DerekRx

^I'm with you, back in the past I used to actually pay attention and watch the awards, though this year I didn't even bother tuning in. Of course, back in the day, they actually played music videos on MTV. I just keep expecting to tune into the awards and all they have is categories like "Best Real World this season" or "Best Episode of Date My Mom".

It's my favorite coaster in California with Goliath in the name that adults can ride. Other than that, I think it's my least favorite hyper I've been on. It just lacks so much compared to the other hypercoasters out there. The first drop and turn above Colossus is ok, but after the speed hill, I can't even remembering the ride, and I've been on it several times on different trips. It just bores me, though the trains are pretty comfy.

This week I'm gonna turn it up a notch with each beer I drink. Since it's Monday, I'll start off easy. That's one tasty IPA, nice and citrusy, but with some piney flavors. Shame I'll run out of it soon! Turning it up a little right from the start from a Pale Ale to an India Pale Ale, Sweetwater's IPA is next. Yup, good stuff, especially on a hot day, easy to drink and not too high in abv and easy for me is the Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale

^The 2nd quote is what the Binary code above translates into.

Within Temptation- "What Have You Done"

Yesterday, Nicole said to me "I could go for some beer right now". Of course, she had no beer at her house, and coming up with a 6pack in Pennsylvania is tougher than turning straw into gold, so we were forced to postpone that request until tonight. Hopefully I took her some stuff we both could enjoy tonight. Nicole beat me in drinking, but then again she had the Bell's and was afraid Matt would come over and drink it when she wasn't looking and to go along with dinner, some Atlanta Summer Wheat and Bell's Java Stout parts of this brew were enjoyed on the sun deck an intermission brew for me, Terrapin Rye Pale Ale, just pure awesome Of course the 60 Minute was for me (Nicole compared her taste to glass cleaner) while she enjoyed the Reading Premium greatly. If she's gotta live here, she may as well like the local stuff! Up first, some Reading Premium and some Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

I think the whole thing is pretty funny, setting up a whole fake website like this to throw off enthusiasts who just gotta know right now. Seems like a whole lotta work on your part, especially since you won't be riding it any sooner than the rest of us. I'll just sit back and wait for the announcement in 3 weeks and be there for opening day next year.

Our final park on the trip was one I visited last year while out for a conference in San Francisco, only this year it got a new name and some new theming as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. While it may appear the park is trying to be more animal driven, it really didn't seem any different this year than last year as Six Flags Marine World. Sadly, this would also be the first Six Flags park we've been to this year that was acting more like the old Six Flags we all remember. The park was supposed to open at 10:30, but didn't really open until 10:40 because they made us stand and watch the opening ceremonies. Why they couldn't start this at 10:20, I have no idea. Then upon opening, the only coaster that was running was Medusa. Kong and Roar wouldn't open until 11:30, V2 until 12, and the Boomerang until like 12:15. I guess they really want you to go to the whale show and stuff! Still, we managed to get everything done in a timely manner, and we were pleased with what animal stuff we saw. and I'll finish this off with a shot of the screwed up but very cool V2.1. No more updates, post away! Fairwell good Roar, I'll be sure to say hi to your older twin and other siblings back East The front stage was pretty cool, they'd bring out different animals from time to time and talk about them. Here's a porcupine Score, it's running. Time to ride it and run! Back to "The Land" to see if we can ride the Boomerang yet Heath checks out the guide to Six Flags rides. Kinda cool for enthusiasts who travel, showing all the rides in the chain, not just the coasters Lamest splash ever! But at least it was running on this hot day, unlike the rapids! For killing Steve Irwin, you will spend the remainder of your life at Six Flags. "Nooo!!! I didn't mean it, it was an accident, I swear! Please don't sentence me so harshly" "Jahan, where are you?" Dolphins chilling in the pool I just love these rides! Heath and Kim be riding in row 2 Oooh, V2.1 is running now too, score! This one is so much better than the one at SFA, and I think it's all because of the trains, sorry PTC The gang enjoys their ride on the first Millennium Flyer trains Yay, Roar is running with people. Time to ride the 2nd best woodie in California New signs to the "sea" section of the park. Why the whale and dolphin stadiums aren't in the Sea area, I have no idea. Coolest themed flat ever, so says SharkTums yay, turtle! and a long line formed for the unopened Boomerang, but Kim and Gwyn inspected it, and there were no ops in the station, so we left for now Shouka be the whale's name me: "Um, Rick, I know Heath and Kim need this credit, but why are WE riding it?" Rick: "because we're good friends, or because if we ride this again, we can pretend we rode it at Opryland and count it again?" Me: "sounds good to me!" Still, we saw them doing testing on it, so we figured we'd wait it out now instead of actually having to wait for an SLC Kong, with its new entrance also being the exit, but being closed for the moment speaking of cobras World's only Sea Serpent element, kinda cool and not as jarring as cobra rolls um, yeah, loop. Tallest in the world??? I think not I'll give it to the crew this time, they were actually hustling, unlike last year's visit Down the drop into the parking lot theming Greek temple with snakes, seems much more fitting to me! Medusa, with appropriate theming, not some dumb story about being locked up in a mine in the old west This update brought to you by cameltoe Some work going on over at V2, maybe it'll run today for Heath and Kim Medusa completes its morning testing as a giraffe awaits Wes' visit Hello old Zonga station, maybe next year you'll be used for a spinner! a look at the park from the parking lot across the lake. The newly named Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's new entrance sign

