Nrthwnd

Well, you just didn't have ME there, is all. (Apologies to all who were there that night. BIGbearHugs.)

Now how about we go after Grona Lund (see photo) for this Thematic BLUNDER that is on permanent (for now) display, for all to see. Even ... The Children. (And the clothes all eventually end up in the locker, kiddies.) I mean, really? Words - can't - describe...

I kept missing out on the bread-cooking attraction. Next visit.

Money and offers of sex might help.

There are actually so many bad coasters in the world to choose from, yes? No? Can't decide, really. Although Bandit in Movie World Germany, Goudurix in Parc Asterix, White Canyon in Yomiuriland and Anaconda in Parc Walygator immediately come to mind. Painfully. EDIT to add: Actually my Worst - Coaster - Ever experience, AND one of "My Most Embarrassing Moments in Theme Parks", happened in Walibi World on the first SLC ever built, El Condor. This is correct, I remember? When we came off of it, Robb was there at the exit with mic and video going on for our immediate reactions to it. And one of the main owners of the park right beside him. I come off, he asks me, and I say "Best Coaster Ever - NOT", look over to the owner, then realize who HE is, and sheepishly move along. I don't remember him smiling at me - it's all a blur.

I myself must admit, I wasn't too keen on exploring either city (Mexico or Guadalajara) in the tour, separate from the parks. But everywhere I/we did go, I found people were nice and courteous, even if we didn't understand each other, no wierdness going on, that wasn't already part of the city life itself, heh. And I found Guadalajara to be more laid back in atmosphere than Mexico City. But then, that could have been all that tequila in me, LOL. I was happily surprised, and would enjoy re-visiting Mexico again. With TPR. Now, when was that "Bullet" being re-built at Selva Magica? (And thanks for the nice comments, guys.)

Sunny, sunny...and sunny! One of The Best ~ Warmest Springs we have ever had in this city! It does make me slightly wonder about what's up for us, when summer really starts up.

Day 1 contd... Our first group meal together happened after touring the pyramides. And the restaurant was very close by, and had outdoor seating arranged for us, all in the 'shadow' of the Temple of the Sun, I believe. This was also a First Time Ever for most of us, not having had any kind of meal made including ....cactus. For a few of us, we mistakenly thought the 'green things' surrounding the chicken was green beans. But it wasn't. It was cactus pieces. And not bad, actually. Then, before heading back to the city, we encountered a Bonus Credit in the form of a (what it was named) Crazy Worm, in a small city park, mostly children's rides, with a couple of thrills for the older ones. Credit whores all of us, each and every one! And after that we did some touring of the old palace in the city, the surrounding areas including churches, and a public performance/prayer gathering located in a church square. Then on to our dinner location. And then.... Tickets were available to everybody for a performance that night of the famed Mexican Ballet Folk troupe which has been around for several decades. The venue they were performing in was a beautiful palace-like building, with lots of architectural stuff to explore, around it. Well, most of the group went. I declined as I had seen this group twice in Vancouver, from their tours. So the plan was after the show, to be in front of the Sears building, noted for it's many many (omg) many windows on the side facing the theatre, the bus comes by, picks everybody up, back to hotel. Well when 11pm rolled by, and the few of us who didn't go, were sitting in the hotel bar, and wondering why the group was so late coming back.... Turns out the bus driver had a mis-communication in exactly where to meet the group, and was parked at the back of the theatre! So, after well over an hour+ later, the mistake was discovered, and everybody got back to the hotel albeit somewhat later than planned. Good times. And then ~ the next day ~ Six Flags Mexico and my #600 coaster to ride! Here's where we ate lunch at. And so - much - cactus! With outdoor group seating for us all. Tortilla soup. And it was only after we asked, that we found out the stuff on the small plate, went IN to the soup. It's a learning process... And over there, overlooking us - The Temple of the Sun. The Main Course - and there's cactus pieces with the chicken and sauce, tied up inside that thing there. It was good, too! And back to some bussing through the city. This is a empty building that still looks pretty nice, hmm? I love towers and such. How they're made, what they're used for, etc. Fascinates me. CRAZY WORM BONUS CREDIT! That's all I got. And you can barely make out a train full of us sad people, riding it. Behind that umbrella there. Tsk tsk. This was in a palace that contained many many (many) murals and paintings about the history of Mexico. Some of those murals, here. It was impressive, and it was a - lot to take in. Back out through the city again. This tower is leaning if you look closely. As is a good deal of the buildings around it, lol. One of the churches in the city. I did forget we were touring around the city on Palm Sunday, so there were groups like this one doing public praying rituals, and such. After that, we were heading to our dinner location. And I always enjoy seeing a Canadian flag, from time to time, no matter which country I am in. At the restaurant, this was framing over the entry door, inside the place. Very beautiful. And there was music while we dined, too! A group of musicians serenaded the room, with many stringed instruments being used. It was great! Table of TPR diners #1. Table of TPR diners #2. And - The Fabulous Four! (Well, they think they are, giggle.) Hi guys! And after dinner, this is the theatre where most of everybody went for the Folk Ballet performance. Great building from the outside. Just as impressive inside, I heard. And this is the SEARS building (so - many - windows) where the bus was supposed to pick up everybody after the show. Oh well, memories are made of these....things.

Another reason to tour Europe again. Thanks for showing us an update, Hans.

Go Delaware, Go! (they passed it)

"The National Pastime" Megan Hilty (as Marilyn Monroe) in Smash's BOMBSHELL

RIP Margaret Groening. Mother of Matt. Inspiration for Marge Simpson.

