Gary's Great American Road Trip!

[carolinacaniac]

Hey Everyone!

 

While the highlight of this summer for me, along with many others was the NE Trip that concluded a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity back in June to join my younger sister, Alysa, on a drive across the country as she moved back to the Seattle area. Along the way, we saw any amusing signs, billboards, bumper stickers, roadside attractions, and other such awesome things, plus I managed to visit a few amusement parks that were on my to do list, which included Camden Park in Huntington, WV; That Fun Place in Greenfield, IN; Arnolds Park in Arnolds Park, IA; Boondocks in Deadwood, SD; and finally Silverwood in Athol, ID.

 

While in Seattle, I had a chance to return to Wild Waves with my dad, neice and nephew much like I did last summer. Dad and I also had a chance to take in a Tacoma Rainiers game at their newly renovated stadium.

 

The route that we took to get from Greenville to Seattle had us going west through North Carolina, then up through Virginia and West Virginia, over through Kentucky, a quick pass through South Ohio, through Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. Caught a piece of Minnesota, through South Dakota, a snippet of Wyoming, through Montana, Idaho and finally Washington.

 

Now for the first day of the drive. We went from Greenville, NC to Agrillite, KY. Most of the day's drive saw the scenic views of West Virginia, and there was the afternoon spent at Camden Park. Camden Park is West Virginia's only amusement park, and was celebrating it's 108th season. The park was pretty dead on this visit, as a thunderstorm had just passed a bit before arriving there. A more traditional park with rides such as a spider, whip, log flume, carousel, a set of flyers, and many kiddie rides. There are two coasters at the park. One being the Little Dipper, a junior wooden coaster that was a neat ride, as well as the Big Dipper, a mid-sized wooden coaster with NAD trains and a first large drop that gives "Screw you, you're standing up!" kind of air in the second to last row (the last row was closed off). They also had a dark ride that is very similar to the Devil's Den at Conneaut Like Park, where there is a lift hill, and a drop, so you could count it as a credit if you feel you must!

 

One of the things I liked about the park was the air on that one drop of Big Dipper. It had me laughing the rest of the ride as I was really surprised by it. I would take about 4 laps total on it. I also thought that the dark ride was fun. You won't find many of them left these days. The park also gives a great value, as you could get into the park for the last couple hours of the day for about 9 bucks on select days, which is what I did for this visit. Something that took away from the park was the way that you could tell it has aged quite a bit. Many of the rides are older versions, and even the Big Dipper looked as though it could fall apart any minute.

 

While the park is pretty small, and probably won't add new rides that often, I find that it is worth a stop if I happen to be passing by the Huntington area of West Virginia, especially to get more laps on the Big Dipper.

 

So with that, I gave you update 1 of Gary's Great American Trip! Feel free to leave any feedback if you would like, I certainly welcome any comments.

So as Alysa and I were on our way out of Greenville, we would see our first amusing bumper sticker on this car.....

...as Charlie Sheen would say "Duh, Dar-winning!"

"Screw you buddy! I don't have opposable thumbs......or testicles any more for that matter." This would be Alysa's Beagle, Tobey.

The first stretch of open road, as seen on US-264 between Greenville and Wilson

Never seen a Denny's like this before. Somewhere near Greensboro

This would be the first of many meals on the trip. Never had Bisciutville before, but it was pretty good. A little side story, We had the stuff to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches throughout the trip to save money.....which lasted all of one night.

This is how Tobey spent most of the trip. I will give him credit, for being a more "active" dog (to put it nicely), he handled the long bouts of time in the car like a pro!

More open road, this time on I-40 between Greensboro and Winston-Salem

"Yeay! We made it through the first 3 hours! Only 5 days and 7 hours worth of driving to go!

And here we have Alysa, who handled the afternoon/evening driving each day.

Winston-Salem approves of suggestive looking buildings

As you drive on US-52 towards Virginia, you will see Pilot Mountain

Now if your first thought was "You know, that looks a lot like a woman's breast," then congratulations! Your mind is in the gutter!

This fish/trailer hitch cover would actually flop around when the guy hits his brakes

My attempt at an artistic shot of Pilot Mountain in the rearview mirror

Further ahead are more of the Appalachian Mountains

State #2: Virginia

This town must be on the recieving end of many a dirty joke

Virginia has you drive through not one.....

.....but TWO tunnels while on I-77

State #3: West Virginia

West Virginia may not have a lot going for it in their towns and cities, but they certainly have some of the most scenic roads

Especially with their bridges

Sometimes the bridges add to the character of the area

No interstate highway is complete without random Adult Novelty Stores

"I love PORN!!!!! Especially when they do it doggie style!!!!!" Oh Tobey.....

The next amusing bumper stick comes from this guy.....

.....this explains a lot.

Like I said, very scenic

Sorry, I don't have any Kit Kat bars to give them

Tobey is not as easily amused by road signs

Since we happen to be in the area, it's time to check this park out.

