CALIFORNIA & NEVADA ROAD TRIP
California Dreaming
Part Two: Nevada & California
With a crazy first week to our first mega adventure, things only got worse in part two! From Vegas to LA and back to Texas! If you missed Part One - A Texas New Year, click the link below!
Day 8 – It’s Vegas Baby!
Wake Up, Eat Breakfast, Go to Work, Visit Theme Park. We got on that fucking world record holding Star Flyer at Over Texas, ate lunch then it’s time to fly! Vegas! Never been to Vegas, I am quite excited, Gabby has been to Vegas, she is just as excited. Frontier airlines was not as bad as all my American friends and family have made out to me over the past couple weeks and a little nap on the plane has helped to rejuvenate the energy required for this mad part of the trip.
As we land, this annoying woman to the right of me kept her window shut so no Las Vegas views as we get into the airport, but as we taxi to our gate… there she is!
Pick up the rental car and get ready, here we are, it’s Vegas! Quick and easy and there is the New York New York. Park the car up and get inside. Walk past the randomly themed streets of Manhattan as we make our way up to the coaster platform. Why is the casino more impressive than the magnitudes of Six Flags attractions we have just experienced? We are queuing for that front row after spending a small fortune on that credit. as I want to see Vegas from the heights of an old Japanese manufactured coaster. My first and only Togo!
Time to quickly explore… Photos, Excalibur, The Strip. Perfect!
This way, no wrong way, run up the escalator. Oh, shit I almost went down. That was a close one. Wait GABBY NOOOO!!! One of the most hard core moments I have seen of Gabby, injuring her knee, and continuing with a smile and accounting it to, just being in Vegas. This didn’t slow the powerhouse of a Brazilian down one bit throughout the week, something I knew would have at least made me Scream, Louder!
Panda Express for Dinner, which was fucking amazing. Honey Shrimp rules the world! Our 30 minute quick stop is fast approaching 3 hours and we have a fucking big drive still to go but first… Let’s check out the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign!
Ok, time to go to California! Our Toyota Camry takes us in overdrive mode as we head through the desert to Valencia. On the way we passed the standing but not operating coaster Desperado at Buffalo Bill’s and Zzyzx Road which leads to nowhere, however is an awesome song from Stone Sour so a quick singalong and finally we made it to the Days Inn for 2am… Time to sleep!
Day 9 – Magic umm, is it raining?
Magic Mountain Day One! We are so excited for this. We have breakfast and then a sleepless Gabby is on a call as I check out the website… FUCK! Closed due to weather! Dammit, now what? We create a few ideas and, oh look what is open…
Day 9 – Knott’s Berry Farm!
I have literally just visited this place in September, but I did not get any night rides! We make the 1.5-hour drive and here we are, we are at the first Theme Park in America! Straight to Ghost Rider. The place is deserted, and the storms hold back, a perfect day for an Englishman at least to visit a theme park, the Americans on the other hand are usually pretty scared of rain!
Next up we head to Hangtime, a disappointment for Gabby. We did this a couple times just in case but no, just did nothing for her. We mop up the credits and water rides including the amazing log flume and randomly a plus one for myself as we get on the kiddie coaster.
Just a drama free day at Knott’s until… we find out they are shutting due to weather! We got Calico Mine Ride which I missed on my visit in September and then we had to run! We saw the lighting package on Hangtime and rode through the dark with tacky orange lights on Ghostrider. We couldn’t stay too angry at Cedar Fair for shutting early as the operations throughout the day was great as always.
Uber Eats Free Voucher for some more Panda Express and some quick shopping where I pick up some German Beer as it was the cheap option and a favourite from my tours in Europe.
Day 10 – When it Rains, It Piers!
So, it is going to rain more today, it is very doubtful that we will get any coasters in, and so other alternatives start to fill our minds. We have breakfast, Still no news, shit, Knott’s Berry Farm has just announced they will be shut. Ok still waiting… Confirmation, Magic Mountain is Open!
Ok plan today, lap as much as we can knowing that Friday will be sunny and busy. We get to the park, the excitement on Gabby’s face is overwhelming, we are really doing this, we are both back at Magic Mountain! Most rides are shut in true Six Flags fashion. We are scrambling looking for an open coaster and there it is, a good old trusty GCI, Apocalypse! A couple back to back rides while waiting on the next coasters to open. We walk further into the Underground Area, next to a shut West Coast Racers and on to Gold Rush… The only 2 people on the entire train, our own personal coaster experience.
