So, why am I thankful for Space Mountain? From a young age we took these trips year after year, and the combined effects of the days in the camper on the way to Florida, the rides on the Tea Cups, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, and eventually the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror result in the happy fact that I do not generally suffer from motion sickness.
I just got back from a 6 day road trip in a area where most people do not regularly ride in vehicles. They get around on foot or horses in the mountains, only occasionally traveling into the city on buses. And when they ride those buses on winding roads, they get car sick.
The first leg of my journey - last Thursday - was a 15 hour bus ride. We road in one of those "comfortable" buses. It had air-conditioning (which the driver never turned on) so the windows didn't open. The seats are set up high so luggage can be stowed beneath - you know the kind of bus I'm talking about. Well, it's a recipe for disaster on mountain roads with a car-sick population.
The roads wind up and down one mountain after another. The bus sways back and forth, and the high seats only serve to magnify the swaying effect for the passengers. The windows don't open so there's no fresh air, and the driver doesn't run the air conditioner, so it's stinking and hot.
And then the symphony begins.
Passengers holding plastic bags in front of their faces quietly release their stomach discomfort. I'm always amazed at how quietly these people puke. They'll wake you up with the noise of their spitting, but puking is discreet. During one particularly winding stretch of road, I count the sound of 12 people vomiting into their plastic bags. After a while the smell, sound and heat get to me, and I have to admit I feel a little queasy myself. So I turn on my mp3 player to drown out the noise, and look out the window. Within a few minutes I feel fine again, thanking God that my father packed us into a truck camper and brought us to play on roller coasters...
