Coaster Palooza

Great TR Justin. Even though it rained off and on, you can still enjoy the rollercoasters. I really want to go back to Cedar Point now!

Continuing the TR through SFKK and Del Frisco's. SFKK was really terrific this time. It wasn't too hot, the employees were doing a great job, and Chang was running as everyone said it would...TERRIBLE!!! I wish I never rode it. We had a good dinner besides the fact. Next stop, Louisville Slugger. We didn't know about the tablecloths though, kinda felt a little underdressed! My dad recommended this place. Now, dinner time. Last photo of SFKK. Construction photos coming.... Rode you last time, you won't get us twice. See! They pass each other a few times. Both sides were running. Having a geat time anyway. Time to wait for both the twisted sisters, or twins, or whatever! They had a band playing. Everyone gets soaked. Oh yeah, big Splash. I don't know why, just because. Frown face after the ride. Here I am on the left of the screen with my arms up. I will finally ride you, I wish I hadn't. Amazing queues. Next! Dispatching of the trains was great. see, no line behind us! no line too! Roadrunner see, no line! Superman, no line... Here we are at SFKK. This time it will be different.

Here are some more photos of Holiday World and SFKK... Final parting shot of us riding. Here are Rick and Mark riding one of their last rides of the night. Hey Mark, nice shirt dude! One last auction photo. Another auction. Hi Raven Maven! It is a MUST go. We went to the Santa Claus Museum. The hands as we were taking a break from the day time. I think this was one of the most interesting pictures taken. It is a saw blade in a tree. I wonder how that happened....????!!!! Gyendolynne started taking photos of the woods. and the back of a bald head! I see 2. How many coaster geeks can you see? More coaster shots. Yep, here I am by one of the turns. First drop. Many Times. It was just great watching the coaster go by. 90 Degrees!!!! We decided to do the Voyage walk back, which was really a nice time.

Here is some video of Mark and I on Turkey Whirl. Turkey Whirl.zip Mark and I on Turkey Whirl Turkey Whirl.mpg I hope it works.

Hi all, I am sorry about the long delay in posting this trip. I wish I wasn't so busy. The next report will hopefully come out on time. Coaster Palooza 2007 has begun, well it actually began with Un-Solace weekend, but this was our first semi-big trip. We went to Holiwood Nights on 5/18 and 5/19 at Holiday World. I won’t bore you about Voyage, Raven, and Legend, they were running awesome though. It is great to ride the coasters at night. We went to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom on Sunday to finish up the rides we weren’t able to get on last year. On Monday we headed to Louisville Slugger and then flew home. Overall the trip was great! We met Mark (Monkey Pants), and Lori (I’m sorry I forgot your TPR name) from Michigan. It was really awesome to hang out with the 2 of you. I hope you liked Indiana Beach and enjoyed Cedar Point. Thanks for the quarter. Stay away from Charlie! Our trip will actually start off in China because Gyendolynne had to fly back from there Thursday morning to San Francisco before we left for Louisville from San Jose later that day on 5/17. We don’t have as many trips planned this year because of work and vacation time. Our next trip is in July, after that we’ll take a couple of weekend trips. Onto the pics. Gyendolynne is playing "where's Waldo" but here are Mark and Lori with us! Turkey Caller. Yep, this is the area. Some fun with the Holidog. We played some skee ball and got a penguin. What? Opening late, I guess it shouldn't matter today. Nice ERT! Halloween, my favorite holiday! and here are 2 Pat Koches...This is actually the first Pat Koch that has attended Holiday World that wasn't the owner. Here is Pat Koch... I took more than one turn on the Turkey Whirl this weekend. After flying back a few thousand miles, we're here at Holiday World! and finally the lights there have a countdown to the end of the green light. There isn't a Yellow light, just a red one. KFC is a hit in China Her Hotel room, I'm not around! Gyendolynne out front. More landscaping. During break time, they each have their own tea cups in this cabinet. Here are some of their products. They are building this little thing. This is the facility Can't have enough shots of the astronauts. Another photo of the entry Some of the incredible landscaping in China This is Gyendolynne in the middle of the people she travelled with. Here is the entrance for the China Plantronics. They are actually based in Santa Cruz. Plantronics was responsible for the "One small step" quote because they used their headsets.

Congratulations Ted and Catrina!!!! The wedding looked great.

We totally loved Indiana Beach when we went last year. It is such a neat little park. I am glad you enjoyed it. The pictures are great. The Cornball Express does give some unexpected airtime.

