My delightful, lovely wife and I made it down over the weekend as planned, and I thought I'd share some observations.
1st: NEWSFLASH: Paige had a Friday ngiht/Saturday OFF! We missed seeing her but were glad to hear she got a break during the busy season.
Weather was as near perfect as no matter on Saturday. The city expected about 11,000 guests and was right on track to meet it. I know the PTB would probably have liked to have seen half again as many, but the City was much more pleasant to walk through than it wold have been. Lines were very short.
There seem to be two distinct crowds nowadays: those that go to the Flag Raising/Veteran's Recognition/Opening and those that march straight to the line for Outlaw Run. I'm trying to avoid drawing too much conclusion from too little evidience, but my observations back in March were repeated this past weekend: most of the ones in line for the coaster showed little or no respect for the flag or the vets. I hope they eventually come to realize what they are missing.
Speaking of OR, it was apparently down for some time. We didn't hear much complaining, but we were tickled to see that, when the ride went back into operation, a City-wide alert hit the Citizens' pagers. We were talking to Terry, and he made a point to let folks in the area know that the coaster was up and running. The PTB and the Citizens are doing everything they can, it seems, to make sure those who want to ride it get the chance.
We rode the train twice, the second time being the last trip of the day but one. Since the crew was less pressed for time, the boys claimed a Ma--the first time we'd seen that in almost 3 years. They all must have been tired, as the lines took a beating, but it was all great fun, especially for those of us who knew the lines were taking a beating.
There's a new conductor on the line, a young fellow named Devan (the spelling is a guess). He was obviously a bit inexperienced, but he did a VERY good job.
Tried the Prickly Lime for the 1st time--good stuff, but Habanero Zest is not for the Faint of Heart. The OR ice Cream is *very* good as is the OR Taffy.
The Stunt Dog show was pretty good, but the pounding music and the strobes gave me a real headache. Can't we enjoy the dogs without the phoney effects? I wonder if it gives THEM a headache. . . .
We saw mean Murphy for the first time and really enjoyed it. My wife let the girl organizing the line borrow me, and I have a pic to prove it
We listened to the Pickers both at 9:30 and at 11:30, and my wife asked for "Ghost Chickens," so I got voluntold to do the rooster. I hope I didn't scare anyone off! I like the new guy, Walt. He has a great voice and fits in pretty well. If you see them, get them to do the "Hillbilly Wrap." If it doesn't have you rolling on the ground, check your pulse.
My wife was delighted: she snagged two employee pins. She needs another lanyard, now: one for keeping and one for trading.
We got there about 8:00 (giving us time to talk to Jill the photgrapher) and left at 7:00, so it was an all-day Great Past!