Rock in Rio- Las Vegas Nevada
On Friday May 8th we hopped a plane and headed out for Sin City to go to day 2 of Rock in Rio's rock weekend. After playing most of the day on Saturday, we headed over to the festival grounds. The festival was held at the MGM festival grounds between Circus Circus and Stratosphere. As far as festivals go I feel like this one was the coolest setup I've ever seen. They basically built a little city! This was also the first concert I've been to that used a "cashless" system. It had its pros of cons. There was a chip in the wrist band that served as both your ticket and your wallet. So if you wanted to buy anything you had to go buy rock cash which then loaded the money on to the wristband. While I liked that I didn't have to have my wallet, the impulse shopper in me didn't like that I had to make sure I had the money already on my band before I got there. Otherwise you had to "top off" and add some more money. At the end of the festival whatever money wasn't used was refunded which was nice. The VIP experience was definitely the fanciest I have experienced at a rock festival! The meals were catered by Wolfgang Puck and it was all you could drink! Although I'm not a drinker myself, I'm sure that was a huge selling point. The bathrooms were the nicest festival bathrooms the world has ever seen. The VIP tent was ginormous and the main floor was a raised platform to see the stages over the masses of people below. While we weren't up close to the stage, the view wasn't too bad. Plus they had TVs inside streaming the whole thing. The bands included Of Mice and Men, Hollywood Undead, Sepultura, Rise Against, Deftones, Linkin Park and Metallica. They all did great despite the fact that it got frigidly cold once the sun went down. The concert went until the wee hours of the morning, and once we got back to the hotel we collapsed from exhaustion. Thankfully we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel which seriously has the most amazing beds. Sadly we didn't get to spend too much time in them because at the crack of dawn it was time to head back to the airport. Here are some pictures from our time at Rock in Rio
California Dreamin'
On Sunday morning we caught a flight to Orange County CA. After picking up the rental car we headed straight for one of my favorite places on the planet. Six Flags Magic Mountain. This amusement park has more cutting edge, crazy scary and fun rides than any other park I have been to thus far. They are superior without a doubt in my opinion. We hit the ground running on very little sleep and by 6 or so that evening we had ridden too many coasters to count and had walked about 8 miles ( most of which were hills-they call it magic MOUNTAIN for a reason...). I was SO bummed we just barely missed Twisted Collossus opening up, but not to worry I will be back in a few weeks and will ride it then! Once we had had our fill, we hopped in the car and drove about an hour to one of my other favorite places to be. Disneyland. We stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel which is fine. Personally I believe it is the most kid-oriented hotel so it's usually overrun with screaming 4 year olds. I don't prefer staying there, but it is on the property and about $400 less than where I like to stay ( the Grand Californian). We ran over to California Adventure and got in a few more hours (and miles of walking) before we literally couldn't keep our eyes open. So we went back to the room, got room service and hit the sack. Monday we played at both parks all day and had a blast! The weather was perfect and I was in heaven. 
Radiator Springs in Cars Land @ Disney
X2@ Six Flags
Lex Luthor's Drop of Doom @ Six Flags
NEXT STOP: OHIO!
