dws_57

On my way to and at Ocean City, MD Long way home Art store its famous or something Kite flying It's so cute It's all west from here. Pinfari looper, this ride makes me laugh. Is that a good thing? Chance Toboggan Vekoma Boomerang Whats Missing? Made it to Ocean City Saddle Mountain summit West VA. On 50 in OH Rain again

June 10, 146 mi. Slow going to get to PKI. Lots of rain to slow my travel, But the weather was really warm so as soon as the rain hit the ground the road would steam thus clearing my sinus allergies. That was the good side of the rain. As many of you know rain at 60 mph hurts. So using a bandana around my face and one over my head it does take some of the sting out. I missed hwy 71 in Cincinnati so on to 74 back to 71 into King Mills. Got a room unloaded and headed for PKI. I was really looking forward for my first ride on the beast. I’ve heard so much both good and bad about it. So guess where I headed first. I got in to the park around 3pm headed straight back to the Beast. Short line and they are running 3 trains cool. Head for the back. Finally on back seat and all yeah!! Then the ride operators answer the phone look at the train and unload every one Oh no denied. The storm had caught up with me. The ride Opps. (Sorry forgot your names) Told me as we waited that being the train was loaded he thought it might be ok to send it as the last one. As he looked across the train to signal to send he saw a lighting strike right over the lift hill. Then he unloaded everyone. The Opps. on this ride were coaster freaks as well. We talked about many parks, rides, food, and my crazy trip plans. Only two other people waited for the storm to pass. An hour and a Half later we were on again. As the line hadn’t opened yet I got my first ride in back followed with a switch with the other two who waited. second ride in front back to back. Even with the Magnetic trims the Helix was still way cool and intense. First hill is good too. but the rest is um well yeah. you get the idea. After that it’s a whirl wind to try and get as much in as possible. The rain worked to my advantage as this was a Friday many people just left. Italian Job was still closed and a crowd was waiting for it to open. It did at 9:30 I was on my way to get a night ride on beast with fog in the valley really a different ride at night. On to Vortex Arrow looper Yea. Ok so I guess I like my coaster a little rough. I liked this one kind of different, as the corkscrews are not the last element and are higher off the ground as a result. rode this around 3 or 4 times came back later for more too. On to racer that wasn’t racing. Running one train each track and not together. Then to flight of fear, a decent ride without the OTSR. took a quick couple turns on this. Adventure mine Nice Arrow mine train. I just thought the end was flat. The well themed drumming line on the lift that pumps you up then put you into the station Ok whatever. Over to Top Gun next another arrow product. A suspended coaster. Probably the shortest but not the worst by far. I Enjoyed this coaster. Then the time had come to ride Son of Beast. hmm. I had heard a lot of bad things about this ride. Some of them were true. No leg room at all, I had to cross my legs to cram the bar down on top. No OTSR though so a plus there. The g forces on this thing are high. The bottom of the helixes you wonder why your on this. The loop is cool and very smooth. The ride is well timed for elements and breaks. A bit rough though so I only rode it 5 times. Ok I just couldn’t make up my mind some things I really liked others were no so good. But no where near as rough as timber wolf, at WOF, was running when I was there. Also of note here, 315 ft. drop zone, Face Off Inverted boomerang, Tomb Raider indoor top spin, I didn’t make over to the water park I really wanted more time here. Park closed at 10pm. Then off to Carrabba’s for dinner. The weather report was calling for rain all day Saturday, Cold front moving south and remains of Arlene heading north. Leaving the next day turned out to be the right choice. June 11, 413mi. Raining as I head out, back south to 50 and of again. Quite a bit of rain the Ohio valley Picked up 6inches that day and flooded. Luckily I get out a little ahead of this only rain for the first 150 mi. or so. Then just sprinkling on and off till about Parkersburg WV. Turns out there was a bike rally in town. Most riders on the road I had seen in days. Though a just were 50 get really twisty and just out of town they were gone like the fair weather. Back into rain off and on. I made it Romney WV for the night. Cool little place called the Koolwink motel. Green and black bathroom, but just up the street from Micky Dees. My dinner tonight. Cookies and Coffee (included) in the room make for breakfast. June 12, 271mi. Slow going through DC. Street festival going on. Have to detour around didn’t feel safe leaving the bike anywhere so no pics here. I had originally planed to do some site seeing but oh well. Finally pull into Ocean City MD the end of US 50. A full 4 days later than I had hoped. A Sunday night. Turns out this is a real hangout for the High School crowd. Many were leaving, being it’s a Sunday but still a lot around. Two different vendors for the 3 coaster here. One vendor for the Boomerang and Toboggan. Another for the Pinfari with a Loop. The Pinfari wasn’t as bad as I had heard. Kind of slow really. Nothing really different about the toboggan, or the boomerang, except no stairway in the middle. Had some Pizza, made some Phone calls to let friends know I mad it. then off for a walk at night down the boardwalk. 3502 miles ridden so far. The farthest from home on two wheels. Thanks for reading and on to the Pics Next up BGWB and PKD. DWSkunks. kings Island geese Thanks for letting me know about this place. mmmmm. Drop Zone weeeeeee! splash PKI style check out that theme Dead battery maybe? Sunset from the tower wished I had the 35mm with me its at the Motel Paris? son of Beast not an arrow ride but rough Top Gun Arrow Suspended Vortex, an Arrow looper in a Loop Duh Severe weather delay

