TheRapidsNerd

Your history squares with RCDB. That's the same one. Very cool!

Pancakes! With syrup! ...I'm a little hungry...

(Chuckling) Yeah, I was kidding him about that, but you do have a point. LOL! Good one and I needed that laugh this morning. That was my Perry Richardson (FireHouse) Poodle Perm Starter Kit. Got the Biggest Hair award my high school senior year. It was a parental comprimise, so I went with it. Good times, good times. Thanks all.

Now that's a neat park. I like the themeing, and the style. Thanks for sharing this and for the Rio Bravo pics (Big grin). Wondered if that might have been the King Kobra. Good to to see it running. As for the sponsor in the picture...I'll pm you with the answer, as the person above had the right idea of not spoiling the fun. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Oh man. Wow. You poor folks, but a funny story all the same.

Great job on the pics! Really liked that shot of "the mushroom" surrounded by TT track. BTW, I think you just coined the former Kite Eating Tree's new Nick-name.

^ LOL! Careful friend, Nay might get jealous. Remember how "hot" she is? Great googly moogly! I'll check on that pronto and post here. EBL, great site! Glad you mentioned that and definately worth doing. Seeing the steam engine taken apart was pretty cool. Kraken613, I feel the same way. They seem so separate, yet one begat the other in some ways. Thanks all, for the kind words. I'll see what can be done on a Piggly Wiggly PTR. God help us all.

Maybe I can get a couple pics for you in the next few days. I had a good time today. The idea just struck me as a spur of the moment thing. Glad I stopped in. Hope everyone enjoys. This is the original Eunice's Country Kitchen mentioned above.

Part 2. If anybody wants certain shots for desktops or avatars, pm me. Will do some avatars later on. Ok more train pics... And finally, after a fun couple hours of touring the depot, it was time for the McCredit of the outing. Thank you for reading. I've heard bathrooms called many things, but this is a new one on me. Good place to wait. That ticket office was a bit dodgy, what with the disgruntled telegraph operator and deranged engineer. Back in the waiting area, it's a southern bell. Be da be beep.... Request immediate work transfer. Stop. Reason? You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Stop. Please hurry. Stop Truly, a railroad enthusiast. Train stations were emotional places. Everybody had excess baggage. (2 snares and a cymbol fall off a cliff). The waiting area. Yes, the railroad was run by giant mice back in the ole days. Moving on to the Depot/Passenger Station, this sign greats you on your way in. The caboose hobby train shop that I had originally come to see. It was closed. Eunice was just a nice lady. It was fun to meet her the one time we went. The biscuits and ham were pretty salty as I recall. Yeah, we miss her. Sadly, Aunt Eunice passed away in 2004 and the restaurant, which was 5 minutes away from where my family lived years ago, was closed. What you see here is a tribute museum that reproduces the interior. It was closed, so no interior pics. Eunice's Country Kitchen was a staple small restaurant that was famous to Huntsville. Mayors, dignitaries, sports heros, all went there for breakfest along with the average soul. Mom, Dad and I even went when I was in high school. Since this is also a kid's museum, they do educational Civil War stuff that can be intents at times. BIG turn table. The whole spins like a lazy-susan and points the engine to different sets of tracks. Round House and Turn Table sign. Most handy. They have birthday parties this caboose for kids. Cow PoV. Moo? Holy cow!...catcher Shout out to the PA Peeps. Back outside. This is one of my favorite pics of this set. Model T PoV. More shameless local promotion. The Model T. Ford. Firefighters are a tough breed, but these guys back in the day didn't even use seats! 1st fire truck driver seat PoV. To the donut shop! Barrel. Michael Jackson was here. The other fire truck and Model T. There's hope for me yet. And the logo on the door. Did I take a picture of the whole truck like a smart person would? No. In the building behind the gas pump is a vintage fire truck, a Model T Ford, and another smaller fire truck. This is the lettering on the 1st truck. Train spotting. There's one! I built one of these for a 3D project in college and have had a soft spot for them ever since. Oh how I wish... Artsy shot. More caboose. Mr. Tour Trolley has seen better days.

(Chuckling) Ok ok, I get it. Thanks. LOU, great pics and forgive me.

I was downtown today and remembered (finally) that I hadn't been to the Huntsville Railroad Depot Museum in over 10 years. Also wanted to stop into the resident hobby store to look into building an HO gauge train to run around my Christmas tree. The store (in a caboose) was closed. Oh well. Had my trusty camcorder and went walkabout anyway. This one's for the railroad fans on the board. EDIT: Just confirmed today (Jan 4, 2008) that Vault Icee is gone from Target AND my fav mom and pop seafood place is closed. Copula PoV. Part 2 coming soon. Important safety tips. Seat in the copula (that top part thingy with the windows). Some of the interior. One of a few caboosi at the depot. (Yes I made that word up.) More Hay! Woohoo! Hay Ya'll! (from the cattle car) Geek shot. Bright idea. Modified carriage interior. Passenger carriage. Steam engineer PoV. This shot has a story. I was gleefully recording video when the museum curator lady comes out of the gift shop and says "Come here quick, this is neat." She takes me to a spot between the gift shop and the depot that's right by the tracks (I'm a little concerned at what's about what could happen next.) Turns out a freight train is coming by and it's a great photo op. The conductor on the train sees me and blows the horn for fun. The train goes ripping past me, at an uncomfortably close and knee buckling 4 FEET! Did I get it on video? Ooooooohh Yeah! Loud as crap and unnerving, but AWESOME! Cole Tender a$$ sporting a number 4. Sounds painful. Cole Tender side. Cole Tender PoV. The train right outside the gift shop. I've always kinda like the tea kettle and saddle tank switcher steam engines. The first of many signs scattered around the place. Obligatory establishing shot. Check.

