Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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 12/18/2004 2:07:21 PM
Now, just to forewarn you, this report is going to be a bit long, and include things other then Dollywood. If you would like to read just about Dollywood, scroll down to that section.
I set out on Wednesday night, after work, and headed for Washington. It is a solid 3 plus hour drive and I needed to stop in Gettysburg on the way down. The drive was uneventful, it was clear, no rain (yet). When I got to Gettysburg, I headed up to Culp’s Hill. Here was a letterbox (www.letterboxing.org) that I had found last month that had no stamp. The owner of the box lives in California and had presumed the box missing after several such reports, but I managed to find it, though unfortunately the stamp was missing. So she asked me to get it for her when I got the chance and send it back to her.
So, no problem, it is dark out (the park is open ‘till 10PM for “ghost hunting”), and I am stumbling down a very rocky, jagged, log laden hill with not a soul around (no, didn’t see any ghosts either), and I somehow manage to find it with little trouble. Cool. Back on the road, I get to my uncle’s place (who conveniently lives in Leesburg), and collapse.
Up the next morning, I am off doing more letterboxing. I started doing this as a way to get into shape, and it is really fun. If gets you to some neat places that you would not normally get to otherwise. After getting some boxes at a local park, I hop on the Metro and head to downtown DC. The Metro is one of the nicest subway systems anywhere, very clean and modern, and a far cry from what we have here in Philly. Anyway, I get off at Roslyn, just across the river from the mall, and make my way to Roosevelt Island. There is a letterbox hidden on the island, and also there is the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial.
It seems like the right place for this memorial. Teddy Roosevelt loved nature, and while this monument is still in the heart of the city, it at the same time is separated from the hustle and bustle of the city, surrounded by nature, and in a very serine, peaceful location (with the exception of the occasional jet fling into nearby Reagan National).
Well, it was time I headed over to the mall. I could have hopped back on the Metro to go over there, but I looked at my map and decided it didn’t’ look that far, so I walked. There is a lesion to be learned here, maps can be deceiving. An hour later I finally reached the Lincoln Monument, and by this time it had started to rain. While the Lincoln Memorial is very nice, I’d been there and done that, I was instead headed to the new WWII memorial, halfway between the Lincoln and Washington Monuments. But first, there was another letterbox to be had, this one right b the Einstein Memorial (bet you didn’t know there was one, huh?). It is hidden just on the edge of the mall. The letterbox was cleverly hidden near it, and you had to know a little bit of astronomy to figure it out, as you had to follow clues that used the map of the galaxy built into the base of the memorial.
I now headed for the WWII Memorial, and at this point it as pouring rain, lucky I packed an umbrella.
This long overdue memorial is perfectly placed between the Lincoln and Washington Monuments. It does not interfere with the sightlines on these two monuments, while at the same time placing this memorial as the most prominent of its kind on the mall. It has a simple yet powerful design that seems to convey the importance of the event it represents.
I took a 360 panorama shot of it, you can view it here:
http://www.penncoasters.com/downloads/WWII.mov
After taking a bunch of photos…
[img]http://cyclonic.smugmug.com/photos/
Message updated 12/18/2004 2:13:27 PM by Cyclonic
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/18/2004 3:51:57 PM
another excellent TR
I didn't realize you were into letterboxing, cool hobby!
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It's not a choice between war and peace. It's a choice between war and something much worse.
Message updated 12/18/2004 3:57:40 PM by larrygator
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
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12/18/2004 5:11:12 PM
Awesome report, and boy does that park look beautiful. Sorry I couldn't make it 
I skied Ober Gatlinberg way back in the day, and it looked just like that (patchy snow).
So, is this your last trip 'till next spring, or do you have anything planned this winter?
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Pittsburgh Steelers: 2005 AFC North Division Champions (8th time in 13 seasons)
My Track Record
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Dukeis#1
Posts: 138
Registered: 12/2/2004
Rank: Bronze Critic
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12/18/2004 11:19:15 PM
wow. Great Pics (And report!)
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/18/2004 11:24:08 PM
That was really impressive! 
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coasterSS
Posts: 3249
Registered: 10/1/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/19/2004 9:12:30 PM
Nice job! That pyramid looks taller in real life doesn't it?
