Published: 10 Sep 2026

From the Previous Chapter:

When the Covers got back to the hotel, Mr. Ken told the boys they had an early flight and had to be downstairs by 8 a.m. to make it to the airport by nine. He told them that if they wanted to eat breakfast, they should be down in the lobby by 7:30 and not to over eat.

‘Dad’ Ken explained they should be at their next hotel by eleven, or earlier, to unpack before they head over to their second park, Mountain Top Park. Their ‘dad’ told them they’d repeat what they did today, but this time he’d make sure their escort knows who they are from the start.

Everyone headed up to their rooms to relax some before going to bed.

The next morning the Covers were down in the lobby by 7:50 with their luggage packed and ready to be loaded.

“‘Dad’ … do I have time to get something off the breakfast bar?” quickly asked Matthew.

“You can, but make it something that can be hand carried, as our ride will be here very soon. Oh, there he is, already. Hurry it up ‘son’, and no liquids or anything powdered. Grab a muffin. That should hold you over until we get in the air,” called out ‘dad’ Ken, as the boy hurried over to the breakfast bar to grab something.

The ride to the airport took as long as it did to get to the hotel the previous day. They did the same thing they did yesterday when they were getting on the airplanes, which included putting the luggage on the TSA cart to be inspected and then for every one of them going to visit the restrooms.

Outside on the tarmac the boys could see Collin’s Gulfstream G280 Super Mid, 9-seat corporate jet. but they didn’t see the other business jet that they flew on to get there. It wasn’t until ‘dad’ Ken talked to the counter people that he learned that the charter company had sent a Gulfstream G350, a 14-seat passenger business jet instead.

Since Collin came back to the hotel late last night, it was too late for him and Mr. Ken to change the passenger list, so when the two talked with the pilots to confirm the passenger manifest the flyers who were on Collin’s plane would remain on it, while the rest would board the Gulfstream G350.

Once TSA had cleared their baggage, they called for the passengers to be screened. Twenty minutes later all fifteen travelers had passed the screening process and were now headed out to the airplane they would fly to Mountain Top in.

Once on the Gulfstream, Darrin was surprised at the differences from their other aircraft. The other three boys knew that once they were in the air they could go to the long sofa style seats to spread out. But before they did that, the boys decided to change up seats for take-off. Before long both aircraft were on their way to the group’s next stop, Mountain Top Amusement Park.

Kate was happy that she was served some breakfast on the flight to their next stop. It wasn’t as plentiful as the previous day, but that was because the flight was much shorter and the flight attendant didn’t have a lot of time to fix seven meals.

Leaving as early as they had, the group arrived at their hotel by eleven. Even though they arrived early, Mr. Ken had called ahead and the hotel had their rooms ready for them. Again, they also had Collin’s room for him mainly because the person making the arrangements explained who Collin actually was.

With room key cards in hand, ‘dad’ Ken told the boys who was staying with whom this time around. He told Darrin and Matthew they would be bunking in with Mr. Dennis this time out and Phillip would be with Mr. Wayne. Collin spoke up just then and told his Big Bro that he could let Billy stay with him and then that way Darrin could be with his ‘brothers’.

‘Dad’ Ken looked to the boys and asked them if they were going to be OK with those changes. None of the teens had any problem with the change and neither did Matthew and Phillip, so with the changes approved, the boys took the trolley’s full of bags up to their floor and dropped them off at the appropriate room.

Mr. Ken decided to have them stop along the way to the park for a quick lunch, telling everyone that they were only there for the day and for them not to take too long to eat. For that Kate and Edith were happy, even though it was at another fast-food restaurant. As the ladies were eating, though, Ken did tell them that they would stop later that night for a nice dinner, as they had the previous night.

It was around 12:30 when the two rental cars and the two vans arrived at the operations building at Mountain Top Amusement Park. Clayton Williams was waiting for them to arrive. This was going to be the second time the owner was visiting after he was elevated to be the operations manager there.

“Welcome back Mr. Thomas, and I see you have a number of new faces with you,” was how Clayton greeted the owner of the park.

“Thank you, Clay, and yes, I have a few new visitors with me. Let me introduce you to my fiancée Kate, her mother Edith and Kate’s two boys, Rusty and Jessy.”