^^ If you look at a photo of the bike here's a quick rundown of How It's packed. Front fork bag. Some tools, Tape and 2 Coin Dollars (hold up better when wet) just in case. Tank Bag; Sweatshirt on warm days couple of tee shirts on cool days, 35mm camera, Current day map or directions from online. Saddle bags; a 6 day supply of clothes. I just plan on a wash day every week. Most motels have a Machine or laudary near by. Plus a few bigger tools just in case. Rack bag; video camera, Notebook, Lenses for the 35mm camera, Maps not in use today, Big map books Bandanas Park maps, (collecting along the way.) A box of Granola bars and three bottles of water, also just in case. It's a tight pack but I added shirts and things along the way and got much better at packing it up. ^ Hang in there, Keep those dreams alive. This is something I've been wanting to do since I learned to ride at 17.

^Santa Claus Lodge In Santa Claus, IN This is the closet you can stay to holiday world It's right across the intersection and has Shuttle service to the park. ^^I never had a silver wing But did have 78 cb 750k for a while. I Also love riding up and down th CA coast. Been through OR. once too. Hoping to do a NW trip next year. Thanks For the Comments too. Dws

Holiday World Good Night Santa Does santa make me look thinner? bumper boats how cool is that? racing on a warm IN. day. More legend Jungle jets run and get wet Raven closed before I started taping bangsite cannons in the toy musem. Legend money shot the only original ride left at HW 1946 Zinga bowl thingy

June 7; 260 miles Leave for St Louis or really Eureka MO. and Six Flags St Louis. 50 merges with 44 and goes right by SFSL. Slow going through Jefferson and some site seeing I arrive at the Econo lodge at 5pm. A quick check in and off to SFSL. Open till 10pm. Payed to park. Impressed they have preferred motorcycle parking. They also have metal detectors in place takes a few minutes to get through (steel toed boots) Started off by shooting some footage of batman. Then two rides in a row. Parks pretty empty on a Tuesday night. Shoot over to Ninja for some arrow/vekoma head banging. Only really rough in a couple of spots not as bad as I have heard. Did three rides here quick then off to The screaming Eagle did two rides on this a littler slower to get through and around the line (it had one) so did The Boss running about 25 min wait. One train operation. Then back around to the mine train I missed. Another on batman then off to Mr Freeze. I ended up riding this quite a few times and playing charades with two of the ride ops while waiting. Pretty funny and fun. Rounded off the evening with scooby doo floating boat shooting ride and couple flat rides more Mr. Freeze and finish with a mini marathon on batman the ride. A good day but didn’t feel a strong need to return in the morning as I had done pretty much all I wanted to in the 5.5 hrs there. Meet a family there 2 adults and their teenage daughter talked about parks with them and they were coming from PA. and heading south from there. She is sure to end up being a coaster enthusiast someday. Hottest day out yet 89degress with high humidity Off to Denny’s and a shower. June8 299 miles. How come the flat states is where I get lost the most? I had made a couple wrong turns in Kansas as the road signs were confusing. Same for IN. Hit morning traffic in St Louis on my way to Holiday World. Missed the 50 exit twice. Got the map out and figured out another way to 50 in IL. Crossed into IN. Got lost again another wrong turn. Time change and my watch died. Not sure when I got to Holiday World around 5 or so park closes at 7pm. Decided to stay the night at the Santa Claus lodge and do HW in the morning. All you can eat Pizza, soup and salad bar, in the shopping center across the way is dinner and only $5. Wow Pretty good too and it includes drinks. June 9 HW at the inn No rooms available for tonight I decide to risk it in this sleepy town and leave everything loaded on the bike except the tank bag as it will fit and a locker as it has both my cameras in it. Up front, like right at the gate, is the parking for Motorcycles wow. Free too. Don’t feel to apprehensive about leaving the bike loaded now. I spent the most money in this park as things were so reasonably priced. Also used my ace card for a discount to get inn. I brought lunch, Dinner, an onride photo from legend, funnel cake, towel and some hand dipped marsh mellows I found legend and Raven to be force full and smooth. Both very fun rides. Raven was having some problems and would go up the lift really slow then speed up at the top so they ended up closing it down pretty early in the day so no evening ride on it for me. The water park was also fun Zoombabwe is a very cool 4 passenger raft enclosed. I rode it alone and went backwards all the way down. Bahari wave pool is bigger than the other wave pool there and more of a tiki theme. The new Amazoom and Bamboo chutes were fun rather short though. Jungle racer was a blast. One kid in our group was getting a time of 4.5 sec while the average was around 7. I was closer to 8 sec I just couldn’t get the hang of launching. Lol All and all I really enjoyed this park the friendly and helpful staff was willing to go out of their way to help you. Free drinks and free sun screen added up to a really nice day. What they don’t have in massive attractions they make up for in the little things and now adding the Voyage will make this a must visit park for all. Leaving HW I decided to skip going to Six Flags K.K. and head straight for PKI to try to make up some time. Take I64 to I65n and stop at I65 and Hwy 50 for the night Just outside of Seymour IN. Only about 120 miles or so. This was the biggest detour off of 50 the hole trip and well worth it. Thank’s for reading now on to the pics Next update PKI and Ocean city, MD Dws Scooby dooooo!!! where are you Mr Freeze Ok that's all I got for this one. Splash boat The Boss screamin Eagle second hill Ninja sidwinder element batman in the first loop on my way to St Louis Didn't citizen Kane live here

