Nrthwnd

"So....what do ya think?" No contest. Burgers. Are better. Burritos may be (most times) easier to hold, but burgers are more fun to be messy, with.

I thought Jackson had gotten so ridiculous about dragging this book out, into as many movies as the "Lord of The..." was. I didn't think it was necessary. But money speaks, so there you are.

^ Sad, but true. Hours.

Thanks Robb and Elissa. For a lot you do. For us.

Mnm Pizza and Broadway shows. Can't be better than that, in New York City.

Any Star Flyer > any Wind Seeker. Period.

Australia's too far away, for me, to check out this Turbo. But I too, am glad one is going to be in operation, soon.

Thread lightly.

A corkscrew. On any coaster. It's just so dull to me, nowadays.

Here's a more brighter pic of you guys, Chris. Quite the nice way to end the tour - at the airport hotel!

"Land of Lola" - Billy Porter and Company Kinky Boots

The cars space thing happend again! Why are drivers so ignorant - they can't see that there's two spaces there for 2 cars. And not One Big Gigantic Space for themself. Grrrrr.

I would love to go back to La Qua and see what's changed/removed/enhanced.

My very first Sky Coaster too, Chris. At my age! And it was....interesting. And for myself, once was enough. You're doing great with your TR! Looking forward to the last little bit more.

I need another cocktail. Now.

And from the Still Fuzzy in My Head Dept.... Seems I totally forgot the the actual First Park we went to....Adventure Island, which had it's new vertical lift coaster RAGE debuting the year we were there. It was a standard layout for this type of coaster, but I really enjoyed the speed and intensity of the ride cycle. And still - it's wierd that the actual last new coaster I rode on this tour, would be another of these types of coasters, at Durinrell park, outside Amsterdam! Hmmm... We also had a nice lunch at the park, and then had to hurry on, continuing our tour.

After our London Culture Day...The Official Tour Started! First up was Chessington Park which had one of my all-time fave coasters...Vampire. Along with a really awesome themed entrance queue, I loved how it sweeps through the trees and eventually swoops out and over the public in the little 'village' , before heading back to the station. This trip, we had an extra BONUS perk of touring through Bubbleworks, the park's premier dark/flume ride! It was great walking along the flume with the scenes operating. It all ended in the Finale Shower Room, where many photos were taken. A great ride. Next, we headed into Wales and I re-visited where i picked up my #100 Credit - Clown Coaster in Oakwood ! That was a very exciting day for me, unlike the ride op who was very dubious about letting me on it. This trip, the ops didn't seem to care, and I think everybody got their credit in. This was also where i experienced my very first vertical lift coaster - Speed. I remember riding it nearly 15 times back in 2006 before a real headache set in. I couldn't get more of this type of coaster - and I still enjoy it today, old and new ones. Add to this, my very first - and only one - Mega Shoot-the-Chute, Hydro. Still amazingly insane just before the drop, with gallons of water hitting you in the face. Woo hoo! And then we headed back into England and headed towards Alton Towers... (We also stopped at a beach side carnival - either before or after Oakwood, still fuzzy on this - called Coney Beach. A very ghetto park. It used to have a pinfari type of coaster that was sadly, taken down. But - everybody got their Wacky Worm credit! And we nearly lost Fran to the park, after he got on a flat and it - went - on - for - e -ver. He finally made it to the bus and we were off and running!) The end of our BUBBLEWORKS Tour at Chessington. So much water. Many bathroom visits happened after this tour. Speed! At Oakwood. The car's now going into what I affectionately called The Toilet Bowl. Megafobia makes me all fuzzy in a kind of un-focussed way. The geeks get ready for action shots of Megafobia, on our 'backstage tour' of it, and Hydro. And at the bottom of the first drop, here. Like flies to.... honey. An art sculpture, beside the park's drop tower. And...no comment. Sexy side loop!

Bach's "Italian Concerto"

I was hoping we'd get to tour it in the 2007 Japan Tour, but it closed up the previous year, and that was that.

I finally started my 2010 UK-Europe trip report, that I had photographed using film. So much scanning and altering but - it's done! And ready to start posting...

