65skylark

^^ Obsidian is my favorite stout, by far. I was actually drinking quite a bit of that this last weekend, myself. Of course, no camera. I actually did think to bring my camera with us the last time we went down to McMenamin's though. McMenamin's is the closest brewpub to our house, about four blocks away, so we go there at lest two or three times a month. I followed up the kolsch with the Sunflower IPA. Nothing too special, but still a decent IPA IMO. Sandi decides to go with a Yukon Jack and Coke instead of beer. It was a pretty hot day so I started with a nice refreshing summer brew, their Firefly Kolsch. Pretty typical kolsch. Very similar to Curve Ball. Time for a late dinner and some pretty decent beer.

The trims on Mean Streak are there to keep it from tearing itself apart, as were the trims on Hercules at Dorney. I think the trims on Mantis must vary depending on what their mood is because I didn't even notice them when I was there in June. I sure noticed the ridiculous amount of trims on Maverick just after the launch though! Justin "not quite the Maverick fan everyone else seems to be" Saxe.

^ Oh come on Rich, are you kidding me! I'm sure Holiday Park would let Mr. Spooker walk to the top of Expedition GeForce while they are running the coaster if he planned carefully and asked very nicely. Perks smerks!

^ No one likes a show off and he didn't say thank you.

^ Do they offer insurance to Playdoh techs?

I'm thinking Michigan isn't going to be ranked 5th after this week.

Nice pics. My family and I go to Silverwood every year. It is a very fun little park and Boulder Beach is great. Check out RollerCoasterAlley.com for a nice fan site with message boards and lots of info on Silverwood.

^ Same here! I went many times during the eighties and early nineties. While Vortex is nearly unrideable now, it was actually quite smooth and fun when it first opened. Too bad Stealth is gone, it did add a bit to the coaster collection. Top Gun is still a great ride IMO, but I do agree that the rest of the coasters there are very average to below average. Justin "I miss the Whizzer!" Saxe.

You look like your normal self to me Paul.

^ Mrs. Weasley swearing at Bellatrix was great. I didn't mind the fact that Harry didn't die after reading the book. I thought she did a good job with the ending. Deathly Hallows is my favorite with Order of the Phoenix a close second.

Very cool Tom. I hope you get the invite.

So, today I headed down to Woodburn Dragstrip for the Hot Rod Nationals. This is one of the larger events of the year and is always a fun race to participate in and also to watch. It is a nostalgia race featuring 1972 and older cars. I thought I would take along my camera for this one and share some pics with you all. I actually ended up making it to the final and finishing second in my class so it was a very fun day! Here's some pics. Hope you enjoy. And since this is TPR, I'll end this little PTR with a shot of a coaster. Yay! Now for the long boring drive home. Oh well, I'll settle for a second place plaque and a 200 dollar check. Overall it was a good day as I, and my car, were doing pretty damn good. Not sure if you can read my time slip, but, my times are on the right. Unfortunately, where it says R/T (reaction time) mine was a -.006. That is a bad thing. When drag racing, you must take off before the green light comes on because of several different factors so timming is crucial. The closer you come to a perfect reaction time (.000) the better you chance of winning. I was 6 THOUSANTHS of a second away from a perfect reaction time. To bad it was 6 thousanths too early. That causes a big fat red light to come on and you loose. The last two standing. I won the simi-final. Only one more round left. My friend, Jim, made it to the final in his class, chicken and all. So, anyway, I started with about 40 cars in my class. Now, after 4 rounds, there are only 4 left. And mine is one the four! A closer shot of a slingshot dragster. They used to ride BEHIND the engine. Insane if you ask me. Couple of "slingshot dragsters" doing side by side burn outs. A friend of mine and fellow Portland racer pulling a nice wheel stand in his 1939 Chevrolet sedan. This was one of my favorite cars of the day. It ran 6.85 seconds at 201mph in the 1/4 mile. Time to race! Porn and racing! Does it really get any better than that? Just about time. Final track prep before racing begins. This is about 1/4 of the participants. At 8:30am most of the racers are all here way before the spectators start to show up. So, yeah, there are a crap load of old cars that show up for this race. Time to put on the slicks. At the track, I realize how much crap I accumulate through out the year racing my car (I actually race every week at Portland International Raceway) Car's fueled up, now it's my turn. This would be my race car for today. Unfortunately, I don't have a car trailer so I have to drive it to the track.

Great pictures and I thought the video was excellent! Too bad about the trims on Wicked. Sandi and I were planning on taking the kids to Lagoon this year but then some stupid Florida Halloween thing came up and we won't make it after all. Maybe next year.

Finished it yesterday. I thought it was nothing short of amazing. She really brought the whole thing together at the end. I felt the very last chapter was a nice touch too.

Store was out of Drop Top so I had to settle with Fat Tire. Hey Matt.

The weather in July, August, and September is nearly unbeatable in any other part of the country. It is the other nine months out of the year that suck. I totally agree with you on Timberhawk. It is nothing special at all, but it isn't really bad. It just doesn't do a whole lot and has virtually no air time. It is probably the smoothest woodie I have ever ridden though. And while it isn't overly exciting it is very re-ridable. Certainly the best ride in the park.