1)Denver Was getting Golf ball sized Hail that day. Combined with the Later than planned start I decided to skip the detour up from 50 to Denver. 2) Sky coaster is right in front of the ferris wheel. It was funny to me... DWS

More Pics Bikers for sale at WOF thats all A big Splash? Mamba money shot Steam Train Yea Were not just coaster's are we? Launching close together. Line for Timber Wolf hmmm. Only one train too. no stacking This guy jumped in my shot from the ferris wheel. Mamba on the second hill and some trailer construction. Huss Enterprise Isn't it prety? Raft Stacking an olympic event.... I think not. Mamba in the Helix, DUCK... Nice head choppers Me and mamba Finally made it yea...

Hey All; My computer seems to be ok now, Its a laptop and been giving me Quite some grief. Real life been getting in the way also. Now here we go. The trip ran June 1 to July 1. Starting in Felton, CA and traveling through 18 States before returning home. 18 Amusement parks and over 80 coasters. 8147 miles traveled when all was done. Yes I did this solo as none of my friends are either crazy enough or had saved enough vacation time. Things were off to a rocky start, Late starting out then really cold wet weather for the first couple days. Day one Felton, CA, to Lake Tahoe, CA. Arrived around 10:30 pm only 263 miles, not the start I was hopping for. The shop has messed up my appointment so the bike wasn’t ready till 4pm. Still a lot of snow in the pass unusual for June. June 2 Lake Tahoe to Ely, NV 359 miles arrived at 7pm 42 degrees and sprinkling. Stayed the hotel Nevada, If you ever go to Ely this is the place for donkey enthusiasts, the casino even has a donkey on the chip. (Sorry no pic of the chips) Also the Great Basin National Park in Baker, has the amazing Lehman cave to go through. June 3, Ely, NV to Delta, CO. 481 miles, Raining most of the day cold slow going on the Plus first day riding without a helmet, no helmet law. Amazing looking country side Even though I was really cold and wet I really enjoyed this section of road. June 4, Delta, CO to Lamar, CO 361 miles. Woke up to the quietest parade I’d ever seen no marching bands or any noise at all. A truck was towing a flat trailer with some people throwing water balloons they were the noisy float. Another really pretty section of road. Also rain, snow and hail. What a day. When I got to Pueblo. Split through on 50 between two storm east of Pueblo North and south of me. Finally some dryer weather. June 5 Lamar CO to Kansas City MO. 525 miles. What a difference now its 85 degrees humid and lost of bugs to eat along the way. Ick.... Taking a couple days longer that I had hoped I arrive at Worlds of Fun and the Harley Davidson Plant. Monday June 6 Started the morning off by heading up to the Harley plant for the tour. That was pretty cool seeing where my bike was assembled. Then off to worlds of fun. Bought a season pass here Almost the cheapest in cedar faire parks. Made into the park around 12 noon. Park was open till 8pm. Well boomerang was closed, first missed coaster. Mamba was fun. I enjoyed this coaster and rode quite a few times as the park was pretty empty. But the staff was pretty slow. Only running one coaster, So still about a 10 min wait. Spinning dragons was fun and a little different. Short line but still took about 15 min. or so. Timber Wolf no wait at all one ride I knew why. This was one rough coaster for no reason. Felt like they had put oval wheels on the thing, it used to be better. This was by far my least favorite ride. Other Highlights at Worlds of Fun. Huss Enterprise, Spinning Barrel stick to the wall drop the floor ride. (Forgot the name) Log ride was pretty small but fun, (made to look like canoes) Clone Sam’s Cloudpopper 2000, and a raft ride with lots of stacking and a really wet top spin. Next posting Six Flags St. Louis. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. On to the pics Dws Water Balloon float. Quiet please Snow in June? Only in CO. Getting ready to travel through snow brrrrr winding wet 50/70 Utah Off Hwy 50 and I70 Wheeler Peak Leheeman caves underneath Don't shower with Donkeys?? Hotel Donkey I mean Nevada Hwy 50 oustside of Austin, NV Lake Tahoe Packed and ready to go

