by When this event was announced, I knew I had to go! I hadn't been to MA
since 1998 when I discovered Shivering Timbers, my #1 wood coaster, and
#1 coaster in general. I had my flight booked, and I was ready to go. I
would fly out Friday night after work, spend two days at MA, and fly
home Sunday afternoon. I decided to fly right into Muskegon for
convenience.
FRIDAY:
Friday arrived and I was psyched for Timbers Fest! I got to the airport
and found a HUGE line. Turns out a lot of flights, including mine, were
either delayed or cancelled due to severe thunderstorms. I finally got
to the counter, there was no way I would make my connection. They
offered to get me to Chicago, stay over for like 6 hours and then
continue to Muskegon. I didn't like that, so they continued checking.
They could get me to Muskegon, but not until 2:50PM. Well, that wasn't
too bad. If I drove fast I could possible make the picnic and photo
tour. Oh, and they had to bump me to first class for the first leg of
the trip, oh well, I'll suffer! :-)
SATURDAY:
I got to Chicago, no problem. Then we boarded the plane for Muskegon.
Then we waited. Then the co-pilot announces that an important crew
member isn't on board. The pilot! Then we de-plane. D'oh! The pilot was
in a car accident! I didn't think I'd ever make it to Muskegon, but 30
minutes later we were boarding again and on our way. I finally got to
Muskegon around 3:30. I quickly got my rental car and checked into the
hotel and headed to MA.
I arrived at MA around 4:15 and got my event package. It was too late
for the picnic, and the photo tour was already under way, so I headed to
the coaster that brought me here, Shivering Timbers. I grabbed a ride in
1.2 with Tony Reynolds. One ride confirmed that this is my #1 coaster!
Pure, un***erated air time! Every hill has air, even the first half of
the double up and the entrance to the helix. Pure heaven!
After a few rides on ST, I had a double front seat ride on Wolverine
Wildcat with Dave Hamburger. It was a double because they overshot the
station. Oooops! But it was OK. WW was running better than I remember.
OK, back to ST!
I stayed at ST all night. During ERT all the rides were doubles! I ended
up getting 32 rides on ST on Saturday. The air time seemed to get better
(is that possible?) and they were letting us ride with two clicks on the
lap bars. Those seatbelts got a workout! Almost every ride I was
"hanging" from the seat belt! I rode a few times towards the back, but
the front is where the most air time is, so I stayed in the front two
cars. This is a must ride coaster if you haven't been on it. It's out of
the way, but worth the trip.
Oh, and there was a quick Q & A session before ERT where I asked if they
had Moxie, only to be shouted down by some RRCers. Sheesh! I know who my
friends are now! :-)
SUNDAY:
I arrived at the park around 10:00AM. They didn't open until 11:00AM,
but once again I was psyched to get in there! I was able to enter the
park around 10:45AM. I bought a bunch of ST patches at the gift shop,
then waited for the rope to drop at 11:00AM. I headed right to ST again.
It was running great in the morning! It was as if it never cooled down
over the night. After 3 rides a few people had to leave, so I grabbed a
ride on the Mad Mouse (190 for me) with Sean and the other people that
were leaving. Then I rode the Corkscrew (191 for me) and one ride on
Zachs Zoomer. Then back to ST! I was able to get 16 ST rides on Sunday
with Spatch, Mark, and Cindy. The lines were actually shorter than they
were during ERT! At 2:00 I had to leave though. Had to fly home. The
event was great and was definitely worth it, even though I missed the
picnic and photo session. I hope they do it again next year! It was
great to see everyone again and I met a few more RRCers including
DrHavocBOH and AndHart120.
Oh, and I had Tropicana orange juice for breakfast! :-)
Chris.
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