Batman Clone, they never fucking shut, most reliable coasters ever but would I have traded this for either X2 or Superman in a heartbeat!
Gabby notices part of the running rail missing on Riddler’s, confirming there is no chance in getting this ready to go at anytime throughout our visit. But Wonder Woman has just opened! Time for 5 in a row on this RMC Single Rail followed by Lex Luther drop, Twisted Colossus which broke down the train after us and opposite to Scream, a new credit for myself… in the rain.
Rain is kicking in hard now, All launch coasters cannot operate in the rain, probably the stupidest thing I have heard at Magic Mountain that day. Next, we hit up a couple kids coasters, gaining a plus one for myself and a plus 2 for Gabby. I am also pretty sure we were not meant to be on one of these but fuck it, we’re coaster enthusiasts! The afternoon was spent in determination for Tatsu, which we got so close to getting on, we were next in the queue but the flyer went down. At least Ninja opened and so it was a new credit for myself. Ninja induced feelings of nostalgia from childhood memories at Chessington World of Adventures riding vampire, the same type of coaster. I think this is why I love these swinging Arrow inverts so much.
Another couple on Apocalypse and the day ended with a lapping session on Wonder woman with 11 rides. An early close to the park with complementary tickets to return, a pointless gesture for season pass holders and we were on our way to our next adventure.
With time to spare, we visited a couple outlet shops on the way to the very famous Pacific Park. The neon’s of the entrance looked fantastic as we entered the pier. A new credit for Gabby and a re-ride for myself was a perfect way to end the day. The park looked amazing at night and the walk felt very atmospheric. Pacific Park is very iconic in films and games including Grand Theft Auto.
A quick drive around Venice beach but it was too dark and maybe a little dangerous so instead it was back to the Days Inn for a night of rest.
Day 11 – Dude, where’s my Car?
We head to Magic Mountain for gates opening after checking out of our Californian motel. It’s a busy one, please say some other coasters open today! Unfortunately we were unlucky with X2 and Superman, however we got the Tatsu ride first thing in the morning. This followed with West Coast Racers and Full Throttle.
With the ride availability being an absolute joke with X2, Superman, Riddler’s Revenge, Viper, Goliath and more all being down, the queues were getting ridiculous. We picked up a couple fast passes each for Tatsu and Twisted Colossus after making a complaint and the day nears to an end. A very strange orange chicken and a kiddie credit which we got refused on during the day as they said they were prioritising children only, but at least it is a new credit for the both of us. Let’s go back to Vegas baby!
Right, where the fuck have we parked? Seriously has the car been stolen. This is the thoughts running through our heads as we go up and down constantly looking for our Toyota Camry. We wasted so much time and started to get a little stressed at this point but of course it was where we parked it and we’re off!
The drive was filled with plenty of songs, singing and talking bull shit as we go back to Nevada. Before returning the vehicle, we drove through the Vegas Strip and I am amazed seeing all these casinos I have seen in the media my whole life. Gabby takes me to Old Vegas which I instantly recognised everything when we got there. Going to start this next section with the caveat, we really did do Vegas wrong! We were probably the worst tourists to ever hit Sin City and we both know this!
It’s time to drop off the car and to do some gambling. We get to Excalibur and change our minds due to the very quiet atmosphere before settling with New York New York. Try and check in our bags but no, we are stuck with them for the night, this did not help our image. Gambling time but where the fuck is that woman for some free drinks??? It is $15 minimum on the black jack and I don’t have too much spare cash for this. I am a little nervous not to lose a small fortune but here we go. Things go bad to good, to bad to ok to whoops and $190 down. At least I got a Budweiser and Gabby got a Corona but more importantly, I didn’t bet my business! I enjoy Blackjack and so this was not a huge concern. It would have been nice to either finish even or up, but this is the game that I played.