“Congratulations to you both,” offered Clayton. “I heard through the grapevine that you had gotten engaged and it is my pleasure to meet your intended bride,” finished Clayton, as he shook Mr. Ken’s and Kate’s hands.

With the handshakes over, Mr. Ken introduced Collin to him, saying he was his first foster son and honorary little ‘brother’, and he wasn’t sure if he remembered him, as the college junior doesn’t always come when he visits. Then he introduced his newest foster, Darrin, to the man.

After more handshakes, Clayton then introduced his new assistant operations manager, Derek Morgan to the group. Mr. Ken was happy that two of his parks had followed his instructions from the Fall Meeting to make sure they had a second-in-command.

Mr. Ken then asked Clayton if he had someone who could take everyone over to the FFF Booth and get them Fastest Passes. He also asked if he had reserved a power chair for Edith to use while she was there. Clayton told the owner of the park that Derek would walk everyone over to the FFF Booth and then get Ms. Edith her power chair.

Ken asked Kate to take her boys and get them their Fastest Passes, too, as he needed to talk to Clayton for a few minutes and then he’d catch up with them. The man’s fiancée smiled at him and she, her mother, along with Rusty and Jessy, walked fast to catch up with the rest of the group.

As the group headed off to the FFF Booth, Ken Thomas sat down with Clayton Williams. The first thing Mr. Ken wanted to know from Clayton was how the installation of the new suspended coaster was coming along. The operations manager told the park’s owner that the people can always be found looking through the portholes watching the installation, so he knows the public are anxiously looking forward to the new suspended coaster.

Mr. Ken then asked if the contractor had any problem and was the installation on-time. Clayton said that they’ve had regular meetings about the project and for now all the contractor is still doing is putting in pilings and footers and that the actual installation of the supports will begin after the Holidays.

Mr. Ken was happy that the coaster install was going well, so he asked Claton to get a golf cart and after he changed into his owner’s shirt, he wanted them to ride around.

As they had done yesterday, they let Darrin decide where they would go in the park. This time around the teen had a park map and he looked it over to see which rides he wanted to head to first. The first ride of the day was going to be the Crazy Mouse.

As they walked up to the ride, they watched the coaster cars go along the track and Darrin noticed that his one was similar to the Mouser, except that this one would spin at times and it didn’t have as many big dips. The teen was getting excited to ride his first coaster at Mountain Top.

As they arrived at the Crazy Mouse, they all walked up the exit and activated their Fastest Passes and waited for their turn. About five minutes later the first four, Darrin, Phillip, Collin and Mr. Dennis, were seated on the ride and were soon going up the lift hill.

The remaining Covers would wait while people in line took the next car and then Mr. Wayne, Robert and Eric loaded into the coaster car and were sent up the hill. Charles, Matthew and Billy waited until the next group of people in line went and then they got into a coaster car and then it was their turn.

At the top of the lift hill, Darrin felt the coaster car do exactly what the Mouser did and that was go back and forth. Then the car took a small dip and then it went into another deeper dip before another set of back and forth turns, which was where the spinning began.

As the coaster car began to spin, Darrin was all laughs and smiles. The car spun quite a bit, which might have been due to the weight in the car. The car then fell into a few bunny hills which made the ride car spin some more making Darrin laugh some more and then before the teen knew it, they were back in the station queue.

As the first four waited for everyone else to get off the ride, they talked about their ride. Darrin also checked the park’s map to decide where he wanted to go to next. As he looked the map over, Phillip suggested the Mountaineer, a wooden roller coaster that’s only 80 feet high with hills and valleys that have a few twists and is considered an out-and-back.

When Mr. Ken and Clayton left the operations building, the park’s owner had called Kate to see where they were in order for him to join them. He then had Clayton drive over to where the Pirate Ship was. That’s where he joined his fiancée, her sons and Edith and he told Clayton that he’d talk to him later, if he had the time.

“So, the Pirate Ship … is that what you want to ride on next?” Mr. Ken asked the boys.

Both Rusty and Jessy yelled that they did. So, Ken asked Kate if she would ride with them. The women smiled and said that they needed to first activate their Fastest Passes. But Ken told her that he had the ultimate Fastest Pass, his radio.

