RIP Psyclone Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 The theme song to Lou's Chicago adventure is Sufjan Stevens - Chicago. That is all. End of line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Yay! Turtles!!!!! Now I have another reason to go back to Chicago other than for the hot dogs. Â Didn't realize you were a turtle fan. You'd get a kick out of all the ones swimming around Loch Ness Monster at BGE. Yeah, they were cute and got some vid time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningstroller Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Â *bathroom door slams shut* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 The theme song to Lou's Chicago adventure is Sufjan Stevens - Chicago. That is all. End of line. Â Did I make a lot of mistakes??? I'm so confused as to why that song!!! Â Â Â Â Oh, and ^ LOL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Yay! Turtles!!!!! Now I have another reason to go back to Chicago other than for the hot dogs. Â So you want to see Kyle's underwear? and what is it doing in Chicago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 ^^ Nicole beat me to it, but yeah, if you live with it it's easy. Â I've lived here all my 32 and 3/4 years. I haven't adjusted to heat and humidity. I hate it. Â But I'm a wuss. There it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 ^ Very true. I believe I mentioned that in my last update. Â (Love ya Matt!) Â Â My Fourth Day "In Chicago": Indiana Beach!! Â After the world's longest day (in a good way!) on the Wednesday, Thursday had been dedicated to getting me a new state credit and heading over to Indiana Beach! Â Â Moo and Oink. Moose and Squirrel. Â Â The first half of the journey pretty much looked like this. Â Â That is a huge pile of salt. Â Â YES, new state!!!!! Â Â Supposedly there's more than corn in Indiana, but the second half of the journey looked entirely like this, so I'm not convinced! Â Â Yeah yeah, everybody takes this picture, and apparently I'm just another photographic sheep! Â Â The approach to this park is all so photogenic, especially on a beautiful day like this one. Almost as uncomfortably hot as the previous day (though not quite, plus today we had misters... And we weren't just letting them mist us, we were staying in there until we were soaked), but beautiful to look at. Â Â We met up with Paul inside the entrance, and went over to the Falling Star... So good!! This park really runs its flats well. Being kinda pathetically weak though, I ended up *slamming* from side to side, and had a huuuuuuge ugly bruise on my elbow for the next week. We also went over and rode the Scrambler.... I felt soooo sorry for the ride-op who was running both it and also whatever was next to it... Paratrooper, maybe? He was running back and forth like a madman, pouring with sweat, I was frightened the guy was gonna pass out! Â Â First coaster of the day... Lost Coaster. Oh my God this thing was awesome. Look, photographic proof!! My first ride, the gits obviously made me ride backwards, and I ended up sitting on the floor. Second ride later on after Scott had joined us, and I faced forwards. I love that feeling of uncontrollability and how aggressive it is on the corners. I laughed. Â Â Â Vile as this picture is, I include it because it was my first corndog of the trip, and oh my GOD was I happy to have one! I freaking love corndogs and never see them here. The fact that in the US and Asia I was able to get them pretty much whenever I wanted for like five weeks was heaven!!! Oh, and right after this I believe I kicked Paul's ass in the shooting dark ride. Â Â These fish were cannibalistic and terrifying. Â Â I wanna make a comment about Cameron biting Paul's sausage but I can't bring myself to do it. Wait, I guess I kinda just did... Oh well. Â Â I've been slated by some people for saying this, but I really *really* liked Hoosier Hurricane!! Don't get me wrong, once I'd ridden Cornball I thought that was FAR superior, but Hurricane still stands up for me. Though I suppose you should bear in mind that I've only ridden like 30 woodies and I've only actually liked about 8 of them. Wooden coasters need to be "fun" for me, and this one definitely is, and I'm also a big fan of coasters who have that whole package, cool views etc, and seeing the water through the track on Hurricane was a definite plus. But, as I say, Cornball blew it out of the water, so to speak. Definitely right up near the top of my list, behind only a few! Â Â I can't say too much about Fascination (I mean I could, but I won't).... Except that it's the most addictive game in history and I could have sat and played it all day. Seriously, I'd almost rather play that than ride a coaster! Every park on the planet needs to have this game. Â Â At some point around here, Cameron pointed out we were due to go and meet Scott (Scaparri)... My watch was still on Chicago time, so I was thinking we had another hour. Scott was pretty much the first TPR member I ever had any contact with back in 2005 or 1976 or something so it was great to finally meet. Â Â The park's Double Shot was fantastic, I loved it. Airtime + view over the water = happy Lou!! And the guys operating the ride were awesome. Â Â That dinosaur simulator that appears in a lot of places... But Indy Beach's is special because a) the staff actually seem to care and have loads of contingency plans for if you get sick, and b) it's in a little heated box instead of a theatre. I do love this