Brian, I agree with Shepp and most everyone else. Go to KGA on Wednesday. You never know what your flight will be like into SFO. There is almost always some sort of delay. Saratoga is a little on the pricey side for everything, I would think that hotels are very expensive there too. I don't know of any bad areas there. You might want to stay near KGA on Wednesday. You would definitely want a fulll day at SFDK if you want to go to the shows. They are worth it too! Traffic here sucks bad. Have a good time!

Nice TR. I want to go to Carowinds extremely bad. I would like to ride Borg, since it was Stealth from Great America. Thanks for the photos!

Sorry that I will go against what others are suggesting, but here goes. We have been to SFMW, now SFDK, on days where the park would open 30 minutes early. They don't advertise this. When the park opens at that time, the rides that you can ride are Cobra and Medusa (right side of park). We start on the right side because the operations on Medusa take forever for some reason. You can get there, and be on the platform, and still wait for 30-45 minutes. If you can get these 2 rides done before the park really opens, you're ahead of the game. Next, head to Roar. I guess V2 isn't operating, so you'll need to come back to the right side to ride Kong after Roar, then head to Boomerang. Take a trip around the back. YES, see the dolphin show, Shouka, take in the tiger show, feed the giraffes, ride an elephant, do anything! See the sharks, check out the walruses. There is so much there. Then go to the kiddie area to ride the other kiddie coaster. They also have a pretty goofy show there too with the characters. That's all I have. I know I am doubling back from Roar, but if you can get Medusa and Cobra done before the park opens, it will be worth it.

^^It was a great weekend...Good Times. Hopefully we'll run into each other again sometime. ^No clue on when Deja Vu will open. Ninja was open the following weekend, from what I heard.

^We'll take you up on that offer Erik! We are looking forward to going to SFoG sometime this year...fingers crossed. We will hopefully hit Dollywood too.

I am continuing the rest of the pictures. This has nothing to do with the trip, but I got hit with a baseball umpiring a game this weekend. This happened on Sunday and bruised up pretty quick. Here is the outside. Couple of beers and let's fly home. Time for the Hard Rock Cafe So far away So close. OH, Why couldn't you be open!!!! Where else would you go for breakfast/lunch? I always laugh when I am in another state, but my rental car has out of state plates. Sergio is kinda a big guy. The hotel was 2 exits from Six Flags over Georgia. It was a great hotel. Hotel room photos. Atlanta trip on business. Here are Sergio and I at breakfast. On our way to the airport, we saw this limo and thought it looked cool. More dancing. and so can Jahan Wes can dance. The rest of us, not so sure. Jimmybo could play! So many beers to choose from. Derek, thanks for the beer man! This chin is for you... Some tried pool A few tried shuffleboard Leanne played the drum game. Now it was time for the party. Carousel ride at SFMM

I know this is very late, but here are my un-solace weekend photos. Everyone pretty much knows what went on during the weekend, so I will let the photos speak for themselves. One note, we had to leave the party on Sunday early to get back to San Jose because Gyendolynne had to go to Tijuana and then I had to go to Atlanta. There will be pics from Atlanta/Six Flags over Georgia. The park wasn't open though. Yep, rode the Carousel. Here is Alessandra's Superman! Eh. This one I can understand. I really, really don't know sometimes. One more shot. Soren didn't seem too comfortable up there. We made it though. All of us had to get off and wait for him to go up and come back down. because this guy was having trouble with the elevator doors. We are all a little concerned... Erik and Leanne getting ready to go up the Sky Tower Back there is Psyclone's woodpile. I don't know what I am upset about. Maybe the fact that Deja Vu isn't running. Hi Yeah, it's the mine. Doesn't look like Soren was too happy with it. Alessandra taking care of Soren and his sun-block. There are cows behind Riddlers' Revenge. I guess that's where the smell comes from. Alessandra had a little trouble with the dismount on Colossus. We ran into a few people we know. Going down... Up the lift hill. Recognize anyone? Once again, no crowd. This isn't ERT, but it should be. That's as far as Superman would get. Not crowded at all. I just don't have enough pictures of this. Shortest Batman EVER. YAY, I'm on Tatsu!!! The crowd/group/guests... Appetizer Wolf Creek Brewery sampler. We didn't get wet, but some others did. Need to ride Merlyn's Revenge Next Stop This one isn't that bad. We have seen it 2 different times. We also took in a show! There's rules to ridin' We even had time to ride the stagecoach It wasn't all that crowded, for a Saturday. Knott's Berry Farm on Saturday. She wasn't having it! I was trying to pick-up on Marilyn... What a Burger! OOPS, wrong place. We went to Fuddruckers for dinner I had my concerns though, before take-off. I think Southwest Airlines has the most fun out of any of the airlines. Here is our co-pilot.

