Two Very Different Walks, Part 2 - Sunday, April 22, 2018

I admit it, I am an adrenaline junkie. My addiction is roller coasters; the wilder, the better. Our second walk today was at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, a complete about-face from the nature walk earlier. 

After the 10k walk, I changed my clothes at the Comfort Inn from long jeans and hiking boots, to shorts and walking shoes. The windbreaker jacket stayed in the car.

We drove 1/2 hour to Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park where we have Season Passes and Dining Passes (Dining Pass = lunch, a snack, and dinner per person each time we go to Six Flags). I had my pass with me. Unfortunately, Bob left his pass at home. So, he dropped me off at the front gate of Six Flags and he made the one-hour round-trip drive home to get his Six Flags Park Pass. 

Meanwhile, I took photos, rode the Superman and Batman roller coasters, and rode the Sky Screamer (a drop tower) twice. 

Superman: the Ride

Superman: the Ride

Batman and The Hustler spin ride

Batman (up close!)

Sky Screamer

Then I got a text from Bob saying, "You will never believe this. I got my Good Sam card, not the Six Flags card. Headed back home. Talk to you in another hour."

Wow. He tried to use his Good Sam RV card to get into Six Flags. The guy at the entrance gate said, "What kind of card is that?"

I ate lunch because I was awfully hungry after walking 6.2 miles, and then almost another two miles around Six Flags. At Blues BBQ, a turkey leg was calling my name and I ate it. 

Bob still wasn't back, so I went on the BIGGEST coaster in the park, Iron Rattler, my favorite. It had been closed earlier for testing, but when I got there, the line wasn't very long. I figure they must have just reopened it. 

Fresh off the Iron Rattler coaster...all smiles!

When I got off the coaster, Bob texted and said he was in the park at our usual place to eat. I joined him at Blues BBQ just as he got in line. He got a pulled turkey sandwich and potato salad.

After Bob ate, we rode The Hustler (spinning ride), and Pandemonium (a roller coaster with cars that spin like teacups as they go along the track). Then, we went over to Hurricane Force 5. Bob sat that one out. 

Pandemonium coaster (cars spin)

Bob waiting in line for Pandemonium

Me in line for Pandemonium. Poltergeist coaster
is the blue one on the left behind me.

Hurricane Force 5 ride

We were going to go on the Scooby Doo Ghostbusters Blaster Ride, but it was all closed up. It looks like they're going to make a pirate-themed ride there instead. We'll see if they keep Scooby Doo and gang as characters.

The long-awaited Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster is built. The cars just arrived and are now on the tracks. The next two photos show the coaster. The train cars are single rider, with about 10 cars in a line. It should be interesting to ride this one!

Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster

Wonder Woman statue

 The park is decorated for their Mardi Gras Celebration which starts April 27. 

Rockville High School

Bob and I sat in one of the air-conditioned restaurants to cool off. He got his snack, a cinnamon cookie. Mmm. I ate a Magnum ice cream bar earlier in the afternoon. 

I wanted to go on the Poltergeist coaster. That's the one that shoots you out of the station at 70 mph, then you go through what looks like a tangle of tracks. At some points in the ride, you don't know which way is up. Crazy! Bob stayed in the restaurant and waited for me. When I got off the ride, I had a burger and fries for dinner in the restaurant. 

Then he had a turkey leg for dinner at Sanger Halle. While he ate, I went on the Goliath coaster. That's the one with tracks on the top where your legs dangle free. After that, we headed home to watch "60 Minutes" and "Instinct."

Today was quite a day!

I have four days left until I retire. Then I plan to go on Social Security. Wow, I never thought that day would arrive. Now I'm looking it in the face and I like it!

Time for me to get some sleep. Good night all. 

Wild and Wonderful Weekend, Part 2 - Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016

Continued from Part 1...

Today is the last day of Fright Fest and the last day Six Flags Fiesta Texas is open until November 19. November 19 Six Flags opens for their Holiday in the Park winter wonderland. 

Upon entering the park on Sunday at noon, we made a beeline for lunch. I had a grilled chicken salad and Bob had the Veggie Stuffed Baked Potato. We shared and had a good lunch. After lunch, the Iron Rattler Coaster had a short line, so we rode that first. Here are a few photos of this crazy roller coaster...

The Iron Rattler coaster

The freaky first drop on Iron Rattler

Iron Rattler coaster train going completely
sideways to the ground! Craziness!

After Iron Rattler, we went directly to Superman Krypton Coaster. Bob went on both coasters with me. We changed it up a bit and rode Sky Screamer 200' into the air next.