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
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12/19/2004 10:03:49 PM
Question for Cyclonic, how did you take such great photos of the Christmas lights? I've been trying to photograph some of the old plantation-style mansions in my town that are decorated for Christmas, but I can't seem to get it to look good.
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coasterSS
Posts: 3249
Registered: 10/1/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/20/2004 10:39:08 AM
I know this question is for cyclonic, but I have the same problem! I went to Bristol Motor Speedway (Because the whole track is decorated with lights) and I bought an extra memory card for my camera and all the pictures turned out horrible! 
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Thunderhead Maniac
Message updated 12/20/2004 10:44:03 AM by coasterSS
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Red Rascal
Posts: 7284
Registered: 1/28/2003
Rank: Croatian Critic
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12/20/2004 10:44:55 AM
I've had the same problem with my pictures coming out with horrible quality. Then someone told me it was like that because the image size was set on "VGA", I then turned it up to 3.1M and my pictures come out with much better quality and clearness. I don't know if this could help you out or not, but worth a try.
Also, is it true that there's no single riders on TT in the dark? Reason being? If this is infact true, and I don't get a few night rides on it, there'll be hell to pay after I dish out $40 just to get in.
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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12/20/2004 7:26:25 PM
OK, first I will post the rest of the report, then I will answer some of the questions:
So, after catching up with the rest of the group, we left the park at close to 10:00.
At this point I’ll tell you how I managed to be stupid and make the trip cost twice as much as expected. After leaving the park, we decided to head down the strip in Pigeon Forge and see what there was to see. I wanted to ride one of the skyscrapers. I had never been on one, and the one at Morey’s was closed last time I was there. There are several in Pigeon Forge, but after checking them out, we felt they were all far too overpriced. We did see a pretty cool go-cart track at the one place, so we decided to give it a go.
And this is where I was stupid. I thought I secured my camera in my pocket. I thought I had it zippered up. Well, I didn’t, and it fell out. Somehow it did not fall on the track, but bounced around on the go-cart’s running board for a lap until it was noticed. It got toasted:
Here I am all kinds of careful Friday in the rain, but on Saturday night, I am not careful and that is what happens. It was sad, but nothing I could do at this point. We headed back to the hotel and crashed.
The next morning, after breakfast, we headed back to Gatlinburg to do some shopping. I wanted to get some Christmas shopping done, and check out some of the places I saw the previous day but didn’t have time to look in. We also wanted to see if the alpine slid opened back up, it didn’t open early enough, unfortunately.
We started down the street, and Sam and Bob were stopping in every junk shop (think Jersey shore with no boardwalk), and Bob Z and I had no interest in that, so we broke off and headed for the nicer looking places. I managed to find all sorts of Christmas gifts as we explored all this little hidden shops in the town.
We got to Dollywood at 1:30, intending to do some last minute shopping there and head out of town by 4:00 at the latest. I did some shopping here as well (getting 20% off), got something to eat at Miss Lillian's Chicken House, which was interesting. It is buffet style eating, with Miss Lillian roaming the dinning room singing songs about…chickens? We all know about “Rudolf the Red nosed Chicken” right? It was fun, and the food was very good, particularly the Bar-B-Q.
So, after a little more shopping, it was up to Thunderhead Gap for me. Have I praised this coaster enough, I think not? This coaster seems to get better with every ride I take on it. There really is not a bad seat on the ride, great laterals, abundant airtime, and the last leg is a romp that just leaves you breathless, with a fury of airtime, turn, airtime, turn that is just incredible. And the nightrides? Lets just say, pure nirvana. This is, certainly, the best coaster I have been on. And the thing that really makes me happy, everyone, from young to old, come off with a smile, and seem to love the ride too.
Add that to a park that is just top notch, and you get one incredible experience. The food, the rides, and especially the staff, make this one of the best parks in the country, and it deserves much more reconization then it gets. I can’t wait to get back there in April, it is the same longing I have for my next trip to Knoebels.
Anyway, we headed from the park strait to the airport with no problems. Our flight was not just on time, it actually boarded and left early, and arrived at Dulles even earlier, by nearly 40 minutes. By the way, Knoxville has a very nice little airport.