The four of them got on the next ride and they sat together, on the highest seats, with Jessy next to Ken, so he could hold onto him better if he got too far out of his seat, when the boat was at its highest arc.

The boys laughed and giggled the entire time they were on the ride. And Ken did let Jessy rise up out of his seat some, to the annoyance of Kate, to give the boy the thrill that was the Pirate Boat.

After the Pirate Ship, the four walk over to the Swings, which were designed for the boys age and size. Ken used his radio to their advantage and all four were on the next ride. They each had their own swing seat and even thought this Swing didn’t go as high as the ride designed more for the older guests did, there was good speed to it giving them all a cool breeze through their hair and on their face.

When they got off the ride, Edith told her daughter that the smiles on her boy’s faces told the whole story that they were having fun and were enjoying the ride.

Darrin saw that the roller coaster called Mountaineer was nearby, so he agreed for the group to head in that direction. As they approached the coaster, Darrin saw that it didn’t look very thrilling and was going to bypass it. But the group told him that they were already there and with the Fastest Passes they would all be on and off the coaster in no-time. So, that’s what they did.

The ten walked up the exit and activated their Fastest Passes, but they didn’t have to wait. The ride operator remembered the boys from when they were there in June, and he put them all on the next coaster train.

Darrin headed to sit in the first car, first seat, but Phillip told him he might want to try the middle car for his first ride, so he can get a feel for the coaster. But Darrin said that he sat in the middle of the Looper and now he wanted to sit up front, so Phillip joined him. The rest of the group filled in right behind their ‘leader’.

The coaster train went up the short 80-foot lift hill and when it raced down that first hill it only went down about 70-feet before it went up the second. The thing that Darrin noticed was that with him being in the front he had to wait for the rest of the train to get over the top before it raced down the hill.

He liked the feeling he got from the rush down the hill and the wind in his face. After the first hill, the teen Cover began looking forward to the rest of the ride with the quick up and down hills and the slight twists of the track.

When the ride was over, Darrin told everyone he was glad they had him ride that simple coaster. He then asked. “Where too next?”

As the teen looked over the park map, Matthew told his ‘brother’ that another fun coaster, just like that one, was the one called Through The Mountain. After finding it on the map, and seeing it wasn’t too far from where they were, he asked everybody if they wanted to ride that, or a different one.

The group headed to the coaster known as Through The Mountain and upon reaching it they all walked up the exit to activate their passes. Again, they didn’t have to wait as the ride operator remembered many of the boys faces and he put them on the next train.

And when they were asked to fill the train, Darrin headed to the first car, first seat. This time Collin joined him. The Cover teen watched how, being in the front of the coaster train, that he had to wait for the rest of the train to go over the top before they rushed down the hill and up the next.

Darrin enjoyed the ride and he laughed as the mine train went down and up the hills, through some tunnels and around the boulders, all the while as it twisted and sped along the track. When the rode was over, he thanked Matthew for telling him about the ride. The teen then pulled out the park map and looked for their next ride.

As they walked away from the Swings, Kate asked her boys where they wanted to go next. The boys talked and then they both said they wanted to drive The Bumper Cars and that’s where they headed too next. But along the way, Ken asked Kate if she would take Rusty, while he took Jessy. But Kate suggested that they switch out the boys to see how the ride might be different from the one yesterday. Ken agreed to swap the boys, then.

The two boys announced their disappointment when it looked like they were going to walk past the Bumper Cars. But both boys were all super hyped when their mom told them that they were taking them on the Bumper Cars.

Again, Ken’s radio got them on the very next ride after they arrived. He even talked Edith into riding the Bumper Cars, which surprised Kate and the boys.

It was agreed that the adults would again control the speed pedal, and the boys would steer the Bumper Car, and once the power switch was activated the boys looked for one another to hit with their car. Ken never let up from his pedal, but Kate was always afraid that Jessy would get hurt if she allowed him to hit someone at full throttle.

Edith also felt like to be hit, and not just by her grandsons. Everyone on the floor were targets for being hit by someone driving a Bumper Car. At first the older woman played nice, but after being hit three or four times, she changed her attitude and then went after the other drivers.