picture though. Â Â As for the two steel coasters... Also good!! I seriously don't think there was anything in this park I didn't love. Galaxi was fun, though not as memorable as the other four coasters at the park, and Tig'rr was great, even though I had to promise the boys to never reveal our seating arrangements. I adore that feeling that you might die at every turn. Â Â On the ferris wheel, Scott takes a picture of me taking a picture of Scott taking a picture of me taking a picture of Scott taking a picture of me taking a picture of Scott..... Â Â I love how CRAMMED this park is. So full of stuff, in such a great way! Â Â Cameron looks kinda buzzed here! Â Â Being near open water is like crack to me. I'm not a big swimmer or anything, I just love to be close to it. One of my favourite things about the park was some of the rides being actually OVER it too. Â Â Cameron joked with me about wanting to live in one of the houses on the water, and I'm totally intending to buy one for him (and another one for me!) if I ever win the Lotto. Â Â I am constantly amazed by my own photography skills. The timing, the framing.... David Bailey eat your heart out. Â Â Taking the skyride back up to the other end of the park. Paul and Cameron... Awwwww. Â Â And Scott and I. I don't think I've ever looked so hot. By which I mean hot in regards to temperature, obviously, as in the other respect I don't think I've ever looked more like a sweating curly-haired freak. Â Â Mmmmm, track. (And this is as geeky as you'll get from me.) Â Â My Dad was confused by the park being called Indiana BEACH, so I took this picture to prove a point. I was actually somewhat jealous of the people in bikinis cooling off in the water jets. Â Â After some more games of Fascination, we headed back down to ride the Himalaya... All the flats down this end of the park were playing great British music, which entertained me but I thought was kinda odd. Keane, Amy Winehouse... It was surreal!!! Â Â Cameron decided to sit this one out and laugh at Paul getting crushed. He apparently entertained himself by drinking Powerade (or maybe Windex?) and using my camera to photograph his tongue. Â Â Paul still looks *fairly* comfortable at this point... Â Â Not so comfy now... I'm trying so hard to not let him die!!! Â Â At this point it looks like I was laughing to hard to even try, LOL! Â Â Poor Paul. Â Â It makes me sad that this is probably the nicest picture ever taken on my camera... And it was taken by Cameron. So pretty!! Â Â CHAIROPLANE!!!! Apparently putting the giant shades on made me feel less straggly and more posey!! Â Â Oh my God, in some respects this place couldn't be any more like Blackpool if it tried. Â Â I won't bother saying who this sign made me think of... Â Â Paul's car does good charity work!! Â Â I said a sad goodbye to Paul and Scott, and then Cameron and I headed back to Chicago. Craig had invited us over for dinner so we were stopping there before going back to Cameron's for me to pack... The skies were cloudy at this point, but it didn't look too bad... Â Â Listening to Cake's Comfort Eagle ("He is calling you DUDE!!!"), Cameron and I had to stoop down to an ooooooold and dead joke just one last time. Â Â A little more ominous... Â Â And then the rain starts. Bear in mind that the pictures from this point were all taken over a pretty short period! Â Â Sky getting darker... Â Â At this point my camera and I start failing at life. Â Â Sky getting scarier... I started filming on and off around this time. If I can be bothered (and figure out how... ) I might try and cut down my footage and post it, the rain is so loud!! Â Â Later on, it looked like we were driving into the apocalypse. Â Â And then suddenly it was black!! This was some of the heaviest rain I'd ever seen by the way, and I live in what is pretty much the rain capital of Europe, and have spent enough time in Florida storms in hurricane season to not be frightened too much by this stuff. But this was damn heavy! Thank God I trust Cameron's car and his driving skills or I would've been terrified! So many people pulling over, and the lightning was so bright that the streetlights were thinking it was daytime. Â Â When we reached Craig's neighbourhood, there were trees and stuff all over the road, and Craig and his buddy Frank had gone out to pick up the pizza. This is what it looked like within five minutes of their return. Biggest pizza I ever saw, too! Â Â "Craig, that's a great picture of your chins!" *Frank dies laughing* Â Â This was about twenty seconds before Casey made Cameron pour half a bottle of water all over himself. Â Â On the way back to Cameron's I figured out how to make my crappy photography skills and useless camera take cool abstract shots. Â Â Ooooooh!! Â Â Again, taken by Cameron. *sigh* Â Â Makes me think of Peter Pan. Â Â The next morning, Cameron drove me to the airport... With no traffic lights, as they were all down from the rain!! I was excited to get to California, but so sad to leave!! Â Â Cameron, I can't thank you enough for giving me a place to stay and driving me around and being the world's best and most accommodating host! Seriously, I owe you bigtime!! And thanks to Paul and Matt and Scott and Craig and Frank too!!! I had such an amazing time. Â Up next, Lou arrives in California!