Nice PTR!! Living in Portland, I've been to Seattle many times, and I always have fun there. Portland is exactly the same as far as coffee shops go. I never realized, until I started traveling around more, that we have so many more coffee shops than everyone else in the country. Not sure what I would do without my Starbucks. There are literally 7 of them within a 5 mile radius of my house and at least a half dozen other "non-Starbucks" within the same distance.

Great pics so far Rick. Keep 'em coming.

That was a very nice TR. That park has always looked like a great park and I really liked the looks of the hotel.

Very cool pictures! Glad to see someone from out of the Portland area enjoying some of the local sights. We visit Enchanted Forest, Washington Park, Newport Bay, and "The Gorge", at least once a year. Too bad you couldn't fit in the Oregon Zoo while you were at Washington Park. It is actually a pretty nice little zoo. It's kind of funny, I have been planning on posting a PTR of my last trip to the Oregon Zoo from a few weeks ago and I have many of the same shots as you from Washinton Park.

Nice report. I made my first visit to Waldameer a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. The Wacky Shack was great. I also really liked there log flume. I just might make a return trip next year when they get there new woodie done.

Yeah, you people are making an issue over nothing. If you saw the picture before I removed it, than you would have noticed it turned out like crap. The only reason I took it in the first place was just because I was walking by, and thought it would be fun to put it in this PTR. I wasn't trying to "steal" anything from CP. Believe me, they got PLENTY of my money that day. You can go to a Disney park and stand around all day long taking pictures of the monitors and they will do nothing. You know why? Because they will still sell a crap load of those pictures anyway. Well, that, and they have MUCH better customer service than CP. but that's to be expected. Bottom line, I wasn't trying to break any rules, I wasn't trying to take any money from CP, and I removed the picture as soon as the issue was brought up. Justin "I promise not to distribute my bootlegged on-ride photo of myself to others for profit" Saxe.

No Disk-O. They did get a Rockn' Tug but I did not get any pics. Sorry.

^ Yeah, Heath, they still have the organ player. That rink is really the biggest draw to the park, and, probably the real reason it has lasted all these years. I was really hoping to get some pics of the inside of the rink when we were there but they had it closed for some private event. Make sure and let me know when you guys head over this way. I've lived in Portland my whole life, so I know the area pretty well. We even have a few breweries in town too.

Father's Day. This is the one day where I get to decide what to do. Normally, I spend Father's Day drag racing, but this year I decided to do something more for the whole family, so we headed to Oaks Amusement Park. Oaks is only about a 15 min drive from our house but it had been probably at least three or four years since we had been there. It isn't a very large park, so we just don't go that often, but it is a fun park for how close it is. It is also one of the ONLY parks in the entire state of Oregon, so our options are limited. Anyway, enough talk. On with the pictures. And finally, we end the day with some ice cream back up on the river walk. It really was a great Father's Day. Nice and relaxing. Just what I needed. Thanks for reading! A view of the city from the restaurant. Hey Derek, can you guess what this very cloudy beer is I'm drinking? Ellie isn't too sure about the calamari. Since we were close to the waterfront, we stopped by at this great seafood place in Portland down on the water. One last shot down the midway before we head out. Poor kid. All alone on the pretty pink slide. Whatsup? I mean, they let this ACEr on, so I knew it would hold me OK. Hey, I rode the kiddie coaster, why stop there? Check out that theming. The whole family on the kiddie coaster. Ellie still is not impressed. "You've got to be kidding me Dad?" And now it is time for me to use my children to get a missing credit. BUT, they do have some very good bumper cars here. They used to have this really cool old cheesy haunted house dark ride here. I loved it as a kid. Now, they have a Lewis and Clark themed dark ride. WOW! Give me a freakin break. Super, Ultra Cool, Theme Park Review Exclusive Shot! Looping Thunder: "THROUGH THE SCRAMBLER!" I know, I know. Amazing. Another view of Looping Thunder from the train. That crow was enjoying someones pizza. From the train you get a view of the river with the Portland skyline in the distance. The train takes you out away from the midway and around the picnic area along the Willamette River. Chad and I want to be famous too! Smile, you're on Theme Park Review! Thousands of complete strangers all over the world can now see who you are. Time for a relaxing ride on the train. A view of the rink from the parking lot. It is most famous, however, for its historic roller skating rink. Oaks Park is actually known as much for its large picnic area's as much as for its rides. Dance Dance Revolution baby. And the Spider. After that, she had had her fill of puke-n-spins for the day. Amazingly, Sandi did get on the Scrambler. Well, one of them looks like there having fun. Sandi says "no thank you!". Ellie and Chad decide to do the Round-up next. How did you two like you ride? Low to the ground helix of pain. There's no turning back now for those poor riders. Looping Thunder. Might as well start him out with this baby. Chad is very excited that he is JUST tall enough to do all of the rides this year. Screamin Eagle. This one runs a pretty good program. Pretty overcast , but it never did rain, so it ended up being very pleasant day. Here we are. Oaks Amusement Park. Oaks Park would actually be a kind of hard park to find of your weren't familiar with the area. This sign lets you know you're heading the right way.