As some of you may know from her posts on here, Judy_P_in_Pgh is an avid kayaker and skier, as well as being a coaster-phile. For the last coupla years, she's put together an outing she calls "Coasters and Kayaks." People from her kayaking groups get together at Dorney Park on a Friday, and kayak on the Lehigh River, about an hour and 15 minutes from Dorney, on Saturday and Sunday. They camp out in Hickory Run State Park in the Poconos. Having gotten to know the Beastmaster a little, Judy was kind enough to invite me this year. I was leery of the rafting and camping, but would never turn down the chance to hit Dorney. Hadn't been since October '07.

I met Judy at the McD's across from the park. I got out of work at 1 and ran into some traffic at a toll booth, so I didn't get there until about 2:40. The reason for the meet-up there was to facilitate an easier meet and arrange a parking plan. Judy was accompanied by her husband, Jeff, and another kayaker, Carolyn. We were joined in the Park by yet another river rat, Phil. I hadn't eaten and they had finished, so Judy stayed with me while Jeff and Carolyn headed over to the park.

Weather was quite nice, high 70's-low 80's with brilliant sunshine..not too hot. I had a coupon to get 7 bucks off the gate, so I paid around $34. We had made plans to meet, all five of us, at Thunder Canyon at 4. Judy and I started with back-to-back rides on Talon, my favorite coaster in the park. As nice as ever, especially with no wait for a back seat. We met at TC as planned. Line wasn't bad, about 15 minutes. This is my favorite MECHANICAL raft ride. You're taken under every waterfall, so it's virtually impossible for anyone in the 8-person raft to stay dry. This was the most drenched I've ever gotten. I'm still waiting to see if my cell phone will pull through. I had planned on calling a friend a bit later, but the phone did not work. It was in my pouch, zippered up and under my Drachen Fire T-shirt.
Since we were already wet, we did White Water Landing (Shoot-the-Chute) and got a nice splash on that.

Moved over to Hydra. Walk-on. Obviously, as Judy mentioned and I hoped in separate previous posts, most of the day's clientele was at the water park at that time of day. Hydra's not a favorite of mine, anthough I've come to like it a bit. It's no better than my #4 floorless. Jeff isn't much of a rider, and he was to the far right in the rear seat. He came off as green as the track. The women and I did Meteor, which is still my favorite ride in the park. Best moment was Carolyn's necklaces going into her mouth and ending up on her nose at ride's end. The five of us took one ride on Talon, after which Jeff and Carolyn split. And then there were three.

Judy and I wanted to spin, so we rode the Enterprise. It's a big part of our respective lives, whether it's an Enterprise, Witches Wheel, or GAdv's Spin Meister. We headed over to Possessed. This would be my virgin ride on it...at this location. I don't care for the color scheme. I was surprised to see the logo hadn't been modified from Voodoo's to reflect the re-naming. I'm not a huge fan of these types...sorry, cue the technical terminology.. of coasters. All that being said, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Phil sat it out, so it was Judy and me. I was surprised by the little extra hang on the 2nd and final trip up the straight spike. Little extra "oomph" going back down.

Went to Steel Force. Shut down on lift hill just before we were to board after about 10 minutes waiting. Looked like a cell phone/camera type situation, rather than a mechanical one. We split the line and Judy and I rode Revolution while keeping an eye on SF. It re-opened, and Judy and I took a back seat with Phil directly in front of us. Smoother than on my most recent visits, and quite fun in the right company. As Judy and I debarked, the seat next to Phil was open, so I re-rode with him.
Thunderhawk's line was too long with one-train ops, so we skipped and Phil left for the Poconos. Judy and I finished with the Log Flume (very happy to get a boat by ourselves for some "quiet time,") and re-rides on Meteor...even better at night..and Talon. I wasn't feeling too well, and said I was done, causing Judy to exult in rapture, something along the lines of, "YOU MEAN I OUTLASTED THE GREAT BEASTMASTER!!!???" Yeah, she did, since it was my decision to stop. That was revenge for her though, because we earlier engaged in a debate/fight/argument/discussion over whether Possessed occupied the footprint of the departed Lazer. Me: NO! Judy: YES! Winner by a wide margin? Me. I could see the agony in her eyes when she admitted she was wrong. I grant you, that's not easy for a teacher and former Kennywood employee (did you know that?) to do. Good, if truncated, day at the park. And YES, I'm taking Possessed as my 252nd coaster..new location=different experience. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Headed to the mountains a little after nine, stopping at WEIS and McD's to get sustenance for Saturday's river trip.

