No post on Sunday

Ok it's not Sunday, but there will be no post today. Some other obligations have come up that have prevented me from being able to give you 2 top quality posts today. 

I will work to have them both put up over the weekend for you so please stay tuned. 

In the meantime please enjoy this factual statement about Mr. Willy Wonka. 

A Few days in Ilinois

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Iowa!

At the Harbor, the Best Pool

Well with a small break ahead of me, I started off to Illinois, The Land of Lincoln. I think its quite an odd slogan for a state. My drive took me across the Mississippi (I have never seen it before), through the rolling hills, and finally down into the suburbs of Chicago. Now for those of you who have never been to Chicago, I'm sure you have probably met someone who is from the "suburbs" of Chicago. For most cities if you refer to the Suburbs, they are usually within 30 minutes of downtown. However with Chicago that is not nearly the case, as you can live up to an hour and a half outside the city and people will still refer to it as the Chicago Suburbs. The city is just that massive.

So I was only really in Illinois for 1 full day, but I spent it with 2 of my favorite things: Pizza and Six Flags. First I met a few friends for lunch at the best Chicago Style Pizza restaurant: Ginos East! Some may argue this with me, however you do not have my taste buds. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of it, but just know that it was as incredible as always.

Me ad my friend Andrew

Then when the afternoon settled in, I met my friend Alex for an evening at Six Flags Great America. Last summer I interned with them and had an amazing time, so I hoped to see a few friends when I stopped in.

We weren't able to make it to the park until 5:30 because of a lot of traffic, but the park wasn't too busy so it all worked out. Once we reached the Harbor, I made a stop in each section to see what guards and supervisors were on-duty. It was really wonderful at how many people were excited to see me as well as asking all about what I had been doing.

Since they were all busy with closing duties, we left the harbor to ride NAMTAB (that's Batman

The Sun Setting Over The Harbor

Backwards). That's right, the famous inverted coaster was running in reverse. Now I have ridden plenty of coasters in my time, but it is pretty rare for me to find one that actually gets me scared the entire ride through. We rode in the back, i mean the front, but it was really the back. What I'm saying is we were in the location that would be the back if it were running forwards, but was facing backwards. Am I making it clear? It was incredible. I know the layout of the whole ride, but was still surprised at every twist and inversion.

X-Flight at Night

Now they were only running it for a short time, but have announced that they it will be running next at Six Flags Magic Mountain (Which is great for me as this is my home park!). So if you get the opportunity once it is running in the spring, be sure to make the trip!

Now we lucked out and found out that the park was going to be running extended hours that night as it was the first night of summer. All you had to do was show a photo of a flyer they had posted online and you were given a wristband for 2 extra hours of coasters!

When night fell, we made our way over to the new nighttime show, ignite! Its an outdoor show where
all of the effects are done by lights, lasers and video projection. Overall the show was very corny, and honestly the story line (starting with the Chicago fire) was really bad, and the projection mapping was nothing to call home about. HOWEVER, for a non-Disney park, it was fantastic! The show and stage has a lot to grow upon and I hope they improve it in the coming years.

Check out some more photos of ignite! over in the #LyfInFocus-Illinois Album.

Be Sure to Check out my next post: Indiana Beach!

Iowa

Welcome to Iowa

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Around Missouri!

So as you may have expected, Iowa is not really the most exciting state. That is not to say that there wasn't anything to see here. Iowa is a very flat state, and full of farmland as far as the eye can see. And for those of you baseball fans out there, it is also the state where "Field of Dreams" was filmed. But besides that? There is not to many noteworthy items out there.

My first stop was in a small town called Corydon, with a population topping out at around 1,600. Here are some facts about Corydon:

Corydon's Theater!

-The Grocery store is no larger than a 7-eleven.
-You are 23 miles form the closest McDonald's.

How does this bridge work?

-The movie theater shows 1 movie a twice a week. Once on Friday and once on Saturday, however it is in RealD 3D!

