After the quite exhausting and exciting day in Kings Island I luckily did not have to drive very far, because my hotel was practically next door. I stayed overnight in Baymont Mason, where the staff gave me the tip to go to Cedar Point. Too bad that this one starts one month after my roller coaster trip into the season. But somehow this is a peculiarity of the inhabitants of Ohio. Everybody misses Geauga Lake, most people think Kings Island is kind of outdated and everybody loves Cedar Point. At the same time Kings Island is one of the most perfect theme parks around.
After the night at the hotel I was drawn to the road for the last time, where I found myself once again at the airport in Akron after a four hour drive. Here I returned my rental car with a slight delay, which was also inspected immediately. Shortly after that I checked in my luggage and for whatever reason my suitcase was a bit too heavy this time. So I got rid of an old towel and stuffed as much as possible into my hand luggage.
After the security check I spent some time in the small food court. After a much too crowded hamburger at Arby’s, which I found hard to hold with both hands, I spent the rest of the time at the bar of the Great Lakes Brewing Company. One or two good beers later it was time to say goodbye again.
Now I took a small plane directly to Philadelphia, where I changed to my flight to London. Since the flight this time was not as tightly seated as the flight from London to New York, I can highly recommend this route, besides the PHL is a really nice airport.
Early in the morning I landed at Heathrow and had to kill some time before my flight to Hamburg. So I decided to take the underground into the city, where I had breakfast in a wetherspoon at Leicester Square. A few hours later I took the plane to Hamburg, where my brother was already waiting for me.
With him I first went to the Reeperbahn, from where I continued by bus and train to my aunt and told her about the whole trip. Until the evening everything was fine, but the jet lag should not be too long in coming. The very next day I went back to work and I was exhausted.
Nevertheless, the effort of the last nine days was absolutely worth it. Texas Round-Up was my first tour through America and a very special one at that. Of course I wouldn’t have done it in this form if I hadn’t spent a month with my colleagues in Akron before, as the period itself is not really ideal for roller coaster trips through the USA as most parks were still closed. Nevertheless, I made the most of my opportunities and gained a lot of experience, which I still like to share. Texas at least was great and the rest of the country too!