On Saturday I ventured out to Marine World, only one day before the park shuts down for the season. I got free tickets when I gave blood earlier in the month, so even though I don't ever want to go to an amusement park on the weekend, it didn't bother me that much because I didn't have to shell out 45 dollars to get in.

The place was packed. It was hard to navigate through the seas of people. Sharks patrolling. Walruses playing around. We saw the sea lion show. Cute but corny. We had lunch. We went to the dolphin show and had great seats (we got there 20 minutes early) when we found out that the entire park had lost electricity and they couldn't open the grates to let the dolphins into the show pool.

We headed into the land animal section. Goats. Prairie dogs. A trio of adorable tiger cubs. Cheetahs looking pensive. A cougar hiding in the brush. There was sort of show at the tiger pen with two massive Bengal tigers, one standard one white, showing off for little pieces of meat. Since there was no electricity, no PA, and not much of a show.

Butterflies. Kids feeding apples to pliant giraffes. People were gathering at the killer whale show and we joined them to see an abbreviated show. Awesome because we got to see Shuka in action without the "show" for the kids. The whale is amazing. Like an Idiot I didn't bring my camera.

It was at the whale show that we found out that the park was shutting down and people should head to the exit where they'd get a rain check ticket. We thought about it and decided we should probably head out as fast as possible to get ahead of the crowd, get to the car and get the hell out. But it wasn't to be.

By the time we hit the parking lot, there was already a massive line. With no option other than waiting around, we got in line with the rest of the lemmings and spent 2 hours in a slow moving parking lot. Do you know how long two hours seems when you're going less than one mile an hour? It's interminable. We got in line with the car at 5:01pm. We listened to the traffic reports and the news. We watched the sun set. We listened to Prairie Home Companion. Just after 7pm, we emerged onto city streets. It was excruciating.

It turns out that we were lucky. We could have been behind the accident on I-80 where some driver hit a utility pole and left "power lines draped across" the highway and been stuck behind blocked traffic for hours. Or we could have been one of the unlucky few who had to be rescued from the rollercoasters (none of which we were able to ride, I might add).

It's over now. Marine World is closed for the season, so we'll have to go back next spring on a weekday.

Freeway crash cuts power, leads to massive backup

Saturday, October 30, 2004

(10-30) 22:47 PDT VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) --

A traffic accident that left power lines draped across Interstate 80 on Saturday cut power to thousands of utility customers, forced an amusement park to close early and caused an hours-long traffic jam on one of the San Francisco Bay area's busiest freeways.

The 2:45 p.m. crash along the freeway's eastbound lanes backed up traffic for about 10 miles.

Power was cut to about 6,000 customers in Vallejo and American Canyon. Roller coasters at Six Flags Marine World were stopped in mid-ride, leaving some customers 20 feet in the air.

All were removed safely from the rides within 45 minutes, park spokesman Paul Garcia said.

"It was definitely an interesting conclusion to the afternoon," he said. "Thankfully, everyone was safely taken off the rides and there are no injuries to report."

Some of the park's animal shows were able to continue for a few hours, but the park closed by 6 p.m., four hours earlier than its scheduled closing.

Power was restored to all but 800 customers by 6 p.m., said David Eisenhauer, a spokesman for the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. He said they would get electricity restored early Sunday morning after crews installed a new utility pole and power lines.

Details of the crash were sketchy.

Witnesses told the CHP a vehicle veered off the freeway near Redwood Parkway and struck the electrical pole, sending the lines onto the interstate. The driver fled, but no one was injured, officer Steve Markgraf said.

The CHP diverted traffic around Vallejo and rerouted vehicles about 20 miles to the junction of interstates 80 and 680.

No other information was available about the driver, Markgraf said.