I'll keep THIS part short. I enjoyed the HECK out of my first rafting experience. Since I was a newbie, Judy borrowed a "shredder"..a two person catamaran style raft with "Madonna-bra" pointy pontoons. The paddlers straddle the pontoons. Judy tells me I did very well, and I only fell in the water twice! And once on land! We covered a stretch of about 10 miles or more, and I got some nice coaster-style lifts and drops, as well as some unexpected airtime. Didn't sleep much in the tent, especially Friday. Various circumstances, including bad weather, made Sunday's planned rafting a no-go for most of the group.

My first REAL raft ride, first Possessed ride, and first tent ride..all in the same weekend! I'll take the river in a heartbeat!

Thanks, as always, for reading, gang!

Mike

* This Post Has Been Modified *

Sounds like you had a blast!

I, too, enjoy rafting. Took the kids to the Colorado River and did some mild white water rafting. It was fun! We bailed out of the raft to make it to the shore---except---the swift undercurrent got me and carried me much further than our debarkation spot.

It was a funny scene...totally bundled up in a cumbersome lifejacket, yelling to the onlookers at the shoreline, "I can't stop. Seriously! I'm not kidding!" LOL....I'm a very good swimmer, but that didn't matter against the flow of the mighty Colorado River. I finally made it to shore, grasping my waterproof camera with a death grip that Bela Lugosi would be proud of.

Please tell me you took pictures...and if so, can you post them here? That would be awesome!

Judy sounds like a really terrific person...and I gotta give kudos to all the husbands and wives of us coaster nuts who tag along and indulge us --- green-faced and all, lol.

So you are counting your coaster creds, eh? Wow...you've come a long way, baby!

I don't do that. Too much like work.

Glad you had a blast and tried new things. It's good for the soul.

~MommaBeast

> I finally
> made it to shore, grasping my waterproof camera with a
> death grip that Bela Lugosi would be proud of.

And I'm glad you did...otherwise, this board would be a little bit less interesting.

> Please tell me you took pictures...and if so, can you post
> them here? That would be awesome!

Nope..sorry. Judy's husband did, but I dunno if or when I'll see them. Even if I do, I'd have no idea how to post them.

> Judy sounds like a really terrific person

Yep.

> So you are counting your coaster creds, eh? Wow...you've
> come a long way, baby!

I've been doing that a while!

>Mike

>
>

I've never tried posting a picture before. Here goes ...

Edited: Fixed your photo - Moderator

Rats! Can anyone walk me through this?

http://jeffmacklin.smugmug.com/Whitewater/2009/2009-08-7-to-9-Coasters-Kayak/9808594_sUUgJ#666090391_EXKmM

>
> Please tell me you took pictures...and if so, can you post
> them here? That would be awesome!

> ~MommaBeast

Looks like you got your wish, MommaBeast, Thanks to Judy. There's also some pics from Dorney as part of the gallery she posted.

Mike

That looks like fun!

Here is the trick to photos. Find your photo on some web site. Right click on the photo (Control-Click on Mac) and "Copy Image Location". Then you can just paste that URL into the body of your post and the board will do the rest of the work.

The URL should end with something like .jpg .png or .gif. If you see that then you're good to go.

You can also use that Image URL shortcut at the bottom of the post form, but that will only allow you to post one per post.

> > > Please tell me you took pictures...and if so, can
> you post
> them here? That would be awesome!

> ~MommaBeast

> Looks like you got your wish, MommaBeast, Thanks to Judy.
> There's also some pics from Dorney as part of the gallery
> she posted.

> Mike

YAY!!
~MommaBeast, who admits she had a sneak peek at many of those cool photos!!
:)