We're here!

The front entrance is pretty basic

Evening ticket, only 9 bucks....very nice!

A few of the rides you see when you first walk in

Underneath this shelter is their whip ride

These are a rare breed

The park's carousel

The park's log flume. Didn't ride it myself, but I did snap some pictures

Not a whole lot of theming, but some of the better ones don't have any

Final part

First drop

Nearby was Little Dipper, the parks Junior Woodie

The train

Side shot

Up the lift

"Weeeee!"

Brake Run

When there are more people, it does make a bit of a difference

Not the most intense ride, but it is a fun little coaster

A look at the side of the car

Time for a spin!

Their dark ride that is simmilar to Devil's Den at Conneaut Lake Park

The cars that you ride on

Up the lift hill

Is he enouraging them to put their hands up, or is he being the zombie ride operator trying to catch them as they pass? You decide.

Going up

That takes us to the park's main attraction....the Big Dipper

As you can see, it shows it's age, but it does give a good ride.

Lift hill for all of the lift hill enthusiasts!

The tunnel is rather long.

Through the supports

Trains that make some coasters into legends!

Going up

It has a small drop after the lift, which leads to.....

...the hill of "HOLY CRAP!!" air from the back. One of my favorite airtime moments yet.

One more hill

The park does feature a skyride that gives you some great veiws of the park

Down below is their miniture golf course

Here is the other side while heading back

Little Dipper from up high

Other rides at the park, probably the newest ones there

More Little Dipper

Can't leave out the Big Dipper

And that wraps up the visit at Camden Park. If passing by, I would certainly give it another visit

State #4: Kentucky

And that would take us to the first of our campsite stops for this road trip

And off in the distance, we would find it

It would turn out we were the only ones using a tent as everyone else had a camper or RV

And here was the tent, which was probably better suited for one person or a couple.....not two siblings and a dog. In anycase, it worked out, and we made it through day 1! Thanks for checking it out, certainly welcome any feedback from you all. Update 2 will be along before too long.

Edited September 11, 2011 by carolinacaniac

[Stitch_101]

I must say I'm impressed. I know I have been a bit critical of Camden Park in the past, but from your photos it seems the have done a lot to clean up since I my last visit! I've always thought it could be a great family park if they put in the money and effort, and it looks like they are! I'm excited to see the park in the future if they keep it up. Great photos,

[larrygator]

Gary - Did you ride The Whip at Camden? In my opinion one of the two best Whips, along with Rye Playland.

Edited September 13, 2011 by larrygator

[carolinacaniac]

^I actually did not, but I wish I had since they are as rare as they are. No even more so since it sounds like it was a good one to ride!

[carolinacaniac]

Alright!

 

So after going through the start of a new school year, living through another hurricane and other various things of life that have made me quite busy lately, it is now time for update 2 of Gary's Great American Roadtrip! Day two had Alysa, Tobey and I leaving the town of Agrillite, KY and stopping in Lena, IL. On this day, the highlights include some more scenery to enjoy, a quick credit stop at That Fun Place in Greenfield, IN, and one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth.....the Big Ugly Burger from Bub's Burgers in Carmel, IN.

 

Since That Fun Place was really just a quick credit stop, I don't a whole lot to say about it, other than it was a nice place for what it was, and I would have enjoyed it if I were a kid who lived in the area.

 

Now Bub's Burgers on the other hand, I do have a story to share about the stop there. A few months ago, I started to really get into the show Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel. For anyone who has not seen it before, the host, Adam Richman, goes to many different resturants in different parts of the country, where most episodes focus on one geographical area (like a city and the surrounding suburbs). The basis of the places he goes to is that many of them have some kind of eating challenge, so he would take on the eating challenge of the resturant (such as eat a 48 oz. steak in a half-hour or somthing like that). As I watched the show, I found myself thinking that a lot of places that they feature would be places I would like. So I decided that any trip I take, if I can get to one of the places on the show, I would like to check it out.

 

Bub's Burgers was the place that featured the eating challenge for the Indianapolis area, and one of the first ones I saw that made me think "Oh man, I would love to try their food!" Since Alysa and I would be driving towards that area, I knew I had to check it out! Their featured item is the Big Ugly Burger, a 1 and 1/2 pound burger. The thing is MASSIVE!!!! Their challege is that if you can finish off one while dining in, you get a 4x6 picture on their wall. If you finish two in one sitting, you get a 8x10 on their wall. Finish three, and you get a poster sized picture on their wall. Eat four (in otherwords, 6 lbs of hamburgers!), you get a lifesized picture displayed at the resturant.

 

I don't know that I would ever really try any of the eating challenges because a majority of them require you to eat 4+ pounds of food, that is too much. But for this occasion, I knew I wanted to get a Big Ugly Burger, just to say I had one. Since I got it to go for the sake of saving time for our driving, I was under no pressure to finish it in one sitting, but I can tell you right now, it would have been really difficult for me to just do one! What I will also say is that it was incredibly delicious! I actually had it with just bacon and cheese, but the seasoning they put on the burger itself was what gave it some great flavor. The next time I am back in the Indianapolis area, I would certainly go back for another great meal!