I got to my uncles place in Leesburg and crashed, and even slept in the next morning.
I was pretty sore and tired from the weekend, the aching that started on Thursday had not let up all weekend, and I didn’t do the letterboxing on the way home that I had planed, but I did do some.
I first stopped at Ball’s Bluff. Not only was there a great letterbox series here, b
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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12/20/2004 7:29:20 PM
Quote:
larrygator said:
another excellent TR
I didn't realize you were into letterboxing, cool hobby! |
It is neat. I like it better then is cousain, Geocaching, as it is usually more crative, and can be much more challenging. For instance, look at this box I recentlyt planted:
http://www.penncoasters.com/letterboxing/thun.htm
Message updated 12/20/2004 7:30:12 PM by Cyclonic
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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12/20/2004 7:31:20 PM
Quote:
BobFunland said:
Awesome report, and boy does that park look beautiful. Sorry I couldn't make it
I skied Ober Gatlinberg way back in the day, and it looked just like that (patchy snow).
So, is this your last trip 'till next spring, or do you have anything planned this winter? |
That is it until spring. Right now, I plan to hit PKD and then head down to Dollywood in April.
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/20/2004 7:31:57 PM
Quote:
Red Rascal said:
Also, is it true that there's no single riders on TT in the dark? Reason being? If this is infact true, and I don't get a few night rides on it, there'll be hell to pay after I dish out $40 just to get in. |
You can not be the only person in the car, but you can ride single. You can ride single if there are two people in the row "behind" you in the same car. Otherwise you will have to pair up with a stranger. Therefore, a single rider can never ride in the last row. That's what the ride ops told three weeks ago.
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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12/20/2004 7:33:45 PM
Quote:
BobFunland said:
Question for Cyclonic, how did you take such great photos of the Christmas lights? I've been trying to photograph some of the old plantation-style mansions in my town that are decorated for Christmas, but I can't seem to get it to look good. |
I finally invested in a mono-pod. it was really nice, small and compact, but it was just what I needed to keep the camera steady for those long shots. Those are the nicer ones, I still had some duds. You can see all the pics I took here:
http://cyclonic.smugmug.com/gallery/320080
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/20/2004 7:34:00 PM
I'm sure if I knew Morse Code it would make it easier
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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12/20/2004 7:38:54 PM
Quote:
Red Rascal said:
I've had the same problem with my pictures coming out with horrible quality. Then someone told me it was like that because the image size was set on "VGA", I then turned it up to 3.1M and my pictures come out with much better quality and clearness. I don't know if this could help you out or not, but worth a try.
Also, is it true that there's no single riders on TT in the dark? Reason being? If this is infact true, and I don't get a few night rides on it, there'll be hell to pay after I dish out $40 just to get in. |
Yeah, I always shot at the best quality, partly because of that, and partly because you can't do much to improve the quality afterwards.
It is true, no singles on TT after dark. The ride ops are very accomidating however, they do everything they can to make sure you have a good time, but will not break the rules. For instance, at Dollywood you are not allowed to stay on the train if no one is waiting, you must exit and come around again, even during an ERT session. What they did do though was hold the train until you came back around, so once you got back around, you could get right on. It is stupid, but the lawyers are coming down hard on the parks, so they do what they have to do. I am willing to bet they would have one of the ops ride with you if you wanted that ride.
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Dukeis#1
Posts: 138
Registered: 12/2/2004
Rank: Bronze Critic
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12/20/2004 9:01:20 PM
This is the first year they require you to ride with a buddy after dark. Tennessee Tornado didn't operate during the 2003 holiday season, but in 2002 you could ride alone.
The park sure has some strange rules...
Message updated 12/20/2004 9:05:05 PM by Dukeis#1
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/20/2004 11:49:15 PM
I saw the signs about no single riders when I was there. My sister and neice went on Blazing Fury about ten times and left me to fend for myself on TT an hour before the park closed and the ride ops let me ride as I described. They said it was a new rule and they had to follow the lawyers' recommendations. They said they weren't breaking the rules for me. I asked because I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting anyone into trouble. Very Strange.
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