Great America was the last Paramount park that we had to visit, and we kept putting off coming here figuring that the following year they'd add some amazing new coaster. Well, that never happened, so we finally said "screw it, let's go!" So when a new coaster sprouts up next year, you have us to thank Great America wasn't a bad park, but it's really funny when you compare it to SFGAm. Years ago they were pretty much identical, but yet they got separated. One chain realized the parks potential and built it up to be one of the best in the chain, the other constantly neglected it and treated it like it's red-headed step child, just throwing in mediocrity here and there. It would kind of like be having twins where both parents died, one child went to live with a rich aunt who always wanted to have children and treated him with love and money, where the other child went to live with Uncle Cletus and Aunt Sally Jo at the trailer park and their 8 children and treated him as just another mouth to feed when he whined enough. It's really sad when the most popular and best coaster at the park was added 14 years ago and enthusiasts in the area are so desperate for a coaster that they start counting flatrides. Local BACT members Rick, Gwyndolyn, and Kevin would meet up with us for the day to make sure we had fun. Goodbye old Stealth area. Next up, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom! If the chicken is so famous, why haven't we heard about it before?? another cool ride I didn't know they still had, a Bayern Curve, inside a barn! Time 12:43 I don't know if it's the trains or what, but this thing was beyond slow, boring, and painful. The only redeeming quality the ride had was the shaded trees inside the structure we could sit at to wait for the rest of our party Time 12:38 Time 12:34... So odd how it's a mirror image of Kings Dominions, yet it's so terrible and slow! Heath and Kim say "we're scared Rick, we don't wanna ride the Grizzly" finally, we saw it running. Time to ride one of the worst woodies on the planet! We're so excited! Oooh! flyers, another ride I forgot they had We decided to take the skyride and got this shot of Vortex. Would have been better with a train in the shot, but either people were smart enough to not ride, or they were taking forever to load and dispatch The finally over the lake was actually really neat Zero G roll! What is up with Great America and having no coverings over any of their stations?? This coaster is just lots of turns and height changes, though it's short. What Top Gun has to do with New Orleans, I have no idea...but then again, what does Superman have to do with New Orleans either! mmmm, loop. Sadly the ride only has 3 inversions, but at least it's old school and has forces Best ride in the park, Top Gun We were going to ride Delirium, until we realized it was just the Chance Morgan Revolution and not a Huss Giant Frisbee Spongebob themed breakdance! The park had quite a few old style flats still, that was pretty cool Bubba and I get ready to ride. Bubba says "I used to fit much more comfortably when this was my first coaster ride ever" It actually had a pretty cool layout for a kiddie coaster, with great effects on the first drop Best Intamin coaster in the park! Runaway Reptar, a kiddie coaster adults can actually ride without a kid Moving on to one of the kiddie areas, we pause until the geyser stops shooting out anti-Dan spray Everyone is baffled by Arrow finally using banked turns on a ride that shouldn't have banking Back to whoring, next up the Psycho Mouse, still no wait yet on one of Arrow's last designs Drop Zone was running great. Perfect height to actually enjoy it. The skyride was running too, I didn't even know they had one. The men do their best to show who is a survivor. I think I won because I had the Eye of the Tiger (and lots of beer, tacos, and bbq the night before) Funny how at Kings Island it's a kids ride, but here it's an extreme thrill ride Rick tried to explain what was supposed to happen, but I don't think it did. We spun a lot and got airtime, it was fun, but NOT A COASTER It's one of those Zamperla super disko things with a bunny hill We took some time off of credit whoring to ride their newest ride, Survivor Obligatory loop shot. I think I'm getting looped out Invertigo was operating (supposedly a rarity) and had no line, so we made our way over there. Not too hard when it's right across from Demon Grizzly in all it's infamy would have to wait, it wouldn't open until 12. It was cool how they had the music on in the tunnel before the lift, but I was sad the lights didn't work in the tunnels. Love the headchoppers entering into the corkscrews though! 2nd ride of the day was credit 666 for me, what better choice than Demon The airtime before the corkscrew was the most painful for the boys It's old school B&M standup, meaning it's kinda brutal First ride of the day would be Vortex, right at the front of the park This seems familiar, now Paramountless The entrance plaza is nice and big, and bravo for them setting up the metal detectors BEFORE you give your ticket to get in Here we are at Great America, still Paramounting at the front

