being flushed down a toilet. A giant dinosaur head in the middle is supposed to give you the sense of going way back in time.

As Alison and I had walked through Chicago the other day, she said, "I wish I could reclaim my summer." After studying for the MCAT and biochemistry all summer, she was ready for some fun. Little did she know at the time, the MOST fun was just around the corner. Nicki joined us and a group of Megan's classmates at the waterpark and showed us how to do it right, zip line and all. For 6.5 hours we slid, floated, splashed, and zipped through the attractions of America's largest waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells. We even scrounged up $0.70 in the Adventure River, though Nicki tells us that her loot has been as high as $10 in the past.

We topped the day off with a successful trip to Chipotle (we'd now been craving it for three days running), and some good company over at Dotty Dumplings. Daves Strasfeld and Ullman (roommates, Wash U alums, and PhD candidates) arrived on their bikes to join in the fun. I hadn't seen Dave Ullman since I graduated from college in 2005; It was wonderful to see him and to catch up.

And so with great sadness we will say goodbye to the wonderful people of Madison, WI, and venture west through southern Minnesota and as far into South Dakota as the setting sun will allow without blinding us. Hopefully we'll have an internet connection to give an update tomorrow, but if not, we will write as soon as we can!

Until then,
Annie and Alison