I voted other. Cost are always a problem for parks. So here's my idea. Keep Demon it is a pretty good arrow looper. Rember Grizzly was built as a family coaster. It wasn't meant to have laterials or air time. It did seem to be running a little smoother this year. On one weekend it had 45 min wait to ride so it still pulls people in. So my plan for Grizzly; It should be reworked making the first and second hills steeper. This would result in putting more speed on the coaster through the later part of the course. Adding Laterials in the corners and some possible air time on the hills. Pictorium has sat unused long enough so lets put a spinning mouse (or other coaster) and theme it in there. or maybe some other dark ride. Could be installed in there as they only have a sponge bob 4D. Or at least start using Pictorium again. As it is one of the larger Imax screens. My $.02 and worth every penny Dws

Hey Robb Elissa and all; Thanks for a great day. The video was really good too!! Sorrry Joey Thanks also for running with the crazyies straight to X as on sunday it was closed. Here's My tiny pics (yes these are the full size ones) for the Scavenger hunt. Ohh My card didn't have Best Souvenir on it. Hmm oh well. I didn't get as many as Matt any way. on to the pics DWS I found more expensive food yea for me!! (it's the little thing in life) Ok I just found these kind of odd Funny stuft lazy animal Robb acting silly (How many of this shoot do we have?) lol Foghorn and part of a rodent Mr Six No Paris hilton so how about a guy with a mohawk carry tweety and talking on a cell phone A Troll

Ok I wasn't feeling overly creative this week so I bring a Califorina special. It Mr 7's parking lot ride. A big forceless coaster built over an old parking lot! (I had some trouble making it forceless without the trim brakes. But alas I was succesfull) If I get any votes I will be laughing for a while. There are some really great themed rides this time. Oh I think thats Mr. 7 face I see in the coaster. Dws Yes I meant that to be a 7 It's one better isn't it? Mr7parkinglotride.dat.zip beep beep It won't stay name a peep james hunt mr 7 parking lot ride Mister 7?

Ok Frist Sorry to start a new topic for this, But didn't really see where else to post it. I'm spending Friday at Knotts so I will be coming straight up from there. Question How safe is SFMM parking lot? I'm traveling by motorcycle and only have Non lockable Leather bags. Really easy for some one to walk with. The bags are wroth more than what will be inside Does SFMM have lockers before the main gate? (I carry a few tools, just in case) Or would someone be willing to rent me some trunk space. Thanks in advance. Dws.

I voted I don't remember and wandered in. I remember I was searching through rcdb.com. I was Looking back at there Photographer links and checking out others web sites. It was one of those that I followed a link to yours. Now whether it was Westcoaster, Coaster Fantics or someone else I don't remember. Elissa CA weekend TR was the current one (I think). Was around March of 2001 that I surfed in. Elissa do you still have the Verkoma wheel? I've been in and out of your site for quite some time. then really became a regular reader in 2003. (when I really started planing my cross country trip. Also a regular reader of the fourm but not much of a poster, yet. Keep up the good work Thanks for putting all this together. That was longer than I thought it would be. DWS

Ok I misread the guide and built one to exciment rating of 7. Oh well I'm not going to have time to do another one. So here's my mess of track called the "shadow of the bat" RTC3 enjoy DWS [InvertedRollerCoaster]shadow of the bat.trk shadow of the bat