However it was a neat feel, because everyone knew everyone. I enjoyed this little town quite a bit, but was ready to leave by the end of the day.

Old Water park

Now one of my favorite places to stop and photograph are old closed down water parks and theme parks. I think they way the land grows around them and how they look all dead and dormant is really cool! Just outside Des Moines, I passed a closed down mini-golf course and water park right off the side of the road, so I took a quick minute to check it out. Definitely worth the stop in my book. I think the wave pool water needed to be changed ;)

One of my other stops that day was in Pella, IA (City Slogan "A little touch of Holland"). This city was neat because of the building architecture here. I wasn't able to snap any photos, but feel free to Google it!

Lost Island Water Park

In Waterloo I went to a pretty cool water park called "Lost Island Water Park." Lost Island is themed to be, well you probably guessed it, a lost tropical island! This park was family run and had tons of awesome rides and theming to rival any corporate park! They also had what I now consider to be the gem of all water slides: a ProSlide Hydromagnetic water coaster! These rare slides are fairly new, and propel riders up hill by Linear Induction Motors! Pretty cool ehh??? Well if you don't know what that means, its basically a water slide that goes uphill and is propelled by magnets.

Hydromagnetic Water Slide

You get airtime on the hills and the acceleration is awesome! If you ever have the opportunity to ride one, don't miss out! It was the highlight of Iowa for me.

My last stop was in a town in the middle of nowhere, Osage. I had to be up pretty early for this place because it was a 1 hour drive to the nearest hotel. It was very pretty there, and I even took a nap in my car with the windows down because the light breeze and warm air felt amazing.While I was napping however, I was awoken by a man driving down the road on his mower. I was truly in the middle of nowhere.... or just the mid-west.

A man just cruising on his mower

Well that wraps up the first part of my summer! Pretty crazy huh? So far, we're at June 20th, or 1 month since I left Purdue. I hope you have enjoyed reading these as much as I have had fun writing them. In the next week you can look forward to my mini-vacation in Illinois and Indiana, along with a quick stop in at Purdue! After that will be coverage of my 3 day drive to California. There will also be 2 theme park trip reports tucked away nicely in there.

My Visit to Six Flags on my break

I also ask my readers that if you were one of my friends to receive a post-card from me during my travels, to please take your photo with it and send it to me! If you didn't receive one and wanted one, then send me a private message with your name and address and I will do my best to send one out to you in the near future.

Thank you to everyone for your support, and please if you have questions or comments about my travels, please comment!

Didn't get enough photos? Check out more photos in the #LyfInFocus-Iowa Album!

Around Missouri

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Kansas City-Part 2 "Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun!"

Welcome to Maryville

Well my week in Kansas City was a blast, but I was ready to get back out on the road. A little over 2 hours north was my next stop, in Maryville. Out of all the small town that I visited this summer, Maryville was easily one of my favorites. The town of just under 12,000 people, is mainly kept afloat by the local university: Northwest Missouri State University (Go Bearcats!). With the amount of school spirit in this tiny town, it could easily rival a major university. The campus was small but very pretty with how open everything was.

Great Pizza!

As with most small towns, everyone was extremely friendly, and during my audit at their community pool, I had an awesome time talking with their guards and managers. I even happened to pass a few of them in the local Wal-mart the day after and they made sure to come up to me to and say hi again. I ate a small family pizza shop and had some of the best pizza on the road! I also ate at the Applebee's and had a blast with the bartender, who joined my team for their trivia night. Someday I hope to return to this town, it was a blast.

Cows!

So after leaving Maryville, I headed east, and passed through the "Tri-C" area and met some cows who were very interested in what I was doing. I took a quick stop to go and say hello and snap a photo. And driving the back roads of Missouri wouldn't be complete without being slowed down by a combine on the road.

