CAC weekend part 1
Associated parks:
None
Awoke at 10am, and we realized neither of us took anything warm to wear; nothing remotely long-sleeved. The weather looked dicey. Quick stop at Wal-Mart fixed that. Got food, left town.
Louis Black kept us laughing for the first part of the drive to Silverwood, in Athol Idaho, where we would be among the 48 or so in attendance for Coaster Alley Convergence. After Mr. Black, I do believe it was Dream Machine (Jeff?) who got us past the barren wasteland and into and through Spokane. From there, some really cool experimental jazz took us to a gorgeous sight; two beautiful looking wooden coasters beckoning us to Silverwood Theme and RV Park.
Upon entering, we met up with Matthew (mOOSH), Jim, and David, who had the luxory of having 2 days there. We got the skinny on the park, and met up with Bill and Jill. Then the group of BJ,JR (collective term for Bill, Jill, Jeff, and me,Rob), went to get a day ride on Timber Terror, while MJD got a bite to eat. After a 30 minute or so wait, we were on.
Now I love out-n-backs more than twisters, with Shivering Timbers being one of my all-time favorites. While I really enjoyed TT, ST had nothing to worry about in my opinion (an opinion, it turned out, that was to radically change come evening). From there we met back up with Matthew, and were introduced to Ben (Railshark), a Seattlite and fellow enthuisiast. That afternoon, we found our way to a bit of history, The Corkscrew. It was the first modern coaster to invert riders when it was located at KBF, where it opened in 1975.
It hasn't aged well, IMO. But considering it's 28 yrs old, it could've been much worse. No re-rides.
We aslo found a Skydiver there; I love these! Like putting a tobaggan car on a ferris wheel. Yipee! Very, very, spinny, with Ben and I in one car and Bill and Jill in the other.
With Bill egging us on to flip the car while the contraption was still in the loading process, we obliged, begrudgingly. See, I like spinning when it's moving around in circles; I can't tell which way is up anyways, so the spinning and the flipping, well, isn't as noticeable. Stationary, however, is a different ball game (he-he, heh...). It's not so much that I get sick, no not that.; it's just very unnerving. Kinda like tempting fate; we will be doing plenty of acrobatic feats of astounding stupidity soon enough, so why stretch my luck by showing off to all the quivering folk on the ground below waiting to board? Would I do one of these again? In a heartbeat!
Group photo of attendees at 5pm. Door prizes were handed out. I was not a recipient.:(
The group decides to get a ride in Tremors while it's still light out. At least it was when we entered the queue. But by the time we got to the station, it was pretty much past sunset. Fine by me. More surprises when I can't see where I'm going. Bill (rollergator) gets the ride before me, and after he exits his seat, he comes over and puts his hand on my shoulder, stares me in the eye, and says "Rob Bob, you are so not ready!". I take my seat, wondering what the heck that means.
Upon returning to the station, I find Bill, put my hand on his shoulder, stare him in the eye, and said "Bill, I was so not ready!". Cornball, Legend, Raven, whatever; move over! Tremors, for me, rises above all! Maybe because the first ride was at night, when it had been running all day, and I couldn't see the changes in direction that well. Who cares! It now sits atop my list. I was in freakin' awe! There was a point when I experienced the longest, sustained, floating out of my seat airtime I have ever experienced on any coaster, and my heart was won over. Cresting one of the last hills in the course, I was completely off the seat the entire way down, and into the tunnel that went deeper than it seemed it should, then finally hit the seat, albeit briefly, as the train headed up to the top of the next hill, where I promptly came out of my seat again, for the umpteenth time during this ride. But that was just one highlight of a ride I can't even begin to describe. It's fast, filled with generous air, over-flowing with intense laterals, and just plain kicks butt!
From there, a night ride on the log flume. Bill, Jill, Ben and I decided to be fearless, even though it was much cooler out and approaching 9pm. And with only a 25ft drop, how wet could we get, really? The ride itself was extremely fun, with a section that swiftly picked up speed as the course headed downhill to the lift. Now, the splash itself was not that big. However, the water guns for evil people on the sidelines can be sweat-inducing. We knew that Moosh, Jim, Jeff, and David were waiting to ambush us. So we tried to lay low; it was, afterall, dark now, and we were hoping that if we remained silent, they would not know which log was ours.
Yeah right. MJJD positioned themselves with plenty of room to spot us, and they must've had on night-vision goggles, because us log-riders all heard a very loud "There they are!". And then a very long stream of water, appeared in front of us, spanning the entire length of the course. Perhaps they jumped the gun? Maybe it would quit just as it got to us? Diamonds Are Forever quickly played in my head, but we had no M gadgets available at this point for our breath-taking getaway, and I watched in horror as the front of the log passed under a thick sheet of falling water with no respite in sight! And soon, we all followed. Oh Man!!!! That's COLD! As we all exit, each of us 10 pounds heavier than when we boarded, with not a dry spot on any of us, Moosh explains that the same thing happened to MJD just minutes prior...
Yeah, but I didn't do it! And since when does two wrongs make a right? And what's your excuse Jeff?;) Well, to give you all a fair warning; you won't know where, or when, but you will know why!:)
After a quick change in the parking lot, we returned prior to ten for the 3 hrs of ERT on the two woodies. Since Tremors had the longer line, with a lot of GP still getting their final rides, it was off to TT for me.
Wow! What a difference! At night this thing tore through the course! The most airtime I've ever experienced on a double-up by far! Amazing! Move over ST, I still love ya, but it's now TT all the way. Three rides in a row without even stopping in the station (once we barely even slowed down) and I knew this was the best $25 I had ever spent on anything in my entire life! Up front, TT ran as smooth as glass; very impressive. And the final helix up made the loudest, most awesome sustained screeching sound (in a good way)I've heard on a coaster to date. Total bliss!
And that 3-peat set the tone for the entire night. On both rides, we would go through the circuit 2-3 or even 4 times without stopping in the station. Other riders waiting in line would tell the ops "send them through again, we'll wait!", a gesture we all would echo at various points throughout the night. And that was a great feeling! To be among folk who were just as happy with your getting multiple rides in a row as they were with riding themselves. As the trains came into the stations, they would signal their approval of your re-riding by turning their backs ("No-one here"), stepping back from the queue, sitting on the floor or flat out telling riders "your outta here!"
At 1230am, I was ready to drive the 2hrs+ back to Moses Lake. I had ridden both coasters dozens and dozens of times, in all sections and on all sides. Too much of a good thing can be bad, and besides, I will return, that's a fact!
I must, must. find a way back for CAC next year...
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Drop the 't' at the end, and add a second 's' ;)
I second everything that he said. Tremors is insane, and truely a top coaster out there.
Timber Terror? Well, it's everything that I wished Shivering Timbers had been. :)
Bottom line, Silverwood is way the hell out of the way, and I'm sure 99.9% of the people on this site live nowhere remotly near it. It doesn't matter....get a cheap ticket and go there :) Nice little park, but the 2 woodies put this park right at the top alongside Holiday World and Knoebels.
Oh, and that band was "Dream Theater" :)
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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson
Mike Case
I still can't believe you all rode the flume so late at night...you became victim to my evil plan so dang easily ;)
I also agree about the two Silverwoodies. Tremors i snow my new #1 woodie and Timber Terror is my favorite out-and-back coaster and will definitely land in my Top 10, if not Top 5.
mOOSH
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