65skylark

Picked up a nice local winter brew from Bridgeport Brewing today. Pretty decent. Very smooth and malty with just enough hops to blance it out some. Not bad at all. Ebenezer Ale. I had never tried this one before but I have never been let down by Bridgeport yet.

I think this rumor might be a little less wild than it sounds. All of the info I have seen so far seems to be pretty legit, but, time will tell. I guess if people don't see green Vekoma track showing up at Silverwood within the next few months, we'll know it isn't true. It will certainly be a hit at that park, but I'm not to wild about another low capacity coaster being added to the three other low capacity coasters the park already has. I would much rather see them invest in a second PTC for Tremors and TT.

Simply amazing. I really wish I did what you do for a leaving Wes. Sorry you got stuck with Erik all day.

Awesome Wes! Can't wait to see the rest.

Only been on four of the top 25. My ranking: 1. Thunderhead 2. Tremors 3. Timber Terror 4. Coaster @ Playland

Finally had a chance to read through your TR, Bob. Great pictures! Lou! Quit hijacking other people's threads and post one of your own!!

Yay, for socks!!! Oh, and tell all your loser friends hello for me this weekend, too!

Great pictures Tom. I really look forward to seeing the rest...............sometime in '09.

^ Looks like a trip to Silverwood. The scenery that is.

Nice pictures Soren! That really looked like a fun trip. You are becoming quite the world traveler.

I am one who haws always liked DL's version better in every aspect. I think the ride and layout is better, along with the show. Having said that, I would hate to see them change the layout. I think it has always been cool having two completely different Space Mountains as opposed to most of the other rides at WDW and DLR that are basically the same. I would be all for an upgrade in the show quality of the ride, but nothing more.

^ Thanks Guy (and everyone else ) glad you enjoyed it! I run between 103mph - 106mph and 12.8 - 13.2 seconds, depending on how I have my car tuned. Not too fast but still a lot of fun! I actually have a small block 400ci Chevy. I took the stock 300ci Buick motor out when I started racing it. I won the first round with a dial of 12.20. The second round I changed my dial to 12.4 thinking I was going to go a little slower and I ran a 12.216. So I broke out by .024 seconds. Ah.........no.

I have bought and sold individual stocks for about three years now. Overall I have done fairly well, but like Larry said earlier, I tend to stick with companies I am familiar with. I also watch these companies on a daily basis so I usually have a pretty good feel for what they are doing (although I did not expect SIX to drop as low as they did). One investment site I like is investrend.com. They usually have some pretty good info. In today's wonderful stock market news: U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said the number of potential U.S. home-loan defaults "will be significantly bigger" in 2008 than in 2007. Fantastic! The Dow was down over 200 points today closing at 12,799. The stock market is a nasty place to be right now.

^ Tour bus? Have ever heard his band? Ted, I love the GT. I almost put that on my list, too.

Yeah, a Honda Accord is better constructed. It is all about performance with the Z06. For a car that comes off the show room floor with a top speed of almost 200mph and a 1/4 mile in the low 11 second range, you can't get anything even CLOSE to that for the same price as a Z06. They are dirt cheap when you are talking about those kinds of numbers. PLus, to me, they look every bit as good as a high end European supercar in the $200,000+ price range. So that is really the appeal for me.

^ European cars are really engineered with the driver in mind. They are great cars! Just a little expensive to maintain is all. And yeah, don't buy a late model American made car. But, you already know my opinion on that. Well, unless you are going for pure muscle and performance, then you can buy a Z06. In all honesty, Corvette's are just as crappy as all the other American made cars out there, but they are a Vette, and for that reason alone, they are the only American made vehicle in the top ten list of used vehicles with the highest re-sale value every year. I guess that's something.

Eh, you get used to it over time, Jahan. I'm 5' 11" and about to turn 33 years old, and I weigh 175 pounds. I wear the same size pants and shirts I wore when I was 16 years old. My wife could probably take me.

Only 5! Are you kidding me? OK here's the deal. Like Cameron and Colin, I could talk cars all day, and I could list hundreds of cars I would love to have. But for me, cars are much more than just something great to look at, admire and drive. They are, and always have been, a huge part of my life. Not only do I work on cars for a living, but I was raised around them my entire life. So, when you're talking the top 5 cars to put in my garage, for me, it comes down to sentimental value as much as simply "what is the coolest car". So, having said all that, if I HAD to only pick 5. Z06. This Vette does not drive like crap. With a factory bolt on kit from Vortec, you have a car that goes under 11 seconds in the 1/4 mile and over 200mph top speed. Very few cars on the planet can do both of those things. I know the Viper can't 1959 or 1960 Vette. They are identical except for the seats. IMO, there is no better looking car. They kind of drive like crap though. So......... Chalk up one more for a 1970 Chevelle! Not just a 1939 Chevrolette Sedan, but this EXACT 1939 Chevy. I race with this guy every week. This car is even nicer than it looks. It is show quality and just one awesome car. My first car was a red 1965 GTO. I'd love to have another one! I'm not sure if I have to count cars I already have. If so, then there is no car on planet earth I would trade for my 1965 Skylark. I've had it since I was 17. I started dating my wife in this car. We drove it on our honneymoon 12 years ago. The list is endless. This car will never go away. But, here are five others.