Sky Screamer

Then we walked over to another section of the park. As we walked past Batman the Ride, I just had to go on it. Bob declined and waited for me at a shady picnic table and watched the parade of people go by. Batman's track is on the side of the car, so that allows the coaster cars to spin head over heels as they go around the track. In the first photo below, you can see the cars going up to the top of the coaster. Once the cars go over the top, the cars spin fast as you go around the rest of the ride.

Going up

Below you can see the cars on top, in front of the big cloud. 

Batman the Ride

Upon exploring a part of the park we hadn't been in before, we found the carousel and another water ride. We didn't feel like getting drenched so we skipped the two water rides that were open.

The giant Ferris wheel sounded like a nice, relaxing respite from the wild roller coasters, however the line was pretty long so we didn't go on it. Hurricane Force 5 was closed, so that was out as well.

The hot temperature and high humidity drove us indoors to Scooby Doo's Ghostblasters ride. This was the longest line that we encountered today. It may have something to do with the line being inside an air-conditioned building. We suffered through it. This is a kiddy ride, but you get to shoot targets with a laser blaster and earn points. We had a fun competition trying to outdo each other.

Somewhere in the Fiesta Boardwalk area we knew there was a teacup-like spinning ride. It's called The Hustler because the cars are shaped like billiard balls. As we waited in line to go on this we watched to see which cars went really fast. Once we got to the front of the line, we raced to car #3. Bob and I used all our strength to make that car spin. We were going so fast we slid around the seat. We had to let go of the wheel and hold on so we didn't fall off the seat. What a fun ride. We laughed and laughed and decided we need to take four more people on the ride with us so we're packed in tight and can't slide around on the seat.

The Hustler

You can put 4-6 people in these. Two people
literally rattle around inside when they go fast.

Bob in our "car"

Me on The Hustler ride

Snack time and we went in search of food that qualifies as a snack on our Dining Pass. We both got Choco-Tacos and sat to eat them in the shade of some trees. 

After a short walk, I decided to go on the Roadrunner Express Coaster. Bob waited for me in the shade. There wasn't a long line so he didn't have to wait long.

For the rest of the day, we ate dinner, watched people on the Gully Washer water ride, saw a show at Teatro Fiesta (singing and dancing), then went to Dead Man's Party in the Zaragoza Theater. 
 

Show stage

Dead Man's Party was a song and dance extravaganza that included Michael Jackson's "Thriller," "Phantom of the Opera," and many more numbers over the course of 45 minutes. We were very impressed by the quality of the show. "Phantom of the Opera" brought tears to our eyes.

From song and dance, we went to the bumper cars, aptly called "Fender Bender." I was doing great until I tried to give another car a push to free it from the edge. Bad mistake...for the rest of the ride, I was completely stuck in the corner and couldn't get out. Oh well, I'll never try to help someone out of a corner on a bumper car again!

Look out! Bob's behind the wheel.

Darkness had descended and the creepy creatures were out in the Scare Zones. Even though we didn't go to any Haunted Houses at the Fright Fest, we feel we got our money's worth in the park. 

Before we left, I shopped in the Looney Tunes store and got two new T-shirts: one says "Play Hard - Six Flags Fiesta Texas;" the other says "Love, love coasters, I (heart) roller coasters - Six Flags."

On the way out of the park, we went on Goliath, the roller coaster with the tracks on top. I wanted to sit in the front seat because you feel like a bird (or a bat - because it's at night) with no coaster cars in front of you. Bob was unsure about riding in the front car, but I talked him into it. 

After the ride I asked him how he liked it. He said I was "evil" because he had no point of reference (no tracks or cars in front of him). I got the impression he wouldn't do that again.

With that, we said farewell to Six Flags Fright Fest for this season. We'll be back for Holiday in the Park in December. 

We wore ourselves out this past weekend! Travel Bug out.
 

 

Scream Queen - Sat., Sept. 24, 2016

Tired...four hours sleep on Friday night...ten hours of work on Saturday. I was a zombie when I got off work. Bob, on the other hand, had run 14 miles first thing in the morning as part of his marathon training. In the afternoon he drove to Austin to hear Gary Johnson, Libertarian presidential candidate, speak. He had to stand in the meeting room because it was so crowded.

What do you do when you're tired and you feel like a zombie? Why, go to Six Flags Fiesta Texas Fright Fest, of course! That'll wake you up in a hurry.

Bob and I rolled into Six Flags about 7 p.m. It was still light outside. Dark, gloomy clouds loomed in the distance. Would it rain? Was there a possibility of thunder and lightning? Maybe, but with our season passes it didn't matter, we could come back another time if we needed to.

The park had been open since noon and would remain open until 10 pm. Maybe that accounted for the extremely short line at Goliath, the roller coaster with the rails on top where your legs dangle freely. Bob and I walked right up to the loading platform and were able to get on the second coaster that came into the station. Oh, how I love that coaster! I did get a little dizzy and when Bob asked me if I wanted to return to line and do it again immediately, I said no.