Very Nice Comfort Inn

My last city in Missouri, was Chillicothe. A slightly larger town, with still not much going on. However the notable stop here was the Comfort Inn & Suites that I stayed in. It was only 3 years old, but had won the #1 ranking for their brand for the last 2 of the years. And they didn't disappoint!

Eating like an Adult

The decor was awesome, and the rooms were very comfortable. Right next door was another Applebee's, where I realized that as an adult, I could order an appetizer, skip the main course and go straight to dessert! Definitely a great decision.

Didn't get enough photos? Check out more photos in the #LyfInFocus-Around Missouri Album!

 Be Sure to Check Out my Next Post: Iowa!

Kansas City-Part 2 "Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun!"

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Kansas City-Part 1 "Welcome to KC!"

Worlds of Fun!

The Patriot

Well after a few audits in the area, I decided to take a day off. And what better to do on a day off than to go ride new roller coasters! The local Cedar Fair park is World's of Fun/Oceans of Fun, and is themed off of "Around the World in 80 Days". When I arrived, the parking lot was deceiving and made it seem as if it was going to be packed, but once I was inside I immediately realized this would not be the case. I came around 5PM for their evening discount, which would give me 4 hours of solid coaster riding before they closed at 9PM.

My first ride of the day was "The Patriot", a B&M inverted roller coaster. With station length loading, I was on within 5 minutes. It was a great coaster, and was truly amazing to be riding a roller coaster again for the first time since October. With my feet hanging free, and the cool breeze rushing past my face, I was in pure coaster bliss. After 4 inversions, I quickly ran back through to the front of the line for more. Just as good as the first time.

Funny Warning Sign

Next I headed down to "The Timber Wolf", or as locals call it

Front of The Line Passes

 "The Wimper Wolf". It was a typical wooden coaster, and was a great one for kids to get their start on. In the line I found a funny sign (pictured here) and thought this should be common sense. Unfortunately while waiting in the station, (which had a grand total of 8 people), it broke down and they had to call out maintenance. During the downtime, I talked with the ride operators, many of whom had worked this ride for 4 years (and also it was their first coaster as a kid!). After maintenance left and we boarded, I rode the expected to be rough coaster, and when reaching the brake run by the transfer track, the brakes tripped a sensor and we have to be evacuated from the ride. Not the dramatic, full track walk, that most enthusiasts hope for, but cool none-the-less. We were then handing Roller Coaster Gold: Front of the Line Passes. While it wasn't too significant to receive these on a day like I had visited (as there were really no lines at all), It was still cool to get them.


My next ride was an S&S Double Shot tower. Was pretty decent and provided a great view of the park.

Next I attempted to walk to the other-side of the park for some of their other attractions. I say attempted, as many of the main walkways were temporarily closed off for some big trucks to drive through with stage equipment for the next days Christian Rock festival. Next up was the Boomerang. Nothing special, standard Boomerang.

From here, I traveled to the parks tallest coaster: The Mamba. People were raving about this one, but
I didn't get it. But had fun anyways on this long-trained Morgan coaster. I will say the ride-op here was a little to enthusiastic about his job.

I then started to walk towards the other wood coaster, but stopped when I saw quite a unique sight. The Rapids rides loading dock had been drained and all of the employees were wearing life-jackets. I thought at first that maybe there was a rescue happening, but after surveying the scene (E&A people feel free to chuckle), I saw that 2 rafts had wedged themselves stuck when moving into the storage area. Check out this video of how theme park maintenance gets the job done. 

After a brief stop for some comedic relief, I made the trek down to "The Prowler". This was a great woody, and would itself through the surrounding trees and hillside for a thrilling 2.5 minute ride!  This was the only ride that had any sort of wait, so I decided to utilize one of my front of the line passes. So I proudly walked up the exit ramp, excited to present my golden ticket, however the ride

operated looked very upset when I showed it to him, and when asking where I wanted to sit I told him the front. He then proceeded to announce to almost the whole station that "Hey people waiting for the front, you are going to have to wait to ride because this guy has a pass". Glares all fell upon me as I walked on to board. I felt as if I had committed a theme park crime. Waiting for them to clear the train for dispatch, while 3 feet to my right were angered guests who had waited in line started me down, was an awkward experience. But soon after, the train was sent on its way and I had a great time! The Prowler uses Millennium Flyer Trains, which are smooth and still provide plenty of airtime. One of my favorite wooden coasters to date.