^ No, but I do drive it to and from the track. I will also drive it to work every now and then just for fun. It was my daily driver for a long time though. I've had it since I was seventeen.

Part Ten: The Race It is now Sunday November, 4th. The NHRA Auto Cub Finals. I told myself going into this race that I was really going to try and relax and just take everything in. The hard part was actually winning my division for the chance to race here. This was just a three round race and I was going to enjoy every bit of it because I may very likely never make it back. Now most of you by now obviously know that along with theme parks and roller coasters, drag racing is another major hobby of mine. In fact, it would be the most important hobby that I have, for a number of reasons that I won't bother to bore you with. Well, I had the opportunity to actually put the two together, so to speak. Every good race car needs a major sponsor. Something that gives the vehicle (and the driver) a little more personality. Every major race car driver - I don't car if it is NHRA, NASCAR, Champ Car - fans associate all of them with their cars and there sponsor. Dale Earnhardt Jr = Budweiser. John Force = Castrol GTX. So I thought it would be a lot of fun to have a "primary sponsor" for my car that would put some identity to it that would reflect me and that I would be happy to have on my car. So what better sponsor than Theme Park Review! First we'll go back to a picture taken of my car at the division finals. I'll end with this completely random picture of Mount Shasta that I took on the drive home. Now, I'm afraid, I am going to be taking a break from coaster trips, so this may be the last PTR you see from me for a while. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks to everyone who made it that much more fun! With the car loaded up my three weeks of insanity comes to a close. Just the 18 hour drive home left. Finally the race had come to a close. A short fireworks display to signal the end of the 2007 NHRA drag racing season. Round two against that beautiful '55 Chevy would unfortunately be my last. I had the better reaction time and we both broke-out, but he broke-out by less. So, it was a very close race and while I was a little dissapointed, I really did have a LOT of fun. Back in the staging lanes again with my dad. Starting to get a little nervous now. Two more rounds to go! Back in the pits, I actually got asked for my autograph! My car on the big screen after winning the first round! Just about to the finish line. Pulling up on my opponent. While Robb and Jahan watch from the stands. Taking off in front of over 40,000 people. Apparently they have started a new class that I did not know about. Back in the staging lanes. Time for round one in the TPR car. They found us! NO! "Should I take it in one bite?" And both have some great food. Both have Dippin Dots. Both have funnel cake. Screamin Eagle! Drag racing and theme parks really do have a lot in common. I really need to get me one of these! Nice friendly disclaimer. You never know when a car might explode and kill a few spectators with flying debris. Jahan has his ticket. He is very excited! Almost there! Robb and Jahan waiting to park. Have I mentioned yet that this is a really popular race? One last picture me with my dad and my son before heading back to the pits and waiting for my first run. These next few pictures are brought to by Robb. Him and Jahan came down to watch the race. I beleive they got to the track around 11am. OK, time to exit stage left. Our five minutes of fame is up. The guy on my left was another Portland racer who won the motorcycle class. It made it that much more exciting that two of us from the same track ended up making it to this event. I'm pretty sure that had never happended before, at least in our division. Up on stage in front of about 20,000 people or so. There would be over 30,000 more people still to arrive before my first pass. Let's do it! Looking out into the crowd just a few minutes before I get introduced on stage. And Hillary Will, who was the one that presented me with my check at the Summit banquet a few days earlier. Chad with Kenny Bernstein. Chad got his picture taken with some famous racers. Here he is with Tony Schumaker, who ended up the NHRA Top Fuel Champion for 2007 after taking first place later in the day here. They even let the family come with me. Back stage all the racers are hanging out taking pictures and giving autographs before getting introduced to the crowd. They had a stage set up on the starting line. There goes any respect I may have had right down the toilet. Time to get ready for the pre-race ceremonies. From behind. Notice the rear window. That's a little better. Looks nice. But, it almost looks more like a daily driver that a race car. In truth, that is one of the things I really like about my car, but this was not only the biggest race I had ever been in, it was litterally the biggest race on the NHRA Powerade circuit. So, I thought I'd make it look a little more like a race car. Fast forward to Pomona........