Without being prepared to lose any more money, we have a laugh around New York, Vegas style and a little walk down the strip. ‘Never been to a Strip Club’ declares Gabby when telling me about her strip club training night last time she visited and so… we get an Uber to Larry Flynt’s. Plan was simple, we have 30 minutes, we will just go in and get a drink then we need to be at the airport for 4am. It is a lot busier than I thought it would be at this time in thy morning due to a porn convention. $100 entry each, this was probably the worst look for us, standing in the entrance to a strip club, during a porn convention both carrying luggage ready to fly and then turning around as we didn’t like the price. We looked so lame so we booked another Uber and headed to the airport as our time in Vegas came to an end. It may seem we did not do it right, but to me it was inspiration for when we return, Gabby has sent the list of demands for our next visit and next time we will do it right. Stay in Vegas, see a magic show, win at gambling and actually go in a sin city strip club.
Airport lounge time, I couldn’t drink any alcohol. I needed the sleep on the plane and food was not going down well for me. Gabby was getting through the offering creating her extra salty toasted bagel and eggs, I indulged in the orange juice! We get on the plane and luckily we got moved to a bigger leg room row. Time to sleep, there is no hotel tonight and this is it, but first, an amazing surprise as Gabby had a modified Brazilian baseball cap that she replaced the the front with a hand embroiled Coaster Breaks logo and it looks fucking Brilliant! Gabby is the type of person to keep a secret for a long time and ready to surprise you when you least expect it. Time to sleep, it’s our last day now.
Day 12 – Will We or Won’t We Freeze?
Waking up on the plane returning to Texas, disembark and we leave the airport as we head back to the Sleep Inn where our bags have been left throughout the week. As our Uber drives us to our accommodation, excitement increases as we see Mr Freeze test! Today is going to be a good day! An early check in, quick refresh and we are back for not only our final day at Over Texas but our final of our trip!
The missed credits, we get on the Intamin Bobsleigh to start things off, La Vibora which was a new type of coaster I haven’t yet experienced and was what Iron Rattler was to Gabby, La Vibora was the ride I struggled to pronounce throughout the week.
Mr Freeze! We queue the 30 minutes and get that front row ride. I started getting a bit paranoid before we loaded as the side, we were queuing for had to be manually released from their seats. We made sure we got multiple rides in, the best was after the coaster broke and reopened, we were first to get back in the queue. The big fuck up for the day however, neither of us took many photos of the coaster from outside the station. Next we actually got on Judge Roy Scream (Louder) and we ended with a plus 3 credits this day, crazy to think we have already visited the park 4 times! The last day is ending and so there is only one coaster we both want to finish our trip with.
As we sat on the back row of New Texas Giant for the last ride of our trip, emotions ran high. This is now ending with one final ride. This coaster has become very special, this was my 400 credit that I shared with Gabby and now was the closing coaster. That ride went down as the second best ride I had on New Texas Giant, as we approached the station, for the first time on our adventures, the staff cheered and sent us around again. Now this became the best ride.
Theme Parks and Roller Coasters – THE END
The evening was spent toasting our trip back at our Texas local bar, Bombshells. A busy night saw us waiting outside for a few hours before heading inside. I could have stayed drinking all night, even though we were both on a lack of sleep, but knowing this was the end of our adventure, it was almost a if I did not want it to end. We finish our last drinks and back to the accommodation, goodnight.
Texas Roundup
Travel does not always go to plan, things will always go wrong and adapting is one of the best parts of going away. If it wasn’t for the rain we would have never of gone back to Knott’s Berry Farm, with the rides being down in Over Texas, we would have never got crazy creating our strange videos. With our motel losing our reservation in Dallas, we would have never upgraded to the awesome Sleep Inn and have visited Bombshells.
From hitting the 200 credit for Gabby on Iron Rattler, to 400 for myself on New Texas Giant. Getting a taste of Vegas but waiting an eternity for the photos of Gabby so I could finish the trip review. Walking to IHop to meet an excited Brazilian for Pancakes and French Toast seems like an eternity ago.
“Hi! I would like to know if all the coasters are still open by the time of the winter tours”
Little did I know, on the eve of visiting Canada’s Wonderland last August and receiving this message on Instagram to my Business account, that in less than 5 months we would be going on an American Adventure of our own. Let alone if you told me we would be going to Port Aventura or even Alton Towers I would have been just as sceptical! That message and the person who cancelled the Halloween tour the day before I went to Canada changed my life. Before heading over to the States, I was concerned we may have booked too long a trip, but on the last day all I wanted was to go to another park, two weeks was not enough, and now I have some voice messages I need to listen too as more extended adventures and more trips awaits! #HesheyParkSeasonPass #BuschGardensPlatinumPass #ArieForceOneOpeningDay
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