DerekRx

Last night I ended up crashing hard from jetlag during American Idol. When I woke up at 6:30am I was finally well rested and ready for the day. Not too much fun stuff to see at the conference, but I may go into the city tonight for some fun. Ted, the beer was pretty cheap, $3.50 a bottle, even cheaper than at the restaurant downstairs. For anyone asking about SFMW, I don't really want to commit to anything, as I don't know when we'll be arriving or how long we'll be staying before heading off to see and do other stuff before flying out. If you'll be there that day, just keep an eye out for me. Here's my hotel from the bay shore near OTN. Location is very convenient for the conference, but not for going into the city Cisco is just behind that building Here's some cool hill that will save us from a tsunami if we just climb to the top The OTN building is pretty much surrounded by water. San Francisco is somewhere behind these buildings At the conference I learned new methods for controlling inventory in our machines. Not that the nurses will be able to figure it out though But first, some breakfast, which was delivered to my door promptly at 7am I have a long drive to the conference place, took about 3 minutes total. Here comes the sun on Oyster Point I woke up this morning well rested....maybe too rested! Last night I was hungry and snatched a KitKat from the minibar

So yeah, um, I'm bored, kinda sleepy but can't sleep yet, and don't feel like going out yet. What else is there to do but invade the minibar! Let's enjoy this one by the fire! Hooray, I got the top off, now let's enjoy some local beer This hotel is awesome! Iron, ironing board, AND a bottle opener/corkscrew Crap! Its not a screw off top (not that good beer should be screw off, but I don't have a bottle opener with me...or do I?!) Yey! Anchor Steam Beer, locally brewed Behold! The minibar is in fact a small refrigerator, and here I was hoping for an actual mini bar with a midget bartender The magic key opens goodness

Posting a full documentation in my Random trip thread, but here's a teaser. For Wally's birthday, I decided to have a local brew for him.

So after a brief weekend of fun in Florida, it was off to San Francisco for a conference. After getting up way too early and a 6 hour flight, I made it safely. The conference is Wed and Thurs, and then some siteseeing on Friday, and SFMW on Saturday. I've never been to SF before, so it should be entertaining! There's boats in the marina. I was going to look for Gilligan and take a 3 hour tour, but I was too lazy The hotel is right on the marina, and has a nice park-like area around it for jogging and stuff, if I ever would feel obligated to do, which I won't After my nap, who wants to wager a guess as to which beer I will choose? I've got a minibar, and work is picking up the tab! Getting unpacked, we find that the Victory brews survived the flight unscathed. Wally will be pleased There's also a fireplace, but I didn't bring any marshmellows or Hershey bars My hotel room comes equipped with a feather bed, which I will be getting acquainted with in about 20 minutes Hooray, we're finally landing in rainy San Francisco! 4 hours into the flight and I'm bored and tired Row 13 has a nice view of the wing When flying out of Philly, your options are 1. leave 4 hours before your flight and get there with 3 hours to spare or 2. leave 2 hours before your flight and get stuck in some random construction, missing your flight by 2 hours. We chose 1. This would be the plane that takes me from Philadelphia to San Francisco

Happy Birthday, dude! Your birthday beer is in the same state as you right now, but you'll still have to wait a few days to receive it...if there is any left by then

I rode one of these at IAAPA a few years ago. A lot of fun, and a new twist on the swinging cages of yesteryear. I didn't find it too hard to get it to go over, and once it did, it was really easy. I kept trying to get it to hang at the top for as long as possible. Good stuff, nice to see some places have finally started buying them.

Yup, I was in Florida since St. Patty's Day, and sadly I was a little off on Friday, so no beer for me that day. I would have had one at Emerils, but nothing sounded good. I did have a few over the weekend though. Soon its off to NorCal and some new brews! I finished off my weekend in Orlando with a margarita Dave was happy to have a drink at lunch. Erik was just naturally drunk Tom had a "License to Chill" margarita. He thought he was James Bond. He isn't Robb had a fruity lemonade. There wasn't any alcohol in it, but it didn't change Robb's thought that there was and it would explain his craziness Elissa was just happy to be able to contribute to the thread! Then on Sunday I had a Lone Palm Ale at Margaritaville. It was kinda weak, not much different than Killians I enjoyed it dearly By Saturday's dinner at Ohana I was desperate for a beer. Luckily they had Sam Adams on top of some of the other "beers"

And now, I present: "Guess that TPR member!" Thats right, can you guess the TPR member based solely by a really creepy and odd format....their hair!?? Let's find out. Winner gets banned for being too stalkery. Product, or natural bed head? Could this be a girl? Is this Cousin It? This one could be tricky Who is slowly going bald? Who uses product? Who could this be?