It's Wally's Birthday....Oh Yeah, now I remember last year. This look familiar?

Great meeting you and Leanne. I am enjoying the rest of your trip out to Cali. We liked Grand Californian when we stayed at Disneyland too. Sorry we had to leave so abruptly on Sunday, but time ran away from us. It was nice seeing Soren and meeting Alessandra too! Keep the pics coming!

That is the shortest Batman I have EVER seen.

Here is one from the Un-Solace weekend. Thanks for the Hop Devil Derek!

Congratulations Soren! It was a pleasure meeting you.

^News to me. I hope they're still your friends for your Japan trip. //sarcasm too...

^Sorry my friend. I thought it would be too long of a drive for the party. Next year you (Karen and Gavin too!), Donica, and Ryan are definitely invited. At least we were drinking Budweiser to support your 401 (k).

Hi all, We throw a Super Bowl party every year and this year was no different. Around 20 friends and family came over and we had a great time, even though the Steelers or Broncos weren't playing. If you had a party, or went to the game, post your pics here! and shirt and hat. That's it! Rams' shoes and socks. This is my other friend's little one. She is 3 months old. She will sleep well tonight. Playing with the cat toys. I think the kids had more fun. I took a lot of pics of them. This is my friend's granddaughter. Still wearing my Steeler gear. John's daughter apparently likes the bubbles from the beer. New TV. The only "fan" in the house. Here's a shot from downstairs. We had hardwood floors put in too! This is the view from our loft now. We floored off the upstairs and added a room and bathroom.

Here is a link to the article of how to "slim" down the kids in West Virginia. http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070201/tc_zd/200119;_ylt=Ao4W9Zk3Tcgv6S7luMi9Zx8DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBhZDhxNDFzBHNlYwNtZW5ld3M- SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - West Virginia, which has the worst childhood obesity problem in the United States, is stepping up plans to use Konami Corp.'s "Dance Dance Revolution" to battle the bulge in its schools. The state, which plans to put the popular dancing video game in every one of its public schools, said on Wednesday research suggested that it helped put a halt to weight gain. Preliminary results from a 24-week study of 50 overweight or obese children, aged 7 to 12, showed that those who played the game at home for at least 30 minutes five days per week maintained their weight and saw a reduction in some risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. The study's control group included a dozen children who did not play the game for the first 12 weeks, then did so for remainder of the study period. Those children piled on an average of 6 pounds during the first portion of the study but saw their weight stabilize in the second half. The West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency sponsored the research project, which primarily involved children of its policy holders. Food intake was not monitored as part of the study, said Emily Murphy, a pediatric exercise physiologist from the West Virginia University School of Medicine's pediatrics department, who was part of the research team. Murphy said that, prior to the study, most of the children reported feeling awkward about participating in gym and physical activity at school. Following the study, children from the group reported feeling more confident and willing to try other exercises, she said. Murphy West Virginia plans to develop after-school clubs for playing the game. "It's going to allow kids to be active in an after-school activity that's not sports," she said. Obesity has been rising fast around the globe, prompting health experts to warn that lifestyle-related illnesses like heart disease and diabetes may cut average life expectancy for generations of youth.

^^^Nice stats Matt. It looks like you're improving through the years. ^^Ted, thanks for the kind words and for the picture of my last call. I thought it would actually be the last call of my career, but I am umpiring again this year. Our home improvement cost me a little more than I expected and we also want to be able to do a couple of trips this year. ^^^Ryan, why are you stealing my couch, just kidding. We have some friends here with the same couch too. By the way, get a new SF hat! Isn't that the one from the mud/pond/whatever?

Thanks a lot everyone! Matt - Byrnes was really pretty funny. He is going through arbitration right now with the Diamondbacks and it is irritating him. He also kept looking at the Oakland A's table and Bob Geren. I know he misses playing for them and he would probably work for the league minimum to come back. ^Thank God I didn't have the audio. I would post the speech, but I just don't think it would be that great. I wish I didn't get so distracted by people getting up. I was one of the last awards and people were either leaving, going to the bathroom, or talking amongst themselves. A very big challenge to give a speech with those conditions. Plus the microphone sucked!