 

Now it is on to the pictures of day two of the Great American Roadtrip!

 

-Gary

Back on the road in Kentucky, and on our way to Illinois

Tobey, as you can see, is not as amused by the sights of the road

While the morning started off cloudy....

...the sun did come out, making for a wonderful drive.

The midwest had some of the best looking sights for the road, although the next day would prove to be even better.

Some older farm buildings

More farm buildings. I think it is really awesome when you see these kinds of things

Tobey......well he is still not amused.

So like the previous day, I took the morning shift of driving

You wanna know how you can tell if you are in a redneck town? This could be a good indicator...

I am not sure why, but when we saw this thing, my first thought was that it looked like Big Bird in a body bag, although it flopped around a lot, so perhaps he was only unconscience before

A pecurliar name for a road

One of the few skylines would would see close by on our drive, this being Cincinnati on the Kentucky side of the river

An interesting looking hotel

State number 5: Ohio. We would be in the state for only about 30 minutes because.....

...we then got into Indiana!

And thus, we arrive to the locale for another credit. That Fun Place in Greenfield, IN

The outside area of That Fun Place where their rides are.

The exterior

"Hey look, it's That Fun Guy!!!!!"

The arcade, not a bad size

They even had one of the foamrubber ball play areas with cannons and such

But this is the reason for stopping.....Sea Serpent

A look at what is ahead

"Look, there is That Fun Guy again, and he is at That Fun Place!"

Sea Serpent is a tale of two halves....this is the first....

....and this is the second.

As we get back on the road, heading to Carmel, IN, we see a burger place that is notorious, but there is another one that I have in mind for today.

Loose slots make many people happy!

Carmel is a bit of an artsy town, that has a lot of character, including these random statues in the area

Here you can see some of the arcitecture that was common in town....

...and they have a statue of one of the more famous WWII era photos

Another view of the cop statue

But this right here is why we have stopped at this place.....

....BUB'S BURGERS!!!!!

Here, you can see a wall of 4x6's with those who finished one Big Ugly Burger

On this wall, they have the 8x10's of those who ate 2, and the couple of posters for those who ate 3

While no one has finished off 4 to get a life-sized picture, they did make an honorary one for Adam Richman, the host of Man vs. Food

If it wasn't for our needing to get to our campground another couple hundred miles away, I would have loved to have had lunch in this patio.

So here we see the beginning of this delicious mistake...ordering and paying for the Big Ugly Buger to go.

Upon completion, they have brought to me this cages that contains a beast within......

BAM!!!! LOOK AT HOW HUGE THIS THING IS!!!!!

For comparison's sake, this thing is almost as big as my head....and I have a big head too!!!!

Taking the first bite.....and oh man was it delicious!!!!

After working on it for a bit, this was still left over from my initial attempt to defeat the Big Ugly Burger.

Alysa, who is a vegetarian, was highly disturbed at what she had witnessed!

As we drove on, we would come to see a part of Indiana that was home to hundreds of wind turbines

While it may not seem like many at the time, you litterally keep driving past rows of them for what seems like a half hour or so

There are some here.....

and here......

and here.....

even here.

They just kind of go on forever!

It was something to see.

I always crack up when ever I see these signs.

State number 6: Illinois!

Hey Robb, how many people have told you this....but ment it in a different way

And we arrive to our next KOA in Lena, IL

They had one of these giant air bounce things that would have been a blast....except that is closed right about when we arrived.

Tobey begins to take in the campgrounds

Still checking it out

Okay, now he is just trying to pose for one of those outdoor magazines!

And that wraps up day two of the Great American Roadtrip! Hope you all enjoyed! Feel free to leave any comments about the report!

[ratdogg68]

We do have hundreds of Wind Turbines here in Indiana, enjoying your report so far.

[coastermaniac]

Camden Park looks like a good, fun little park.

[TexasGiant85]

I live just a few minutes away from Bub's Burgers and it definitely lives up to the hype. I usually opt for a smaller burger (the "Not So Ugly" 1/2 pounder) to make sure I have room for their sweet potato waffle fries.

 

It's nice to see other siblings enjoying a road trip. My younger sister and I take at least one road trip every summer and we always have a great time riding coasters and pointing out the most absurd things we can find along the highway. Looking forward to the rest of the report!

[Jojo19799]

Gary awesome TR. I remember seeing the "Jesus Saves" sign and the campground on my way to IB a few months ago. I don't think the bouncy thing was open when I drove by.

 

BTW, you're a brave soul. I would NEVER do a cross country trip with my brother. I'd probably throw him out of the car! Or he would have left me at a rest stop. But I'm glad you two survived and I'm looking forward to the rest of the report.