Figured since I made it home safely and had time to unpack and then pack for the next trip, I'd contribute a bit of photos. Enjoy! Did you know Hulk has a vertical loop? It does, in fact, there are TWO (2)!! This is the bigger one, and therefore the most awesomest The Walt Disney World Monorail is currently hosting Theme Park Review's World Showcase. Here are three of its country representatives The Gator boys sure feel stupid following me onto the jungle cruise instead of riding something else! I like Dole Whips, not because they give me brain freeze, but because Bob Dole is super awesome with his Viagra and fake hand with pen! It may not be too crushable, but I can easily pick it up, much easier than I can pick up chicks anyway Welcome to Nara Dreamland! This sure beats the soul devouring American Idol contestant inflatable over at DCA An exclusive shot I guarantee no one else ever thought to take a picture of, Tower as seen thru a tree Aerosmith had no need for a spoons player, but I rode their coaster anyway Did anyone know Disney MGM Studios has a Tower of Terror? No, well it does, and it's awesomeness squared This boulder was needed over at Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. If he manages to get there before the 50th Anniversary Celebration ends, he'll get a complimentary turkey leg Over at MGM Mickey helps me get some wax out of my ear The Yeti uses a chariot to get around when he's not ripping up the rails An exclusive shot of Everest's big drop. I know how tough it is to get this picture, and then to have another train on the lift. I waited hours for this shot, just for you fine folks! My Chevy HHR rental for the weekend looked like a World War ambulance, but with a sunroof and cd player! I had dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Chop on Friday with Todd and his woman while others drank crappy beer in Old Town

A bit has changed for me since my last post. I got a promotion, which will take away some of my trips possibly or at least cut them a bit shorter. However, I've also added a few: March 18-WDW March 19-IOA March 25-SFMW April 1, 2- SFGAd April 8, 9- BGW April 22- SFOG, Lake Winnie April 23- SFOG April 29, 30- WDW May 6- Myrtle Beach May 13, 14- PCWo May 20, 21- SFGAd May 26, 27- HW, BB June 3- Knoebels June 7-25- TPR UK Trip July 8- Great Escape July 15, 16- SeaBreeze, MFI, Marineland I'm also saving time for a trip to SoCal to ride Tatsu, as well as a trip to Ocean City, MD in late summer. In late September I'll see myself in Germany hitting Phantasialand, Movie Park, Schloss Beck, Oktoberfest, Europa, Skyline, Stuttgart, and Holiday Park. All I have planned for October so far is Phall Phunfest, and some local stuff. I've already started looking into 2007 trips

WooHoo! Finally these pictures surface. I almost forgot about all the hijinx we had on that trip. It brings back fun memories and also makes me sad Thanks for taking the time to post them, better late than never. I know how busy you are with lots of stuff, so its really cool that you were able to go back and grab some shots. I'm sad Saddam didn't make the final cut though, and instead I had to look at Robb's hairy back! And thanks for at least leaving the window cracked so I could breathe while you credit whored Kiddieland!

Glad you made it over safely, Soren. Sorry one of your first experiences had to be Wal-Mart. I try not to go there unless the nearest Target is 2 states away. Maybe I'll see you in the next couple of weeks, but if not I'm still looking forward to your PTRs. Enjoy your time at the Mouse!

"Anyone"- Beautiful Creature

Since I'm done working for the week and have nothing planned for the evening, I decided it was time to break out the pint of Sly Fox's Route 113 India Pale Ale that I picked up on the beertrek a few weeks ago. I have mixed feelings about the beer, its more like HopBack with a little more hops, but is overshadowed with citrusiness and levels out very quickly. Unlike most IPAs, my taste buds aren't hopped out after drinking it. Still a great beer, better than Barley Creek's SuperHops Smells hoppy and citrusy, but the citrus kills off the hoppiness soon after. Its good, but no HopDevil Unlike other Sly Fox brews, this one is in a bottle. A GIANT bottle! Hooray for nothing to do!