So - here we go. But first, a < Medical Alert Spoiler > And this has to be explained or no one will really know (especially those who were on the tour with me) what "baggage" I had to bring along with me, on this tour....and would rather have left at home. Three months before the tour began, I had a medical emergency, which put me in the hospital and an operating room, over a period of five days, four nights. Not trying to gross anybody here but (SPOLILER?) - somehow, a tube called the "urterer" from my right kidney to my bladder, got infected and blocked up. And when I came out, i had what's called a 'stint' installed in me. The was put in, to strengthen the tube itself and keep everything moving from kidney to bladder. And as well, a small protrusion out my back, where the stint was installed, had to be cleaned and freshly bandaged up with tape and such. Still with me? I hope so. So with this, I then found out this cleaning had to be done by somebody else, as I couldn't possibly reach around, etc. And this was to be done weekly. And the stint would stay in me for six months. Needless to say, my stress levels hit the ceiling after I came out of the hospital. But I actually calmed down by my surgeon, who knew about the tour coming up, and told me there'd no problems at all with this, as long as it was regularly cleaned....and that "I wasn't knocked around too much on any of the coasters." Hmmm. And my levels went up again. Well, long story finally short, I packed 1/3 of my suitcase with fresh pads and tapes and blah blah, took my chances and did the tour - which actually turned out pretty good. The discomfort was there most of the time, and I still had my doubts about a coaster here and there along the way. And ERT was really a bummer for me, as I took one ride, and I was good. Didn't want to overdo... but I still wanted those damned credits, Flying Squirrel and all! And so - I did enjoy myself AND I do owe a good portion of that enjoyment to a friend on the tour who helped me "clean up," twice it turned out - once in Splash Landings Hotel, the other in Gardaland Hotel - and kept me feeling good about being a part of another great TPR Tour. I'll tell the name later but for now... The End. (P.S. I also want to THANK INCREDIBLY the Medical Stations at both Thorpe and Europa Parks, for helping me "keep things taped up" when the heatwave and humidity finally hit us near the end of the UK part of the tour. My first time with those places, too. Awesome help.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Our first day on the tour was one of those Famous TPR Culture Days! For this we made our way through the city till we popped up from a subway station, around near where Parliament and Big Ben overshadowed us. A few of us had lunch in one of the more tourist area pubs nearby. And it was Good food. And the beer was wonderful. Although I have no memory of what I drank, lol! A lot of walking was done to see London from different angles. We even were on a drawbridge that had to open up for a tall ship passing through. It was great to watch. The majority of the group headed to The London Dungeons (the Dungeons Franchise has five or six of these set-up around Europe. usually with some kind of boat ride or lately, a drop ride installed as part of the themeing and environment.), while a small group of us opted out, and headed towards where our next meetup would be - the London Eye. Elissa had bought us group tix for a trip up and over this thing, which was astoundingly HUGE when you got up close to it. But that was for a bit later. We went through one of a franchise put together by Merlin I believe (?), involving sea life and bringing the oceans to the public and children who may not get the chance to see such stuff. It made my feel guilty that I have my own pretty awesome aquarium at home, and should get to it, once in a while. (I haven't yet - but, patience!) So we used some time touring through the aquarium there, settled in with some refreshments, and eventually we were all back together. The Eye is just amazing. A good touch of my fear of heights hit me, as we were cresting the top of it, and I was tending to stay more in the middle of the 'egg' (benches provided for such things) than pressed against the edge of the glass, like so many others were. But it was a breathtaking 'flight,' the views were excellent all around, and I would certainly want to do it again, if ever I got the chance to. After this, we were heading to our first dinner together. It was to be East Indian and I must say a lot of it turned out very.... red. I also wasn't too sure about what to put together with what relish or chutney etc. But, it all tasted very good, so my lack of Indian cuisine knowledge didn't f me up, heh heh. And then to the hotel - and to bed for the Official Start of The Tour! Sadly, out of that whole day, I took only one - *&%$# - photo. (I will get better as this tour moves along.) Us and BB! And to the right of Ben... that's either a seagull or something's on the print! (Ryan, myself, Jes, Ginny and Jon)

^ In reading this... Why is Canyon Blaster listed in two different lists, with different prices? One is for $10. The other is a 'Premium' for $8.

Doing the 2012 TPR China Tour.

Quiet with no radio on, and soft clicking on the new fangled remote in the background. Shhhhhh...

I got a bit of dizziness, watching it go round and round and round and... ouch.