With about an hour left until the park closed, I got in line for "Spinning Dragons". A cool mini coaster where the cars spin freely based on the weight distribution as it glides through the twists and turns.

I ended my day with 2 final rides on The Patriot before saying goodbye. Overall World's of Fun was a
great park. It had all the standard coasters and attractions, and even a few unique experiences. I was quite happy with it being so slow during my visit, as it allowed me to see all of the park. It would be a few weeks before my next coaster day, so it was a great way to hold me over.

Be sure to check out more photos in the #LyfInFocus-Worlds of Fun Album!

Be Sure to Check Out my Next Post: Around Missouri!

Kansas City-Part 1: "Welcome to KC!"

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Wichita.

Great Wolf Lodge, Kansas City

Kansas City, KS/MO. Home of the Chiefs, killer Bar-B-Que and more roads crossing state lines than
any other city! Kansas City is split partially between Kansas and Missouri, so it is very likely that in your daily commute you will start in one state, pass into the other and pass back into the first before the even arriving at work! Its all quite confusing.

My stay in Kansas City lasted about  a week, which was nice because I was able to have some sense of normalcy by returning to the same room every night and not having to repack my car every day. It was also great as I needed a new case for my phone, but the one I wanted from OtterBox could only be ordered online and I was never in a place for long enough to get it shipped to me in time. This case is pretty awesome too, as it has a battery pack inside that gives me about twice the battery life (enough to last through a whole day!), as well as the legendary defender protection. Needless to say it was a pretty exciting day when it was delivered.

Schlitterbahn Kansas City

While I never ventured into the actual downtown area, I did plenty of driving all around it. My stops included both a Great Wolf Lodge (which is awesome for families!) and Schlitterbahn and a few other parks in the area. Schlitterbahn was pretty cool because they had a FlowRider, and only 1 other person riding. On days when I know there is a FlowRider, I get to the park early just to get a few runs in before getting to work. The rest of the park was pretty cool, because all of their attractions were connected by their now infamous "Transportainment" concept (where you can access most of the attractions without even getting out of your tube!). They also had a Soaring Eagle recently installed which was neat to see.

Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue

My time in Kansas City couldn't be complete with a trying some legendary KC BBQ. If you ask the locals, they all recommend one place "Oklahoma Joe's", the gas station location. That's right, a world famous BBQ restaurant is in a Gas Station. After arriving, I think of it more as a gas station is located in a restaurant. For the history of Oklahoma Joe's, be sure to check out their website. But if you ever consider a visit, keep a few things in mind:

My meal at Oklahoma Joe's

-There is always a line.
-If you come around lunch or dinner time, be prepared to wait 30 minutes or more.
-You aren't allowed to hold a table while you are in line, however because of this rule, there is always a table available. There is just some kind of magic that makes it work this way.
-All of the food is good, but don't pass up on the brisket!

Schlitterbahn River

The food was delicious and the prices were extremely reasonable. Be sure if you pass through Kansas City to make this a must see/eat!

All in all, I loved my time touring around Kansas City, and can't wait to come back. In the next post, I make my first non-work theme park stop at World's of Fun!

Be sure to check out more photos in the #LyfInFocus-Kansas City Album!

Be Sure to Check Out my Next Post: Kansas City-Part 2 "Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun!"

Wichita

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: Stillwater Station.

Welcome to Kansas

Before starting to travel, we were all told that Priceline would be our best friend. And for the most
part, they weren't lying. When I booked my hotels I did so in 1 of 3 ways.