Much like Hersheypark, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is celebrating the big 100 this year. I kept hearing how great this place was, but then again, some Californians claim SFMM and Knotts are great, so I usually take that with a grain of salt. Turns out they were right this time around! The park has a great feel to it, has 2 ok coasters and 1 fantastic one, a few cool darkrides, other classic things, and some modern stuff too. This is one time I definitely agree with the Golden Ticket Awards, as this really is the best seaside park out there. Just such a different feel from the stuff in Maryland and New Jersey. and I'll leave you with one final shot of Giant Dipper. Day 2 coming soon SCBB also has a carousel in which you can grab the rings. Even though the outside horses moved up and down, the thing went so slow you could grab like 3 rings at a time. And no brass ring, the object was to get it in the clowns mouth. And the thing went half empty every cycle because everyone only wanted to ride on the outside horses. Give me Knoebels anyday! Heath's a big Sally fanboy Ghost Blasters was one of them Sally shooting darkrides, and this one also was really done up nicely. I found it easier to hit the targets than on some of their other ones Cave Train was really neat, with excellently done scenes. Much better than the junk at Wildwood or that horrid Garfield's Nightmare at Kennywood. Just plain fun and cute Cha-ching! Final credit of the day, Sea Serpent We didn't have time to go on the log flume, but it looked really long and fun Fireball, sweet! After a fun tunnel, a trainful of happy riders gets ready to take the plunge Totally different design from Belmont Park's Giant Dipper, this one is awesome Even though it has the evil Morgan trains, this ride is filled with thrills, fun, and airtime. The only thing odd was the loading/unloading Giant Dipper, the best woodie in California, IMO Heath and Kim enjoyed it, especially the cameo from Emperor Palpatine I've never heard anything about this darkride, but it was really nicely themed all throughout Overall not a bad ride, love that 2nd drop of twisting doom Here I am, rock you like a Hurricane! Parts of the pier and the Double Shot (which you can hardly see because it blends in with the sky so well) There be the Pacific Ocean Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, celebrating 100 years

Seems like a new tradition that every year over Labor Day we head out to California. Last year we went to San Diego and had an awesome time, and this year we expected the same by going out to the Bay Area. Of course, we went out mainly for the beer (see the beer thread for that), as none of the coasters or parks seemed that exciting, but we did need some coaster credits afterall. After arriving on Saturday, our first stop (after beer) was Gilroy Gardens, what used to be known as Bonfante Gardens until Cedar Fair decided to change the name. I wasn't expecting much from the park, but it's really freaking beautiful. It's probably as close to a European park as you can get in America; beautiful gardens, winding paths, and just overall relaxing rides for the family. and I'll leave you with more waterfalls. As you can probably see, this is just a really cool little park, not super thrilling, but very laid back and fun. It's as close to a European park as Americans can get without trying to get a passport! Next stop, Santa Cruz... another circus tree Giant Shroom Swing! very European, a spinning raft ride, just mellow and wandering around with different topiaries to look at. This turned out to be the longest line of the visit! Spinning garlic ride!! another Circus Tree Spinning artichoke ride! Heath and Kim enjoy the tranquil sounds of Bonfante Falls another Circus Tree, this one actually molded around the kids play structure both the monorail and the train also go thru the building we didn't see any butterflies, but there were plenty of pretty flowers, water gardens, and benches to just relax on part of the park path requires you to walk thru the butterfly exhibit and some crazy rascals of raccoons playing with TNT That coaster being a Morgan mine train, Quicksilver Express; now with video onride Heath's all "yo, help me find the exit, we got another coaster to ride here!" I crawl thru a tunnel in search of the exit from the maze Very Europeanish, a Rock Maze Lots of kids chilling out on the lake in their swans This be a Circus Tree, it's all modeled and stuff POV! With nobody around, we decided to take the front seat. (we're usually nice credit whores and save that for the kiddies) First ride of the trip, Timber Twister, just a medium sized Tivoli with a big ole snake There are trash cans, but they don't have CF logos on them, and there aren't 600000 of them either, there are just enough But walking inside it already has become beautiful. Trees everywhere, even coming out of the bridges. Are you sure this is a Cedar Fair park?? The entrance plaza isn't that fancy, so I wasn't expecting a whole lot Welcome to the newly named Gilroy Gardens, home of garlic and Circus trees

I'll see you at Knoebels, you can buy me something tasty there! Congrats on credit whoring your way to 500!