Part Nine: Six Flags Magic Mountain And A Little More Disney Friday ended up being a split day for our family. I had to spend the day at the race track and Sandi, my mom and the kids went back to Disney. Saturday I started out at the track for my last two qualifying runs while Sandi and the kids stayed at the hotel and got caught up on some sleep. I made my last pass by 11am and then drove back to the hotel. My parents ended up taking the kids to Knott's, while Sandi and I drove up to SFMM. And that will do it for this visit. One thing I must say, this my first ever trip to SFMM where every single coaster in the park was open. Well, except for Flashback of course. I still am seeing steady improvement overall every time I visit. Maybe in about another 15 years they'll have this park dialed in Up next is my final update! Including highlights of the big race AND I have a new sponsor for my car! Always a nice police presence at the park. You know, just incase. The last ride of the day would be none other than Gold Rusher. Batman still had a long wait, so we passed. As night falls, we head back to Goliath to say hi to Jahan (sorry, no pic) and then make one more loop around the park. Might as well take one more ride on Scream. Um, we just got off of Viper. I don't think we'll be riding this contraption today. Sorry Joe. Yeah, that guys face in the front row pretty much says it all. Maybe it was because we didn't ride Vu and had no intensions of riding X, aka "Paint Can Shaker: The Ride", that caused us to make the decision to ride Viper. Or maybe it was because Psyclone was gone and Colossus was actually running kind of good. Either way, it just wouldn't be a trip to The Mountain without riding at least one coaster that beat your brains in. It is nice having this back up and running again. The gynormous pretzel loop is possibly the best element on a coster, ever. Tatsu. Easily in my top ten. Ah yes, Ninja, you are still fun, but I'm afraid you will never be the same to me again after riding the Big Bad Wolf. We'll always have the memories, though. Still brings a tear of joy to my eye. Ted wasn't here today, so Deja Vu was running. But, the line was long, we already had the credit, and I really was enjoying not having a headache, so we passsed. Still a whole lot of nothing going on with this piece of track. The line was very long though, so we didn't ride. My second favorite coaster in the park now that Tatsu has arrived. This is new since out last visit earlier this year. Superman's train is still making it just over half way up the spike. Kind of sad really. Colossus doen't get much of a line these days either. I wonder why? In all honesty though, I have to say it is running better this year than it has in a long time. Scream is still one of my favorite coasters at SFMM and it never has a line. We came all this way just to see Jahan and he wasn't there. We found him later though It may be the least of all the Goliath's out there, but it still fun. Big fake tree that serves no purpose what so ever. And here we are. X1 is still in opperation. At least it is a Saturday so we can cruise along at a nice pace instead of just sitting still. The next day Sandi and I hit the road for The Mountain. I love LA traffic! We end our time at Disney with the awesome Disney Dreams fireworks show and Fantasmic! DLR was great as always. Later that evening I met back up to do a few more rides. High School Musical show. Boy am I glad I am at the race track right now! Chad gets some Jedi training. Speaking of Chad, go to youtube and search "Chad Vader". Good stuff. While chad gets his hat taken away. Ellie gets the stare down for Captain Jack Sparrow. Man I could really do a lot to my car if I had some of that. "Great! Now what?" Excellent! A dead pirate! "We're gonna find out." They finaly got to explore Tom Sawyer's Island. I wonder what is under that chest? Meanwhile, the kids enjoy there last day at Disneyland. This time with Grandma. I took this picture just to give a little perspective on how big this race is. It was only Friday and they were just running qualifying passes at a slow pace throughout the day. Still, there were quite a few people on hand.