1. Marriott- For weekend rates, these are killer. In almost any city you can get a room on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday for about $69 a night at one of their business level properties.

2. Priceline.com Express Deals- They tell you the area, a few amenities and the star level of a hotel for a discounted price and you book without knowing the name. For most areas you are able to look at the list of hotels and figure out which one the express deal is going to get you.

3. Priceline.com Name Your Own Price- This can get you some awesome deals if you work the system right. I've been lucky enough to get some $300 per night rooms for about $50.

If you want some tips on Priceline bidding or express deals, let me know I've gotten pretty good at it!

Hyatt in Wichita

Well when I looked ahead to book in Wichita, I decided to book in the city using Name Your Own

View from my room

Price. I ended up scoring a Hyatt Regency (3.5 stars) for $50! This hotel was awesome. Any I ended up picking a great time to visit Wichita, as they were having their annual  RiverFest, which took place right outside the hotel. There were Zip Lines, helicopter rides, carnival rides and fair food! It was pretty awesome.

When i'm alone I can double dip!

One of the hardest parts of being on the road alone... is well... being alone. If you have never gone to dinner by yourself, or even more-so, gone to the movies by yourself, it is quite an interesting experience. While in Wichita I went and saw 2 movies: The Great Gatsby and The Hangover Part 3. Wichita is fortunate to have some very nice movie theaters, large screens, plenty of seats and beautiful digital projection. Now The Great Gatsby I had been looking forwards to seeing for quite a long time, and if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend it. Oddly enough as I write this post, now months later, it has just come on video and I hope to purchase it later this week.

While in the theater for Gatsby, I had most of a row to myself, and the theater was maybe 20 percent full. Just before the previews started, an older couple came in and sat right next to me. They had the choice of almost any seats in the theater, by they chose the ones right next to mine (they didn't even leave a 1 chair gap!). There wasn't even a greeting from them, almost as if they didn't recognize me sitting there. Well I almost let it fly, until they talked all the way through the previews and into the first 2 minutes of the movie. I finally moved, but seriously how rude!

Meal in my seat in the theater!

When I went to see the Hangover, I chose a different theater. This one was one of the theaters where they serve you your meal in your seats! It was pretty awesome. The food was pretty good, reasonably priced, and they even served reasonably priced alcohol! The experience was awesome, and was not disruptive at all. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend it!

So overall, I loved my short time in Wichita, and hope to return on another trip.

Be sure to check out more photos in the #LyfInFocus-Wichita Album!

Next its Off to Kansas City, where I will break it down into 2 parts for you.

Be Sure to Check Out my Next Post: Kansas City-Part 1 "Welcome to KC!"

Stillwater Station

Be Sure to Check Out My Previous Post: See Norman!

So when I received my routing and found out that I would be in Oklahoma, Stillwater was on my radar of places that I had to see. If you are wondering what the significance of Stillwater, OK is to me, then you are in luck!

During my time at Purdue, I was heavily involved with the Bands department, eventually becoming a sister (yes a sister) of Tau Beta Sigma, Honorary Band Sorority (its a co-ed organization, but is technically considered a Sorority). Anyways, our national headquarters is located in at Stillwater Station in Oklahoma and is shared with our brother organization, Kappa Kappa Psi (also co-ed).

My visit happened on a Sunday so the office wasn't open, however everything surrounding it was. Stillwater Station is an old railroad depot, which was dually as cool for me as I love trains. The building itself was very well preserved. Surrounding the main building was a preserved train car as well as a paved brick pathway.

TBS and KKY currently have a program where chapters or individuals can buy personalized bricks to help repave the surrounding area of the depot.

This short 15 minute stop out of my whole summer meant a lot to me. I have given alot to this organization and it has given a lot back to me and it was truly an honor to visit. For those who are also part of either of these two organizations, I encourage you to make the journey someday.

For more photos be sure to check out the #LyfInFocus-Stillwater Station album!


Stay tuned for the next post: Wichita!