Photo TR: Natatomic does the West Coast Trip

by **BeemerBoy** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:15 am

^ Now you definitely can't wait until Christmas for your next post. That would just be awful. Awesome to see you're ahead of schedule on the report, Nat. Lovin' every minute of it!

Facebook · by **CorkscrewFoley** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:03 am

Nat, I have to ask, but what was the first best concrete corridor you went through?

As always, your captions are hilarious. Keep up the good work.

by **dandaman** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:58 am

natatomic wrote:^I never think to look at my post count either, but oh crap. My next post (probably the CGA update) will be #666! Hmmm, I'm gonna have to find some way to sneak some crucifixes and holy water into the report.

That or just go for the ol' "Cedar Fair really IS evil" trick.

by **natatomic** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:24 pm

Day 4: California's Great America

Okay, so this didn't end up being my 666th post. Shame, because it would've been rather appropriate for the park, I think. There really isn't much for me to say about this CGA. The only coaster I really enjoyed was Flight Deck, though it nearly killed me with it's intensity. It was small, but it was a bi- well, you know where I'm going with that. Other than that, it's your typical Cedar Fair park - trashcanapalooza, uninspired theming, lots of concrete and asphalt, little shade, and a couple of mediocre coasters that beat you up. However, I'd have to say it was my least favorite CF park that I had been to up to that point (I had yet to go to Knott's. Blegh.)

(Also, as I was uploading THE VERY LAST PHOTO, my computer froze and I thought I was going to have to restart it. OH the welling of the tears! I was 3 seconds away from throwing the computer across the room and downing a prozac with a vodka chaser, when it miraculously righted itself and all was well again. Honestly, this update is not my best - it's one of those 'gave it a lick and a promise' type of updates - but it still took FOREVER, and I was not amused at the thought of losing it all. Okay I really need to hit submit before my computer spazzes on me again.)

by **Mike Austin** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:21 pm

LOL. Fantastic report Natalie.
I love the photo captions. Even the ones which are just pure cheese, I still laugh at. ::)

I want to go back in time. :cry:

by **natatomic** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:18 pm

^Thanks Mike! And in case I haven't done this yet, thank you to everyone for all the lovely comments so far!

CorkscrewFoley wrote:Nat, I have to ask, but what was the first best concrete corridor you went through?

The Utilidor, of course. :mickey:

by **sfmmrules!** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:53 pm

Survivor was fun but I can't go on it anymore since it spins same w/Delirum & Endavor & even the Flying Eagles & Celebration Swings & the Spongebob Boatmobiles. Those all make me feel sick after! Oh & even the Berserker oh & Centrifuge.

Endavor is my favorite. Too bad I can't go on it. At least the Drop Zone at CGA is one of the tallest. Vortex & The Grizzly are the ABSOLUTE WORST. The Demon & Top Gun are ok. The Demon was my first upside down coaster back in 1993. I'm sorry but I'd much rather have Stealth over that dumb water park & Greased Lightnin instead of Firefall.

by **the ghost** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:23 pm

That Chinese joke took a sec, but lmao,that was amazing. Probably one of the most awesome captions ever.

by **natatomic** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:29 pm

Day 5: Six Flags Magic Mountain

First of all, sorry for the delay. Though in all actuality, what I really should be saying sorry for is getting your hopes up by doing the previous updates so regularly, because that's not like me AT ALL. This speed, one update every week or two (sometimes three!), is more like it. However, I really WAS going to be good about this whole trip report and be on top of things, but last week was just a bad week. A terrible, depressing week. I got my heart broken and then - even WORSE - my camera broke. My fancy-shmancy, very expensive camera. The one without which this trip report would not be possible. And then my Nalgene bottle broke, and I JUST LOST IT. LIFE WAS NOT WORTH LIVING AT THAT POINT. OH WOE WOE WOE. But I got over two of those three things (that damn Error 99 message on my camera is just MOCKING me), and I am now here to tell you, gentlemen and/or stalkers, that this girl is once again available, and that title of mine underneath my username is no longer a tease but true as the holy gospel. So, if any of you out there are about to pounce on this opportunity to woo me, feel free to buy me a new camera. Or just poke me on facebook. Whatever, I'll take either, the low maintenance girl that I am.

Anyway! Trip Report! Six Flags Magic Mountain! I love Six Flags Magic Mountain! After all the negative things I'd heard about it in the past, I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful it was. Of course, it didn't hurt that they gave us a bonus entry and ERT on Goliath the night before our official day at the park and then ERT on six - count 'em, SIX - coasters ON the official day. OH, and those fantastic Gold Q-bots, how deeply my love runs for them. It was all so perfect. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if the entire park was indoors and air conditioned because I really was this close *thumb and pointer finger only hairs apart* to dying from the heat. Dyyyyiiiiiinnnnnggg. It's not that I'm not used to the heat - because I certainly am - but between it, the exhaustion starting to hit from all the walking and lack of sleep from subsequent days, and me not drinking my normal amount of water (I drink 2 non-broken, 64-ounce Nalgene bottles-full a day, and my water intake probably dropped down to 16oz/day on the trip), I felt like DEATH. When I was a kid (and I swear I'm going somewhere with this), after a long day at the pool I'd get this really odd feeling in my lungs whenever I took a breath, and the deeper the breath, the more pronounced the feeling. It was like my lungs had turned to ice and with each breath it felt like the sides were starting to touch each other and stick or something (that's just what it felt like, I don't know what was actually happening), and if I took TOO deep of a breath, I'd go into this awful coughing fit. Since it only happened at the pool as a kid (where I'd spend hours and hours at a time), I assumed it had something to do with water. But then it happened at SFMM - no water there - so I then changed that theory to hours and hours of activity in the extreme heat. And since I never really did sit down and rest, it just got worse throughout the day, and I was almost expecting to just pass out and die on a coaster from whatever was going on in my chest. (Did it keep me from riding? Pshh. No. Not that I didn't care about my health, but I spent a pretty penny on this trip, and you better believe I wasn't going to let a little thing like MY LUNGS stop me from getting my money's worth). Anyone else ever experience anything like this? I've always been curious as to what it is.

Quick notes about some note-worthy rides:

X2 - In the dark? On an inside seat? Probably my #1 coaster. Or at least in the top 3. During the day, though? Eh, maybein my top 10. And on an outside seat? No. Just...no.

Goliath - The helix broke my arms. For serious.

Terminator - Amazing. Tied for best woodie on the trip for me (along with Giant Dipper at SCBB, but for very different reasons. Apples and oranges, really).

Tatsu - That thing was GIGANTIC. OH MUH GUH.

by **Erik Johnson** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:20 pm

Awwww...sorry for the simply rotten week that you have been having. If it makes you feel any better, I know that quite a few of us always look foward to your updates so thanks for posting.

Photo TR: Natatomic does the West Coast Trip

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