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I think that scrambler ride was payback for crushing you on LoCoSuMo. Â In that simulator pic I'm not sure if my shirt is soaked from sweat, the misters, or a combination of both. What a sticky humid day that was. Â And yes, I admit I suck at shooting darks rides. I'll use the excuse that I wasn't wearing my glasses. Â I too drove through that storm on my way home. Kind of frightening being in such a downpour in a Ford Escort wagon. My original plan after IB was to drive to Fort Wayne, get a hotel room and then continue the drive the next day. I realized on the way that I'd be in Fort Wayne by like 9, and there was no point paying to watch TV in a hotel room. So I just decided to push forward and drive all the way home. Got home at like 3am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster05 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Lou the piece of Lion theming is my favorite piece of theming in amusement park history. I giggle at it everytime. I do have to say this TR makes me sad since you were so close to us and we just couldn't meet up with you. Guess I will just have to go to France to see you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 ^ I know, it made me so sad too!! In an ideal world, nobody I want to hang out with should have a job. Stupid careers only interfere with having fun in many cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnewton34 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 That was so great! Very entertaining. I loooved Indiana Beach so much. Makes me want to go back. Although the fish did scare me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 That storm sucked. I had to bail on IB, because of a business trip, only to have that storm cancel it. Â Grrrrr. Â I miss Lou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercrazed49 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Great Pictures Lou . Pssshhhh I've seen bigger pizza in a diet plan. Can't wait to see more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceace12 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 As much as it is crammed in there now, just imagine another coaster near hurricane. And for who said they wanted to buy a house on the lake, so do I. In fact, If I would win the lottery tomorrow, I already have it picked out. From the deck you can see the double shot! Get a boat and forget driving in a car, boat to the park sounds like fun, plus no admission costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster05 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 As much as it is crammed in there now, just imagine another coaster near hurricane. And for who said they wanted to buy a house on the lake, so do I. In fact, If I would win the lottery tomorrow, I already have it picked out. From the deck you can see the double shot! Get a boat and forget driving in a car, boat to the park sounds like fun, plus no admission costs. Â You have just won the lottery and bought a lake house but you need to save the 2.50 admission cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 I've just updated the original post with a list of links to each update so people can find things if they want to. Â Oh, and Rich, LOL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceace12 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 As much as it is crammed in there now, just imagine another coaster near hurricane. And for who said they wanted to buy a house on the lake, so do I. In fact, If I would win the lottery tomorrow, I already have it picked out. From the deck you can see the double shot! Get a boat and forget driving in a car, boat to the park sounds like fun, plus no admission costs. Â You have just won the lottery and bought a lake house but you need to save the 2.50 admission cost. Â I just like the fact of boating to a park. I mean how often can yo do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrowfanman Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Â I don't think Peter Pan's dick was that long. Â Â Â Â Â Anyway. Â I Indiana Beach. I Lou, Cameron, Paul, and Scott...but mostly Matt. Â All and all, that was a very nice PTR. Â -Jahan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 ^ It makes me quite happy that somebody (and even happier that it was Jahan) picked up on the actual point of the photograph. Yes I am THAT immature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I Lou, Cameron, Paul, and Scott...but mostly Matt.  -Jahan  Well, I see where I rate. Thanks Jahan, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrowfanman Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 ^ No problem Matt. You know I love you!       -Jahan  LOL at abusing powers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Much better. I owe you a Vault Icee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 Wow, Jahan loves Matt more than he loves me. And he posts this in my own trip report thread! You cut me deep, Jahan. Way to kick me when I'm down, add insult to injury, pour salt in the wound. Men are pigs. Â If anybody needs me I'll be sobbing in a corner and trying to make sense of my California photos whilst deleting any that have Jahan in them. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissie Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 ^Hehehe! Â Those fish were scaaaary! Looking forward to more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_roll06 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Got to say this is an awesome TR Lou! Can't wait to see the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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