Kings Fest 2011

"Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets."

1 Chronicles 13:8 

Hannah, K.K. and myself in the car on the way to K.D.

Last Friday we had the wonderful opportunity of going to Kings Dominion for Kings Fest!!  My cousins, Kaitlyn and Sarah, had spent the week with us and we were glad they could come along!  We woke up early Friday morning (like 6:30 A.M. :)  and got ready for a fun day!  Mama was going to join us at Kings Dominion later that day, so we had a nice big breakfast of cinnamon rolls and Daddy's scrumptious eggs! :) :)  After we ate, Daddy, Hannah, Alexis, my cousins Kaitlyn and Sarah, and myself loaded into the van.  We then drove to our local Food Lion and picked up 3 friends from church:  Annie, Kara, and Aaron.  Once they were settled, Daddy drove us the rest of the way to K.D.  Well, we actually stopped at the Burger King across the street from the park and met up with some other friends.  (Altogether we had about 11 people from our church - not counting ourselves - volunteering with us at Kings Fest! :) When everyone arrived that was supposed to arrive, we followed King Fest's volunteer coordinator (who is also a great friend of ours!) to the Employee Parking.  After getting our "special" tags labeled Limited Access we wound through the parking lots until we ended up by the Kings Wood Amphitheater.   We were inside Kings Dominion about 9:30 A.M.  (If you're wondering why we could get in the park so early...it was because we were volunteering that day! :)

Kingswood Amphitheater! :)

Side note:  I took my little camera with me to Kings Fest and had an interesting time playing with the features.  I concluded that the little one is nice but my big DSLR is definitely better. :)

Side note over. :)

The forecast for Doswell, VA was calling for scattered thunderstorms throughout the day, so I prayed for little rain (and no thunderstorms) a few days before Kings Fest.  The Lord answered my prayers...from 6 A.M. until about 5 P.M. :)  Perfect!  [More later on the rain...]

Anyways, once we were inside the park we found out we couldn't ride any rides until 10 A.M.  So we waited until 10 and then went to the nearest ride:  the Dominator!  Last year we didn't ride the Dominator, but I'm glad we did!  So. Much. Fun. :)  I loved the upside-down parts. :)

After the Dominator we decided to go to the Intimidator.  Yeah.  If any of you know what the Intimadator is like then you'll know what I mean.  For those of you who aren't familiar with what the Intimidator is like here's the online description: Intimidator™ 305, the tallest and fastest roller coaster of its type on the East Coast! Only the second Giga-coaster ever built in North America, the lift hill will stand a towering 305 feet at its highest peak; descend 300 feet at an 85 degree-angle and thunder along the track at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour during its three minute race to the finish. 
Two of my cousins who had rode this coaster said they blacked out.  So, last year we didn't ride the Intimidator and I had no plans of going this year, but...I did. :)  I figured that if I could ride the Intimidator I could ride anything else, so I might as well find out what my limits were. :)

A few of our group dropped out of riding it (quite understandably).  Thankfully, the line wasn't too long so we got in the seats and made sure our restraints were on tight!  We definitely didn't want to fall out going down the 85 degree hill! :)  My partner on the Intimidator was Erin and it was lots of fun riding with her! :)  She started second-guessing whether or not she should've come on the ride as we went up the hill but after we went down she and I had our hands in the air and we screamed and smiled the whole way! :) 
The only word I think that fits describing the Intimidator is:  intense.  Very intense.  Once we finished going down the 90 degree angle, and rounded the turn, I started "graying out" (like I couldn't see anything but gray) but my vision was soon restored! :)  The rest of the ride wasn't as intimidating ;)
Now that I think about it, the ride was fine but once you got off the ride..then you felt really weird.  That weird feeling has made me question whether or not I'll go on it again but chances are, I will.

After the Intimidator we went on the Flight of Fear and then met up with Mama and Aunt Megan.  Then some of us went and rode the Anaconda and then got in line for the Volcano.  It took about 1 hour to get from the end of the line to the actual ride but it was so much fun! :)

It was around 1:30 when we got off the Volcano, so we decided to return to the Amphitheater early (we had to be back by 2 P.M.).  We then met with Mr. and Mrs. Glass and figured out who was going to be working in what booth, what shift, etc.
Once that was done Daddy (and the other men :) went to get our lunch coolers for us ladies. :)  Then we unloaded everything and ate lunch!