After lots of fun in the sun it was time to begin the third and final leg of our vacation. We flew out of Columbus Ohio on Tuesday. We were feeling pretty tired at this point, but we still had so many fun things ahead that we sucked it up and kept the pace going strong. Wednesday bright and early we made the drive to Sandusky. Tommy Boy quotes were offered up in abundance as we headed to Cedar Point, yet another amusement park. Supposidly this park competes with Magic Mountain for the most roller coasters in the world, but after experiencing them both two days apart, I know for sure Magic Mountain is most definitely the better park. Cedar Point is right on the shores of Lake Erie. It was cold. Damn cold. So we layered up and rode some of the rides such as Gatekeeper and Rougarou before setting our sights on one very large blue coaster. It looked pretty intense and frankly all the rides I rode before it kind of bored me. I swear most of their rides were the same basic concept over and over. I like that the coasters at MM are, for the most part, completely different from one another. This ride we went on was called Millennium Force. It was such a great ride! With a lift hill rising to 310 feet and reaching a max speed of 93 MPH, this ride kicked some serious ass. I absolutely loved it. This was actually the only ride we rode more than once! It was actually pretty scary. But I soon came to realize that I didn't totally understand fear until I rode the next coaster. It is called Top Thrill Dragster. Let's just go over the specs on this thing shall we? 0 to 120 MPH in 3.8 seconds. Rising 420 feet at a 90 degree angle, going up and over an arch and coming straight back down. The ride takes 17 seconds to complete and it was the scariest 17 seconds of my life. This thing only has a little seat belt and a lap bar. No shoulder restraint. Which I think made a huge impact on the terror factor of this thing. Every car that we watched that day made it up and over the top. Of course the car I happened to be riding in got to the top and couldn't quite make it over so we had to roll back down and launch again. It was absolutely terrifying. Apparently it happens every so often. Something I was unaware of. I thought my heart was going to stop! When they were staging us to go again I was legitimately scared. I don't think I've ever felt fear like that on a coaster. Ever. Thankfully the second time through we made it up and over just fine. Would I ride it again? Definitely! Would it kill me? Maybe. 
Top Thrill Dragster
Top Thrill Dragster
Millennium Force
After we had as much as we could handle at Cedar Point, we decided we should make the drive to Cleveland to pay homage to the greats at the rock and roll hall of fame. I had never been before, and it was really cool to be surrounded by such music history! 
Thursday we decided to have a down day and rest up before our last set of adventures in Ohio. We visited friends while Shelly did a Pampered Chef show. It was a welcome relief to have some calm because by this point I was well past exhaustion. I knew what was to come and honestly I kind of wondered if I was going to make it! That night we made the drive back to Columbus and geared up for our favorite weekend of the year. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we went to Rock on the Range at Mapfre Stadium. This year we decided to splurge and get the ultimate ranger VIP package. The only problem is, now that we know what that entails, it looks like we will be doing that every year we possibly can! We had catered meals in the VIP lounge, private restrooms, all you could drink, access to the floor, stadium seats, and the best house viewing location (side of the stage) as well as a locker to put all your crap in at another VIP tent. It was pretty freakin great. Seeing bands like Slash and Marilyn Manson from side stage was amazing. Nothing like it. 50+ bands and 70,000 crazy rock fans makes on hell of a festival. Despite some crazy weather on Saturday and Sunday, we had so much fun! ROTR is our favorite festival and I honestly can't imagine ever missing a year! There is just something about the atmosphere of this place. The best music money can buy and seriously awesome people coming together to celebrate this crazy lifestyle we lead. People from all walks of life, from all across the country coming to prove that rock is NOT dead. It's alive and well, and it lives in Columbus. 
In This Moment
Godsmack
Sully Erna❤️
Marilyn Manson 
Slash
Breaking Benjamin 
Manson has the coolest gear
Papa Roach killing it!!
Me and my crazy cool mama!
The lineup
Volbeat
Jacoby-Papa Roach
The crowd gathering for Slipknot
IN CONCLUSION
To say this was the craziest vacation of my life would be a vast understatement. I've never been more exhausted, but I've also never had so much fun! By the time we hit the seat on the flight home 10 days after embarking on this thing, I was virtually comatose! I felt like I could sleep for a week!! Going that long, that hard, without much sleep takes its toll. I would do it again in a heartbeat! In fact, now some 10 days later, I wish I could turn back the clock and do it over again! I feel very blessed to be able to live this lifestyle. Living life to the fullest. You only live once. I intend to make the most of the time I'm given. HUGE shoutout to my kickass mama for helping make this thing a reality! I love that she wants to do this stuff with me. She's quite literally the best. Thankfully, my next adventure is never too far away. 6 days until my next concert and 18 days until my next vacation! Thanks for sticking it out to the end!
-Nicole
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