^ Hey thanks for pointing that out. I goofed! Thought Reggie ride was a chute the chutes. Hmmm....that means, with the exception of Slippery When Wet, there aren't any additional water rides. Just coasters, flats and concert venues. A bit risky during the summer, but there are water parks and the beach at hand. Now I'm really curious about their expansion plan over the next few years. My gut says rapids ride and water park expansion in the next couple years. Just a feeling. Or maybe it's just gas. I dunno.....

Oh great! There goes my insomnia again. Was fun to watch Avatar's progression over the webcams and should be the same for Spongy. You might say I'm "Having a wonderful time". Any chance they'll bring back the Slime Geyser? Man I miss that thing.

Louise, I'm a contemporary art/decor/sculpture fan and some of those pics really make me want to go to Madrid. Didn't realize it was THAT awesome of a place to visit. Most impressive. You did good on the pics and looking forward to the next chapter.

Is BamaRob seriously your twin? I thought that was a joke for some reason. Cool that he's also a rapids fan. Let's just hope a future rapids at HRP actually gets you wet. I got more wet in front of the one of the many AA mist fans rather than Wild River Gorge. Back to HRP, the webcams show some decent progress. Didn't realize there was a second set pointed toward Zep's cobra roll. Nice!

Keep an eye on your drink at that park and beware of the souveniere umbrellas. Imagine the gift shop: Brass knuckles Batons Tasers (with free "Don't Tase Me Bro" t-shirts) Poison Rings Swiss Army Knives Various Ninja Supplies C4 Hand Cuffs Cigarettes If the designers are clever, much can be gleened from feudal Japan (ninjas and samurais), Russia's KGB, The James Bond series, The Spy Kids series, Cody Banks series, and bits and pieces of the spy technology used during various wars. Even cartoons like Inspector Gadget, Inch High Private Eye, Secret Squirrel, Boris and Natasha, Kimpossible, and others could figure in depending on rights and licenses. There is hope since the Spy Museum in Washington DC has been pretty successful.

Looks like a fun park, but....Where's the rapids dude? There's a chute the chutes, but noooooo rapids. HRP loses some cool points for that one. My guess is that one's on the boards in the next five years, meanwhile get the park up and running and work out the bugs the first couple years. For the record, I'm speaking humorously and no I'm not seriously upset about no rapids. Still a great park.

Rolling D6... a 1. Those who originated the "Smoking is R rated" idea implode.

That looks like a great ride. I like how you used the hilly terrain to your advantage. Nicely done!

Well gang, here's TPR-Land for download, with instructions and graphics files. Have a fun and try not to rip me too much of a new one for the stuff I goofed on. BTW, I'm still working on PoV's for the folks who don't have the game. Everybody should share in the fun one way or another. TPR-Land Read Me.doc TPRLand_graphics.zip TPR Land_alt.zip

Had a chance to play Wii for only the second time a week or so ago. The boxing game is really fun. I keep hoping for version of Animal Crack, er Crossing that will use more of the Wii's functions, kinda like Zelda. Even the sling bag thing for the Wii is pretty cool. Anybody play Carnival Games and how is it? "Virtual" SkiBall looks fun.

Apartment stuff Starbuck's Stainless Steel Mug Snoopy Beagle Scouts and Space Snoopy Ornament Future Enterprise Ornament Cool stainless steel necklace and ring A couple gift cards and park trip cash Batman Anthology DVD Box Set Movie candy and popcorn snack package with those red and white striped popcorn containers that are popular right now. 2 awesome dinners. One with family and the other with girlfriend's family. Yes, there are thank you notes to write for all. I'm very fortunate and grateful.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, mine had to hit the break run early to avoid similar crashes. My computer just couldn't handle much more. There was still more I wanted to do that maybe someone else could touch on in their project or you could in yours. Where you're park really shines is that you've been on some of the TPR trips and know more of the craziness and inside jokes. I really liked how you worked things like Fascination and Ryan's Vekoma Death Box into your park. Honestly, I think your park is the better because of the above experience/background, and it was also the original. I gotta say thanks for a great idea and I'm enjoying following your park. Will keep fingers crossed that further crashes cease.

^Batman Begins was essentially establishing everything (like the first few chapters of a book). Now that the audience is familiar with this series' way of telling the story, the energy can go into better bad guys since Arkham let a bunch of people loose in the first movie. They were also establishing Scarecrow's origins and I'd bet he returns somewhere along the line. Translation: Groundwork layed for franchise, now comes the good stuff. Just noticed that Morgan Freeman is in The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger as Joker. Freeman is also in The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson, who was Joker in the last Batman series. Cool huh?

You're really gonna hate me. I've got two Waffle Houses within 10 minutes of my pad, along with 3 McDonald's, 2 Starbuck's, a Carrabba's, a Target with Vault Icee, and an FEC called Southern Adventures. Next time I go to Waffle House, I'll have a slice of pie in your honor. EDIT: It's New Years Day and I'm still hoping to get a slice of that Waffle House pie. Will post a pic here if I do.