Part Eight: Day Two at DLR and I Get Paid! The next day we headed back into Disneyland. We got there 30 minutes before opening and lined up with the masses on main street so we could get right in Finding Nemo. Unfortunately, it was an early entry day for DLR resort guests and the line was already an hour wait. Other than that, the day went great. Later that evening it was off to the NHRA Museum for an awards dinner where I received a nice check from Summit Racing Equipment for winning my division. And one last shot of the whole family, parents and all, before heading out. Still to come: A few more Disney pics, SFMM, and the Auto Club NHRA Finals! All seven division champions along with a Summit rep and Hillary Will, an NHRA Top Fuel driver. And yes, the kid on the left who looks like he is maybe 15 is one of the division champs. Going up to the podium to get my check. Greg Anderson (if you follow drag racing you know who he is) gives us a speech/pep talk to get us motivated for the big race. They had some very famous race cars on display. Me standing in front of the largest Wally in the world - In the NHRA, if you win a national or divisional event, you get a trophy called a "Wally" (Named after NHRA founder Wally Parks) and it looks just like the one behind me, only much smaller. And here we are. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. I said I'd buy them each an ice cream bar if they pretended as if they liked each other for this picture. It was another great day at Disneyland and now it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for the banquet. But, my kids like it, so I'll smile anyway. Here is one ride we actually get to use our special fastpasses on. I really, really, really, hate this ride. I'm very surprised this ride is even still here. Even on the very crowded days this is usually a 10 minute wait at the most. Today, it was a walk on. No visit to Disneyland would be complete without a ride on Splash Mountain. One of the few rides that is better at the Magic Kingdom. Chad demonstrates how to properly wear a paper pirate hat. Ellie can't quite figure out how the hat is supposed to go. SOOOOO GOOOOD!!!! Can you say, Monte Cristo! Some of the new pirates theming on Tom Sawyer's Island. Now let's go eat! Mark Twain POV!!!! After BTM, we had just enough time to take a ride on the Mark Twain before our reservation was up for the greatest restaurant on planet earth. Ellie is very excited! Time for some Big Thunder Mountain. Yay! Too bad every ride has about a 10 minute wait and we can't take advantage of them. But, hey, we still won and they'll make a nice souvenir. The dream squad gave us fastpasses for every single fastpass attraction at Disneyland and CA. I'm not sure why, but Chad really wanted to walk through the castle. However, they weren't letting anyone through the castle because of a show so we had to go around, which turned out to be great because.......... Sandi and Ellie enjoyed their wild ride to hell and back. Another ride we always do is Mr Toad's Wild Ride. What other dark is there that you get ran over by a train and then sent to hell. Fun for the whole family! There aren't very many original Disneyland rides left. Here's two in one shot! We always do Storybook Land. I actually really like this ride. That's the last one Scott. Merry Christmas. Chad and Sandi get ready for another ride on the Matterhorn. Since none of us wanted to wait an hour for Nemo, we headed to the next closest ride.

^ Yeah, I cramed in as much as I could. I was in those areas anyway, so I figured I would fit in as many parks as I could during my spare time rather than sit in a hotel room or at the race track doing nothing. There is still another day at Disney, an afternoon at SFMM, and a bunch of racing pictures left to come. I am going to have to wait until tomorrow evening to finish it up, though. Stay tunned............

First part of the fun in SoCal is up. I of course, didn't get the whole thing up yesterday as planned. Hopefully, I'll get it finished by tomorrow. Glad you've like it so far!

Part Seven: Halloween at The Disneyland Resort So, I was home for a whole day! Just enough time to get unpacked and then repacked again for the long, slow (because I was towing my car) drive down to SoCal. More DLR to come. Bags were full, and we were beat. Time for sleep. This section of the park always looks great at night. Best ride in the park. Even with the added trims. Yes, I know it is not as good as Florida's. But, it is still fun. There's the candy! Now lets ride ToT. Hollywood Pictures backlot was the first stop. Kids were ready. Candy corn seemed to be the theme for this event. Where's the candy? Time to head over to DCA for some Trick or Treating! This is a picture I took of the onride picture Disney took. If this was Cedar Point, there would be three pages of posts about how I should be hauled off to jail for daring to post this "bootleged" photo. Thankfully, this is Disney, and they actually want their guests to return. Wierd, I know. We did ride the awesomely UN-rockin Space Mountain. If I never ride Rockin Space Mountain again, it will be too soon. We actually didn't even ride the new subs. They look nice though. Mine. Mine. Mine. Not nearly as impressive as EE, but still a great ride. 3pm and this was the waiting times. I love the off season. I still prefer the original, but it was fun for a change. Of all the times I have been to Disneyland, I have never been on Holiday Mansion. Hey......Oh wait, that wouldn't be very nice at all. Sorry. Hey Jahan. Hey Wes. There is lots of animals on the Jungle Cruise. Ellie was designated captain of this particular cruise. First ride of the day, Jungle Cruise. Plus, they have a Disney Dreams Come True monorail. OK, honestly I have no idea if WDW has one or not, but I didn't see one when I was there, so score one for Disneyland! Yes the castle is small, but I've got to say, there is still only one Disneyland. I absolutely love this place. WDW as a whole has much more to offer, and man do I love Epcot, but I've got to say for the record here: Disneyland > Magic Kindom. BIG TIME! Gotta get a shot of the kids in front of the station. Halloween stuff was everywhere. This view is going to change soon. Throw all the crap on the bed and lets go to Disneyland. Don't they look so cute together. Now we're ready! 5am and we are ready to go. Almost...... Getting the car loaded up so I will be ready to head out early in the morning.