^Sorry, Eric, my sources have pretty much confirmed that area is being reserved for an Aquatrax, not a Nantimi Connect N Amuse. Psyclone must have been good when it first opened, it was Paul Ruben's #1 coaster and really pushed the envelope!

Where was all the love when I decided to make Demon my credit #666?! Oh wait, I never actually posted that, better get moving!

Wow, I didn't even know you people from Jersey KNEW how to make left turns. Next thing you'll tell me is that you guys actually know how to pump your own gas too.

Today while staying local, I decided to try something that just recently came out, the next in the line of Troegs Scratch Beer series. Fairly good stuff for being brewed over here, lots of Belgian yeastiness and spices. Got even better as it warmed up Troegs Scratch #3, a Belgian Tripel

^^I think the only beer I've had from High Falls Brewing (JW Dundee's) was the Honey Brown, which I drank at Glutenfree's house after he found out he couldn't drink beer anymore. Wasn't bad stuff. Last night after reading about Georgia's breweries being in trouble because of the states dumb laws, I decided to crack open another bottle from down there. Definitely no Shelter, it still has a funky metallic taste to it. Next time I want to drink something from Georgia, I'll stick with Terrapin. Atlanta Brewings Peachtree Pale Ale, an American Pale Ale

Thursday it was more local beer time. Definitely my choice in pale ales, but bring on the Harvest Ale Season soon! Back to the Shelter

^Wow, you've been busy drinking good stuff all week. I'm slowly weaning myself off the good California scene and back to the East Coast stuff I'm used to. Wednesday it was back to the grind of hazy, hot, and humid here in PA, so better stick with the light stuff. Lite and lemon flavored with some honey thrown in for good measure. And wow, this new Sam Adams glass really does help bring out more flavors in the beers Reading Premium, it doesn't get more local than this for me!

Trying to finish playing catchup, here's some more of our goodness. I wasn't beered out, but I didn't care for the other stuff on the taplist, so I finally broke down and got the Bloody Mary at TDR. It was pretty darn good Heath gets a little perkier when he ordered the Sierra Nevada Anniversary IPA on tap, as it briefly took him back to NorCal and I'm not too thrilled about having a Left Hand Octoberfest instead of something from Russian River or El Toro, but oh well, all good things must come to an end We're a little disappointed in being back on the East Coast to the same beers we get all the time. Heath goes with the Flying Dog Dogtoberfest since it's Oktoberfest month at TDR On Tuesday, we actually got into Philly on time and decided to stop at The Drafting Room for dinner. Best of all, we were there during happy hour! It's like 2 of my favorite things rolled into one fine brew: IPA and Inversions! After dropping Kevin (Bubba) off at the train station, we headed back to the hotel to drink some of the stuff we picked up at BevMo but couldn't take all back with us. Deschutes Inversion IPA, your time is up!

After saying goodbye to Rick and Gwyn, it was off to our final stop in San Francisco, just a short couple of blocks away from Toronado. Magnolia Pub and Brewery is the only brewpub in the Haight district of San Francisco, and was definitely not what we were expecting. The place was very small and had a hippie vibe going on. We were going to try to hit up someplace else afterwards, but we weren't hungry for food yet, and Bubba had to catch a train home, so we'll save the rest of the SF breweries for the next time we fly out. and with that, we better head out of San Francisco before that smug rolls in and destroys us all. Curse you, George Clooney! This place seems Wally-approved with this in the other room and they had a big mural on the back wall The tap wall artwork looked pretty cool and Kim went with the root beer because someone has to drive our intoxicated butts around SF I should have gotten the other IPA, but chose the Prescription Pale Ale just because of the name and my profession. It wasn't bad, but wasn't the most amazing pale ale ever Heath went with the Proving Ground IPA, but opted for the regular version, not cask Bubba quickly jumped on grabbing the Russian River Sanctification. A really good Belgian Wild Ale Their taplist, with a nice guest tap Just a few blocks from Toronado we find Magnolia This isn't a tilt house, it's just walking the streets of San Francisco