Aunt Megan eating lunch.

Our lunch consisted of cheese and crackers (with an option of salami), sandwhiches, chips, carrots, blueberries, granola, nuts, cucumbers, and cookies!  (We definitely do not suffer for lack of good food! :)

 This was our lunch table! :)

I would try and tell you who everyone is, but that would be too difficult. :)

Dowy (a.k.a. Mr. Jon), Erin (my Intimidator coaster partner), and Annie (Erin's sister) enjoying lunch at another table nearby! :)

When our delicious lunch was finished, everyone went to the booth they were assigned to and prepared to be "briefed".  After everyone had a slight idea of what they were doing I went around and took photos of them!  (I was assigned to the second shift, so I was free to do what I wanted.)

Hannah and my cousin, Kaitlyn, volunteered at Manic Drive's booth.

Now truth be known, I had never, ever heard of Manic Drive.  I didn't even know such a band was going to be there on Friday! :)

Kara and Annie worked the RED booth.

Mrs. Nigro and her son, Aaron, served in Anthem Light's tent.

Mr. and Mrs. Etheredge (and soon to be baby Grace) were in Tenth Avenue North's booth.

Erin and Dowy (as well as Mr. and Mrs. Madison - not pictured) sold in the Newboys tent.

Annie and Mama talking.

Annie, Mama, and Aunt Megan were supposed to be serving in Chris Tomlin's booth.  BUT, Chris Tomlin's merchandise didn't get there so they had no booth to work! :)

Since no help was needed elsewhere, we went back into the park and rode more rides. :-D

Daniel Madison, Alexis, and my cousin, Sarah, got to pass out flyers when the gates first opened.  When they were done with that, they had nothing else to do so they joined us in the park!

After we rode a few rides (again!), we went back to the Amphitheater.  Mama and Aunt Megan got ready to leave for home (they couldn't leave their little ones for too long!) and Hannah decided to go with them.  Since Hannah was leaving I got to work with Kaitlyn at Manic Drive's booth! :)  About 30 minutes after they left, it started raining.  It was very convenient to be under a booth while watching everyone else get soaked! :)  

As the bands played, the rain would sometimes stop and then start up again.  I kept praying that the thunderstorms would stay away so the concert wouldn't be canceled...and they did (for the most part)!

When the first shift was over, K.K. and I transferred over to the Newsboys tent and relieved the first shifters.  

A little while later, the rain started pouring like crazy!!  I mean, big, huge drops of rain...everywhere!  It was a complete downpour and anyone not under a booth got soaked to the bone!  (Fortunately, I escaped! :)  The concert was paused for a little while but eventually the rain let up a little and the concert continued.

We had people come up to our booth and ask if we sold pants...everyone wanted to get out of their wet clothes! :)  The rain made selling T-shirts very easy! :)

Newboys was the second-to-last music group for the night.  It was lots of fun singing some of the songs they played.  Once their time was over, our booth was really busy!  Everyone (it seemed) wanted the CD's for the special, sale price of $10 for 2!

This is the only photo I took of the Amphitheatre after dark...I was too scared of getting my camera wet. :)

The last act of the night was Chris Tomlin...I loved singing his songs! :)

As business slowed down and people eventually stopped coming over, we counted T-shirts and took inventory.  When everything was wrapped up in plastic wrap, we went backstage and helped pack the Newsboys stuff.  (Yep, we saw the Newboys R.V.!  It was kind of neat...thankfully the rain was only drip-dropping so we didn't get too wet! :)

When everything was packed up and put where it needed to be, we waited for the concert to end.  Soon Daddy reappeared and we said goodbye to Mrs. Glass (the volunteer coordinator) and headed towards the van.  We dropped Daniel Madison off at his home first, then Kara and finally Annie.  It was a long drive home...the only thing I could think of was getting out of my damp, sweaty clothes...yuck!

We did arrive home safely (around 12 A.M. :) after a very fun day of roller coasters, selling merchandise, and great Christian music!

Kimber :)