Sept.24/13 ~ Day 1 ~ Culture Touring Day After everybody arrived the day before, we then set out on our first part of the tour. That being, taking in some local culture outside and in Mexico City itself. Robb and Elissa always try and include some non-park touring on their tours, whether it happens before, in the middle of, or after the main touring is done. Which is really awesome for them to do! We first set out to explore some of the ruins that make up (I think) what Old Mexico was, long before westerners came and occupied the city. The Pyramides we explored were really something to see - and so spread out! And so many STEPS to climb! When it came time to going up the steps of the Pyramide of the Sun, a few of us opted (myself incl.) not to totally exhaust ourselves on the first day of the tour. So we went and toured through a museum close by that had a scale model of how the area all looked hundreds of years ago, and included wonderful artifacts, tools, statues and that were made and used during this long ago time. Then everybody got back together and we went for lunch... Here we are, all starting to gather in the morning. And after we all finally got together... We bussed to the Pyramides and then were devided into two groups with guides, and then started the tour We started by entering through this building that had an ongoing film inside about the area and the history of everything around us. Our guide showed us this outdoor map which laid out what everything was and where it was located. And in the distance - the Pyramide of the Sun, later to be climbed by the majority of everybody... except those few of us who weren't quite sure about doing that. This is where we headed for first, to get a full overview of the area. Everybody getting ready for some 'stepping' lol. And all of us did this, while going up was fairly easy, coming back down was another thing altogether. Cliff and Anth (and Gary in back there) have found a bit of an easier way to do it, heh. And in the middle, Kristen being a True Leader and guiding her Fraidy-Kat Parents down like the true professional stepper that she is! Group shot, of sorts. Hi guys! A group of other tourers in a prayer circle. Probably praying they can make it up and down all those steps. My roomie for the tour, JC... and myself. I loved seeing the vegetation everywhere we were. Especially the cactus! And here's some of what the few of us saw, who took in the nearby museum, instead of climbing OMG a LOT of steps up another Pyramide. These were the tools for making food. Mmm all those tortillas. Statuary and such. Such massive pieces! This is the scale model of everything around us, as it existed so many many years ago. Huge glass windows beyond the model, with a nice arrangement of (mostly) Agave plants, outside. Some unearthed burial mounds on display in the museum. Group photo! (o: Leftovers. Beautiful. So many magnificent pieces on display. And just before re-boarding the bus to go to lunch, I saw this and had to take a pic. It's growing out of an Agave plant. Forget why. Just looked....interesting.

Great shots Peter, especially those from Eclipse, itself. Another year to wait for a tour, huh?

And this - riding with the kids - was one of those times in a TPR Tour, that just made it all the more special a tour.

Happy Birthday to EVERYBODY in TPR, born on today's date! It's a big list, I must say.

So, this tour (in late March) is really a quick one to report on, considering I had spent over three weeks (Sept.) in China and Hong Kong.... whew! This tour had the awesomeness about it, that all happened in just one week, Saturday to Saturday. Firstly, that TPR tour to China (over 100 coasters ridden!) put me amazingly close to riding #600 on this tour. And it was easy, as I did just that in our first visit to a big park - Six Flags Mexico. The only question was, which coaster would be The One? The answer I would find out, soon enough, heh. I also had the randomness of how everything works, of turning 60 years Old, although this would happen on the day/ugh/morning I left (Sat.30th). But it was a kick knowing I was (ahem) Riding my 600th coaster, 6 days before I turned... 60! So since this was an afternoon flight, compared to the usual early morning ones I have done in the past, lunch was had before boarding at Gate # ...... 53? Damn - put a '19' in front of that and you have my birth year! Omen or Good Luck? Hard to decide. More to come, tomorrow, amigos. Got through all the check in stuff just fine - and did a body scan! Trippy. Then to my fave eaterie and lunch - Caeser chicken salad. Very nice it was. And there was my Boarding Gate, waiting for me... it feels very wierd when a number pops up that somehow connects to your life. And for today's Mexican Holiday Cinqo de Mayo, a well enjoyed beverage at our last park of the tour.... Victoria beer and...Clamato Juice! Yummy, hmmm? Add to that....MAGGI sauce! Ole, indeed!

"SMILE CHOCCY CHOCCY!"

...And after watching tonight's episode of "Smash"... "Hit List" is the "RENT" of SMASH And yes, we still enjoy watching it every Sat.night.

I am tired of the tv series SMASH being dissed and now probably, in it's last season. The concept was great, it was still great, even into it's second season. We really enjoyed it, even the over-the-top dramatics that occasionally happened. The musical numbers were amazing, either in rehearsal or full production mode. The cast was stellar, too. Even the actor playing Ellis. POd me off when I kept reading all the snipes at it. Grrr.

The Legend of Mythica Tokyo Disney Sea soundtrack Great water show. Sadly missed.

"They Just Keep Moving The Line" Megan Hilty - BOMBSHELL from Smash

^ How many states is that, now? I'm too giddy with happiness to remember, lol.

I love the look of it all from that "spaghetti-bowl" shot of it. Very tasty.

It was really a surprising park, although the only shade (I found) was the massive 'tent' we entered through, and the covering for that great food place Elissa (and we) ate at. And we actually could have walked on the grass between the pathways, as I found out watching familes taking their various photos, etc. The kids pairing up with us, for riding the mouse coaster, was awesome! It was touching, and very cool to share some coaster fun with them.