^Well, then you should check TPR more frequently. We've been mentioning our trip for quite some time, and others were interested enough to ask about it, you did nothing, so I figured you were busy. I'm not a teenaged girl, I don't hang out on the phone Heading into San Francisco, our first stop was the #4 place to have a beer in America, and the top place in California, the Toronado on Haight St. It's not a brewpub, just a beer bar, but they've got some great stuff from all over the country, with a little more focus on the great California stuff. We had a great time at Toronado. A little busy and noisy, but excellent brews, and people passionate about beer, well worth the visit. Onward to our final stop in San Francisco. Finally Rick broke down, getting the Boont Amber Ale Heath and I stayed California local as he went with the Anchor Porter on cask and I went with the Bombay By Boat IPA from Moonlight Round 2 saw a Bubba-face as he tried his first Pizza Port brew, the Garibaldi, also made just for Toronado. This was a sort of rye ale we guess they've even got a bottle list we didn't need to bother checking out, but they did have something from my hometown in bottles, Stoudts! Loads of taps, lots of them from California breweries I was lucky enough to score one of their anniversary brews made for them by Pizza Port Carlsbad, the 547 Haight Street (their address) which was a very Arrogant Bastard-ish Strong Ale Even Bubba came out to see us, while enjoying some Pliny the Elder, while Heath had some Death and Taxes by Moonlight Brewing and Gwyn enjoyed Lindemans (Rick was just a poser at this moment) There, a little closer so you can see what you missed out on! A nice sized bar with some additional seating to the side. No food served, you gotta bring in your own stuff, but they've got you covered for beer. Check out that draft list! Here we are at the Toronado, a very rowdy beer bar with some excellent stuff on tap.

I always found the best way to deal with Python was the same with every other Arrow looper, either stretch my neck out really far so my head wouldn't touch the restraints, or tuck my neck in as close to my body as possible, much like a turtle hides in his shell. I'm not sad Python is gone, but I would like more information on this Jungala other than a nicely written PR statement.

It "sounds" like it could be cool and more relaxing, but what press announcement doesn't make something seem like it's gonna be the best thing ever. I'll reserve judgement until I see it for myself, but from the few artist pictures, I could go either way on this. BGA has always had animals as part of its existence, but like many animal exhibits, they usually aren't that exciting, as the animals usually just lay around and do nothing, and on the rare occasion you do catch them while they're active, everyone else is there crowded around as well. I don't know how big this area will be, but it sounds like it could be a nightmare during peak seasons. It would have been cool if Busch could have incorporated some sort of ride into this new area, but some mystery tower thing and a zipline for kids doesn't really seem like it's going to draw lots of the Orlando tourists over to Tampa. And does anyone else think this zipline sounds like it's going to compete with Pteranodon Flyers as the lowest capacity ride in Florida? Good thing it'll have 3 tracks for the kiddies. Still, Busch does a great job at theming and showing off their animals, and it's nice they're bringing the orangutans back. The area could look really nice, and those waterfalls would help create a more relaxing atmosphere in an area of the park and could even cool things off a bit. Let's just hope they have plenty of bathrooms! I'll definitely check out the area when I go back to the park, but this alone isn't going to draw me there. The coaster enthusiast in me is content with the new restaurants though!

Monday would see us starting out the day at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Getting Heath and Kim all their credits was more of a challenge there, but we managed, and by 1:30 were on our way back to San Francisco via Route 37. When we got back to the 101, it was a measly 0.5 miles North to Moylans in Novato, another brewery with some great beers, a perfect stop for lunch. then it was off to San Francisco we went for more good stuff. Lucky us, traffic wasn't bad at all crossing the Golden Gate Bridge Great beers, though the food was a little pricier than other brewpubs in the area. At least it was good stuff though and another winner of the Hopface Challenge as well and Heath went with the Hopsickle triple IPA, yet another Alpha King Challenge winner I went with the Moylander double IPA, another Alpha King Challenge winner which Gwyn didn't like at all! Round two sees Rick getting the Dry Stout Kim enjoys another root beer Said taps Good stuff on the taplist Some decor, and oooh, merchandise. Too bad it was a little too expensive and bold for us. But it turns out I was right when I told Rick to go with the Home Run Red Gwyndolyne and Rick got a sampler to start to determine what they liked I started light and refreshing with a really sweet Pomegranate Wheat Time for some drinks. Heath started with the IPA Very Irish pub vibe going on here, but the place was plenty big Here's Moylan's, quite easy to find right off the 101 in Novato