It was starting to get dark and we were hungry. Our next stop was Old Blue's BBQ restaurant. Bob had a chicken vegetable spud and I had a Texas style spud. My baked potato had brisket, cheese and BBQ sauce on it. Bob's spud had diced chicken, broccoli and Ranch dressing on it. The potatoes were huge and we could have shared one. I got pumpkin pie and Bob got a berry cobbler. The pumpkin pie didn't meet my taste standards and was almost frozen. The cobbler, on the other hand, was warm and yummy.

Next, I really wanted to go on Iron Rattler, THE most exciting roller coaster in the park. Bob decided he'd wait for me and hold our water bottles. The line for Iron Rattler was pretty long so it took me a while to get to the platform. Because I was a single rider, I was able to go ahead of some people to get on the coaster. I sat next to a guy and I said, "I hope you don't mind, I scream...a lot." He said he didn't mind. I told him it was my first time on Iron Rattler. He said, "The first drop is straight down. It's insane." I thought he was exaggerating.

Well, come to find out, the first drop is straight down. We go 70 mph! OMG. What a ride. That is one of the most fun coasters  I have been on. It was dark outside so I wasn't really sure what was coming next. The coaster does some tricky maneuvers including a zero-gravity roll. Wheeeeeee! When I got back to Bob he said I had been gone 36 minutes.

For Fright Fest, Six Flags Fiesta Texas has areas they call "Scare Zones." In certain places, the walkways are pitch black with blowing smoke and creatures come out of the dark to scare you. We walked through one Scare Zone on the way to Sky Screamer, a 200' tall tower with a swing ride on it. I could barely see where I was going! We did see a creepy monster-type character in the gloom but we were walking as fast as we could so didn't really get a good look at it.

Sky Screamer (not my photo)

The Sky Screamer is wonderful. You sit in the little swings and they lift off the ground. When they start going around, you go up and up to 200' in the air. You are higher than the sides of the old rock quarry where Six Flags is built. The view was awesome at night with the lights on the amusement rides. The ride goes pretty fast.

When we finished riding Sky Screamer, it was coming up on 9 p.m. and we decided to head home. With season passes we can go back any time. The evening was great and we didn't have any rain.

We especially liked the fact that we were in the park at night; no sunscreen was required and it was much cooler to wait in the lines...no hot sun beating down on us!

Thanks, Bob, for going to the park with me. You are a real trooper after the day you had.

Travel Bug out.

The Versatile Blogger Award Post

Thank you to Betty (Texas Yellow Rose) at Phoenix Once Again for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award. 

VBA Rules

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

• Add the award to your blog. Done
• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.  Done.
• Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.  Done.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.  Done
• List the rules.  Done
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you seven things about yourself. (I'll tell all of you.)

Seven things about myself you might not know:

1. I love bungee jumping! Never thought I'd do it because I'm afraid of heights. However on a familiarization tour to Nanaimo, British Columbia our tour stopped at The Bungy Zone (now called WildPlay Elements Park). I climbed to the top of the bungy bridge where there was a sign saying the oldest person (at that time) to have bungy jumped off the bridge was an 80-year-old man. I remember thinking, "If an 80-year-old man can do this, I can do it." I had a blast. That fear was conquered.
2. I did medical transcription for 15 years.
3. I love nature, especially waterfalls and animals.
4. My favorite drink is water.
5. For my mom's 80th birthday, my sister, mom and I took a three-week vacation around the American Southwest: started in Las Vegas, went to Hoover Dam, Lake Mead Recreation Area, Zion National Park, Bryce National Park, Kodachrome Basin State Reserve, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, Goblin Valley State Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Marble Canyon, Natural Bridges National Monument, boat ride on Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Pipe Spring National Monument and back to Las Vegas.
6. I am a roller coaster junkie...the higher and faster the better. My absolute favorites are the coasters with the tracks on top where your legs dangle free.
7. Pinochle is my favorite card game.

My nominations/awards go to:

1. Kit at Welcome to the Bertelsen Web Site
2. Carole at Cheshire Cats Capers
3. Lloyd at Wandrin
4. Our RV Adventures
5. Debbie at Fork in the Road
6. Jim & Dee at Tumbleweed
7. Bob at Texas Heat
8. Bob at Plead Ignorance
9. Mike at Phannie and Mae
10. Jim & Gayle at Life's Little Adventures
11. Andy at My Old RV
12. Vicky at Full Time RVing...Our Journey into Gate Guarding
13. Phil and Rudee at Workin' RVers
14. Peri and Jim at Tales from the Camping House
15. Steve and Joan at Friends of Steve and Joan