When the ride was over the boys talked about how they hit one another and their grandma, too. Edith told them that after being hit a few times she got into the ride and went after the other drivers, too. She admitted that she had fun on the ride, bringing smiles to both Kate and Ken.

The boys then asked if they could ride it again. But their mom told them that they could come back after they rode a few other rides.

The Tilt-A-Whirl was where the five headed too next. After Ken used his radio to get them on the next ride, they tried to fit all four into one ride car, but it was way too tight. This time, Ken took Jessy and Kate took Rusty, and Edith decided to ride, but alone.

If you had been outside of the ride, you would have heard the laughs coming from the boys as they passed by you because they were having so much fun on the ride. The adults were also having fun on the Tilt-A-Whirl, and it was because they were with the young boy and the ride, in itself, was fun to ride.

As the older group walked from the coaster known as Through The Mountain, Robert told Darrin about the three rides his dad installed last year that they should ride. The younger teen asked what they were and hearing about then, agreed that they should ride them, too

As they group of ten approached the ride called Flying Around Town, Darrin said that he already rode that. But his ‘brothers’ reminded him that he’d never been to that amusement park, so there was no way he could have.

Only eight of the ten activated their passes, because Mr. Wayne and Mr. Dennis decided that they would sit that one out. When it was the boys turn, they mixed up who would ride with whom and then they rode.

Darrin enjoyed the 2-passenger gondola that let him experience the sensation of free flight with a wave-like oscillating motion. When he came off the ride, he said that it was exactly like the one they rode at Fantasy Fun Park. Charles laughed and said that they did, but it was called something else.

When they came upon the Skateboard, they couldn’t fool the Cover teen. Darrin told them that this looked exactly like what they rode yesterday. But the eight Covers rode the giant painted skateboard anyway, as it spun around and around, while they all stood up and “rode” the swells of the track.

Coming off the ride Darrin commented, “You know what … that ride … for being so small; it was still quite fun.” All of his ‘brothers’ then began lightly smacking him for not wanting to ride it at first.

Ken and Kate took the boys over to the Scrambler to ride. They’d all ridden one like it before, so this wasn’t something new for the boys, but they were still eager to ride. The park’s owner used his radio as his way of getting them on the next ride.

Of course, Ken was the one being squished as the ride went through its paces, and as the ride car moved and threw its riders against the person on the end, Rusty and Jessy were laughing as Ken told them not to push so hard.

From there they all headed for the Ferris wheel, which even Edith could ride. It was a nice relaxing ride for everyone and on this ride Ken and Kate sat together, while Edith had her two grandsons ride with her.

From up at the top of the Ferris wheel, the boys spotted a ride which they asked Mr. Ken about when they got off the ride. The ride was called Ghoul World and they wanted to know what it was it looked like it was all indoors.

Ken told the boys and Kate that they should walk over to it and see for themselves what it was. When they arrived, Kate saw that it was an indoor haunted house. Ken told her it was funny and scary at the same time. She asked him if he thought the boys were old enough to ride it.

Hearing that they might get to ride Ghoul World, both boys began pestering their mom to let them ride it. Ken, though, told them that if they ride Jessy would have to ride with him, while Rusty would have to ride with his mom.

Hearing with whom they would be riding, Rusty asked why Jessy always got to ride with Mr. Ken. He pouted that he never gets to ride with him. Kate looked at Ken with a questioning smile wanting to know if they should switch boys. All Ken did was nod back to her and the change was made.

The ride operator knew who Mr. Ken was and as soon as he saw the man with a woman and two small boys’ approach through the exit, he told them that they would be on the next two ride cars.

Kate and Jessy went through first allowing Ken and Rusty to hear their screams and laughter before them. Kate laughed and screamed throughout the entire ride and she also hugged her son, as the scary parts made him scream, too.

Of course, Rusty had his share of scares as he and Mr. Ken rode through the maze of scary and funny characters and weird scene’s. When the four met up outside, they compared what they’d seen and Kate told her sons that she enjoyed the ride, and that it was funny and scary at times.

Rusty told his mom that he knew that she was scared, as he heard her screaming at times. The boy’s mother was shocked that he and her fiancé heard her, and then she laughed that she was that loud. Jessy said that he wasn’t scared. Then he changed his statement to say that he wasn’t scared, too much, which made Kate and Ken laugh.