Since the park is in Orlando, it needs a coaster that no other Central Florida park has. I submit the Holy Roller! Stand up and Praise!

I randomly said between 31 and 40, but I honestly don't know. What I do is buy only shirts I really like, or the new ride for the season. Eventually I will retire the shirt before it gets too faded and have them all stored away until I have time to redo the guest room into a coaster theme, putting all the shirts in frames on the walls. For the 2006 season, I currently have 16 shirts from the past couple of years on rotation. Ones I really like I'll wear more often, and outside of parks. Others I'll only wear on "park days". I can see myself getting about 15 shirts this year, but only if I find ones that aren't too atrocious.

I DON'T think you can do both parks with a non-park hopper (if they even still do that) simply because Space Mountain is so popular these days. I think your best bet will be to get the parkhopper and start off right at Space Mountain. When DCA opens, head over there, doing everything you want. I think your plan for the evening is feasible if you only want to do Indy and Fantasmic and such, but with Space now seeing very long stand-by lines and fastpasses selling out in mid-afternoon I wouldn't say you CAN'T do it, but I wouldn't risk it, especially if you like Space Mt and can only ride it once. Plus, don't forget, come May Rock It Mountain comes into being for the evening, I think. My suggestion would be to get the $70 ticket, hit Space Mt and a few other Disney classics (like Indy, Toad, Roger Rabbit, Autopia, Jungle Cruise, Splash, Big Thunder, Astroblasters) then head over to DCA. Ride what you want there, then move back to Disneyland, either mid-day or at the end of the night. Then you'll have time to hit Rock It Mt before seeing Fantasmic! and may even be able to hit a few rides again. (maybe you'll even want to go back over to DL for a Space Fastpass before they sell out.)

Aw man, I gotta try to remember some religious stuff soon in order to make this avatar/photoshop contest! In other news, I didn't even bother looking up Holy Land while I lived in Orlando, and I didn't even know where it was until Hurricane Charley made me detour right by the park. Of course, I didn't stop. Now if they had a credit of some sort, I would have!

"Bang"- Eve6

Winter is unfortunately still here, so I decided instead of trying the Pyramid HefeWeizen, I'd go with their Winter warmer, Snow Cap (plus I have no lemons, only oranges). Snow Cap is a very good winter brew, with a hinting of spices and a nice finish. Better than the Lancaster Winter Warmer, I think. I know not to eat the yellow snow, but the brown snow is pretty tasty! Quick! Drink it before it melts

Today I tried the Pyramid Apricot Weizen. I've had some beers with a hint of apricot before, but outside of the Lambics, this one is very apricotty. Definitely a good summertime brew! All I need is a slice of apricot on the glass and summer weather again and we're set for mowing the grass! Pyramid's next weizen, the Apricot

I like the Intamin's over the B&Mers, as they're more out of control and face paced, whereas the Beemers seem like a ballet. That said, I had to go with Expedition GeForce out of the bunch, with Superman at SFNE a close second. If Superman was in the woods and the park wasn't a SF with its spectacular operations, it'd be a tough call. I love the location and layout of GeForce though, and that first drop is the bomb diggity.

So far it sounds like it was a great party, and thats even before pictures surface. Sorry I couldn't make it out after all, but if you guys have one in August, I'll be there! You'll be happy to know I used my voucher for the trip to Myrtle Beach As dorky as the trivia contest may have been, I know a lot of the answers, so what's that tell you about me?!

Since it was in the upper 70s today (yes, its March, and yes, I'm still in Pennsylvania) I decided to wash my car after work and then break out a refreshing summery beer. Thanks to Shangy's, I picked up a variety of Pyramid to prepare myself for next week, and decided to bless my tastebuds with their new Amber Weizen Ale. Yes, quite refreshing. I can't wait for the summer to actually come so I can break out more good wheat beers and lemons! mmmm, amber and unfiltered wheat.

"My Way"- 7 Sharp 9