I'll be there at the 2pm Goliath meet for sure and DVD meet. But only a slight possiblity for the morning meet. DWS

I'm thinking of making a weekend of it as I haven't been down to southern Cal in a couple years (last time Disney). So I'm thinking of going to Knott's on friday too. And back to SFMM on Sunday to get some other rides in. (In case it's crowded on satruday.) I won't say it's been a long time since I've been there. But last time I was there you could still go up in the tower and the revolution only had lap bars. :shock: Needless to say, there's a few coasters there I haven't ridden. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Dws

Ok I finaly got my home computer up and running yea. So I got a couple coasters done. So I think this is the one. As my other one looked to close to something all ready posted. I was having trouble picking one anyway, that made it easier. This was challeging and fun. So heres Timber's Delight. It's RCT3 yea stupid name too. But donkey was taken dws [WoodenRC]timber delight.trk

Well It looks like theres another coaster with 3 top hat style designs in the compatetion already so I'll post a different style to compete there But heres my top hat desgn. Kind of funny that two of us are building the same way. But I guess that will happen with limited space dws [WoodenRC]Top Hats.trk

Santa Beach Boardwalk 10 mins P. Great America 40 mins Bonfante Gardens about an hour away SF Marine World hour and a half to two hours depending on traffic and freeway choice.

Well actually I've been back since the first. My computer at home is still dead and I've been pretty swamped at work since I got back, this is my first real chance to post anything. I won't be able to post/edit any Pics or video till I get my computer fixed. I Did go east on Hwy 50 from Sacramento CA to Ocean City MD. (more small town america that way, than interstate)Rain in NV, Ut. and Snow in CO. and Heavy rain in OH slowed my progeress so I had to drop a couple of the parks I wanted to go to. The Final count was 31 days on the road. June 1 to July 1. 8134 miles ridden. Park list (in order of visit) is as follows; 1 Worlds of (not so much) fun. For the season pass mostly. 2 SF St. Louis 3 Holiday world 4 P Kings Island 5 Ocean City MD (Couple of amusement places together here) 6 BG Williamsburg 7 P Kings Dominion 8 SF America 9 SF Great Adventure 10 Playland Rye, NY 11 Dorney 12 Williams Grove (closed due to rain) 13 Hershey 14 Return to Williams Grove 15 Kennywood 16 Geauga Lake 17 Cedar Point Crowds were pretty light except for SFGAd. Kennywood and Cedar Point. Probally due to being later in the month. I tried to stay out of the parks on the weekends. Special thanks to the PKI Beast crew for Conversation on other parks, Coasters, food and the two double rides on beast. (spent an hour and a half with this crew during a lighting storm waiting for my first ride.) Only onride footage I was able to shoot was Dragon coaster, Playland. Every one else I asked said no. All in All a fun trip. DWSkunks

Thanks for the info on Joyland. That was a coaster I hadn't gotten to ride. That saves one detour off 50 though. I'll try to post something if I can find internet connection (libary or something) along the way. I should be on the road tomorrow sometime. Talk to you all again soon DWSkunks. Vaction 2yrs in the making I'm still can't belive it.

My Computer at home died. I'm curently at work Don't tell anyone ok? So here's my rough plan. (I'm really winging this trip) I'm crossing the country on US 50 on my Motorcycle. Then visting a friend in NJ and one in WI. I've been saving my vaction and comp time for 2.5 years to get this much time off work. (all of June) so here's my list of planed stops in no real order. (may change stops along the way also) I need to be cheap too. So season passes at multiple places is a good thing. Joyland, KS (if open, I can't seem to find any info online) Worlds of fun, Cedar point, Geauga lake, and Dorney. Holiday world, PKI, PKD, SFA, SFGAdventure, SFGA, SFKK, The WI Dells One day to both Astroland and Playland Rye, NY if funds and time permit. Hershey, Wiliams grove, kennywood and Knobels. That's my rough plan I will fine tune on the road. (traffic and wheather will play a major role too.) My depature date is set at June 1st. Kind of Sad I won't make your event at SFMM. I might be online tuesday, then not again for quite some time. DWSkunks.

Sad news indeed. One of my favorite voice over actors as well as a great Bass singing voice. Here's the adress to one on the best fan sites called all things Thurl. members.aol.com/allthurl/thurl2.htm He has lots of files to listen to and Thurls Bio. DWSkunks.

Hmm.... I Just joined ACE for the frist time very recently, OK I just got my card in the mail yesterday. So I really Don't know any ACE'rs Yet. Also Thanks for the info on ecc.