The older Cover boys then steered Darrin towards the other new ride for last year called the Hatchet. Upon approaching it, Darrin smiled and said that he enjoyed the same looking ride yesterday and that he was looking forward to riding this one, too.

Robert and Charles looked around for their dad, as they all activated their passes. They had hoped that he would show up just in time for him to join them on the ride. But their dad wasn’t there when it was time to load up onto the Hatchet.

And just like yesterday, the ride began by going back and forth until it finally went over the top. Then, after about three revolutions, the ride stopped while the passengers were in the air and then the ride began going in the opposite direction.

As the group got off the ride, they were all laughing at how much fun they all thought the ride was. It was then that their ‘dad’, Kate, the boys and Edith came into view.

“Dad, dad, you should have been here to ride with us,” called out Robert.

Ken asked Kate if she wanted to ride the Hatchet. But Rusty heard the question and yelled out, “I want to ride. PLEASE!” The older boys laughed at their younger ‘brother’ who wanted to ride the big over-the-top type ride.

Kate bowed out at riding the Hatchet, and said that they needed to ride a few more rides with both, emphasizing the word ‘both’ boys before it was time to leave and go out to dinner.

Mr. Wayne looked at the time and he told Darrin that there was one more roller coaster that he needed to try out before they left the park. That roller coaster was called Mountain Run.

The group headed in that direction and Darrin learned that this coaster was 120 feet high, but only had a 90-foot first drop but that it went on for a total of 5050 feet, which was longer than most coasters anywhere.

Upon getting his chance to ride the Mountain Run, Darrin opted not to ride the first car first seat. The 120-foot high first hill scared him off taking that position. But the teen did ride in the second car, first seat, instead.

As he rode up the lift hill, the teen Cover looked out over the entire park and he was amazed at how nice it looked all lit up at night. Then as the coaster train went over the top, Darrin could feel a different sensation inside of him. He almost screamed as he went down that first hill, as it was steeper than the other coasters he had ridden.

The Cover then felt more air time on this coaster as he came out of his seat multiple times as he went over the hills. He also loved the extra speed this roller coaster gave him. He loved that one more than any of the other coasters he’d ridden, so far.

Coming off the Mountain Run, the teen Cover commented that he couldn’t wait to see what they would ride tomorrow.

Everyone enjoyed their time at Mountain Top and riding their rides. It was about 7: p.m. when both groups finally got back together back at the operations building.

Everyone thanked Clayton Williams for the Fastest Passes, and they wished him and Derek a Happy New Year, and then everyone loaded into either the rental cars, or the vans.

During dinner, Mr. Ken asked Edith how she liked Mountain Top. The older woman told her host that she liked what she saw, but at her age there were many rides that she would never want to ride.

Rusty raised his hand and told Mr. Ken that he loved the park and that he couldn’t wait until he was older and bigger, so he could ride the large rides and especially the roller coasters.

The group did stop for a nice dinner that evening, so the ladies would have what Mr. Ken had promised.

Back at the hotel, Mr. Ken told everyone that the vans would be there at 7:30 and for everyone to be down with their bags and ready to go at that time. He again told them that the buffet is open between 7 and 9 a.m., and if they wanted something they needed to plan accordingly.

After the adults packed, they all met in the hotel’s lounge for a few drinks. During their relaxation time they talked about the trip so far and how Edith was coping with fast pace of the trip. Edith told Ken that she was happy that tomorrow was the last park for now.

Upstairs, the boys all met in Collin’s room. There they asked him if he was going to meet up with Jasmine, tomorrow. His response was, that he was looking forward to seeing her again.

Collin then explained to his ‘brothers’ that Jasmine is the kind of woman that he would like to find to marry. He told them that Jasmine was gentle, soft spoken, funny, and she had something about her, that first time he met her, that ‘spoke’ to him.

With everyone getting up early again, Collin then sent his ‘brothers’ to their rooms. Everyone, including the adults, were all in bed by ten-thirty. They all slept well, as they were all tired from two fast days of walking, and riding.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

If you are using webmail please include, on the subject line, [CR] [name of story]. This let’s the author know 2 things: Where you read the story and which story you are writing about.

89,237 views