Well, Kamp 2010 is over and everyone is back to their old routines.  All the youngin’s are back to school, adults back to work and Bobber and Cookie are back to doing what they do best ( Little as Possible ).  Let’s see now, this year’s Kamp slogan, ” A Place to Grow ” sure seems to have fit the bill.  Hopefully everyone did grow a little, not in physical stature but by expanding horizons, learning new things, getting along with others and experiencing Ozark heat and humidity.  Corky gained driving experience with help from Bobber; Alex showed his engineering skills by constructing a model boat from scratch; Allie continues to swim like a little fish; Bryan seems to be taking to water more than before; and our visiting kamper, Bailey, Bryan’s friend, got to know all us kampers a little better.

Can’t forget Alex and Corkys help during pre-kamp.  Alex helped with raking leaves, treating the picnic table for water resistance, assisting Cookie with the planter in front of the Kamp Lodge and helping Bobber with other chores.  Thanks to Corky for moving a huge pile of stones from the front yard to the rear of the lodge, pulling weeds, moving furniture for Bobber and assisting with various other chores.

As usual, everyone had a good time at ” Silver Dollar City “.  Corky always posts his ride reviews and comments accordingly.  Nobody got lost or hurt which is always a good thing.  And you can’t forget the cinnamon rolls and other goodies at the “SDC” bake shop — Yummy!!!

So, as it is said , ” All good things must end ” , Kamp closed on July 25, 2010.  Everyone had safe trips home and Bobber and Cookie sat down, took a deep breath and had reflective thoughts about Kamp 2010.  Cookie was also thinking about the next day, Monday, July 26, when he was to have a cataract removed from his left eye —but that is another story—

Thanks to everyone for making “Kamp Runamuk” a success.

See you all in Arizona for “KAMP RUNAMUK ON THE ROAD–MARCH 2011 SPRING BREAK—and to also celebrate Bobber and Cookies 50th wedding anniversary.

By Cookie:  August 21, 2010

This gives us our Day 2.5 rankings of the most professional rollercoaster riders:

4th Place: Giant Swing, due to a short ride for a pretty long line.

3rd Place: ThuNderaTion, due to 5 rides with no line. Pretty tame for our likings.

2nd Place: Wildfire, due to 6 rides with a small line, slightly bumpy today.

1st Place: Powder Keg, due to 3 rides (majority of all trips) that were all up to PK standards.

Tune in Saturday for our final SDC trip.

I am ready to jump in the lake, grab a noodle and float for a week

See you soon Kampers!

Patch

p.s. what will we name the new Kamper?

It was tough for me to decide the rankings this week, due to a ride closure and a couple long lines.  The day kicked off to a good start on Powder Keg, however after waiting in line for a second ride, the people running the ride shut it down due to some maintenence issues.  It was kind of a let down for us, but we made our way back to Wildfire for five solid rides before the line grew out of the gates and into the doorway.  So we kicked it over to the Barn Swing where we waited in line twice for two good rides.  I made it back to Powder Keg after that, and waited in a line out the doors for one last ride before we headed for home (Bobber and Cookie hung back and took a few pictures)…..very worth it.  After all of this, I’ve come to a decision:

4th Place: ThuNderaTion (no rides again)

3rd Place:  Powder Keg (both very good rides, but it being shut down was pretty lame)

2nd Place: Giant Swing (two good rides, the line wasn’t horrible either)

1st Place:  Wildfire (five good rides, and the front seat was so fast)

Day #3 is a week from Saturday!  See you all there

4th place: ThuNderaTion (no rides)

3rd place: Giant Swing (long line, 1 shortened ride)

2nd place: Wildfire (6 rides, bumpy as the day went on)

1st place: Powder Keg (only 2 rides, but both were very smooth, lines very long later in the day)

Can not wait for day #2!!!

This is Corky: rollercoaster extraordinaire, sous-chef, water skier, goalie, and high school sophomore.  And, Kamp is just around the corner!!!

Just checking in…helloooo!!!!!!

Love, Corky

By popular demand here is the receipe for Cookie’s famous “Apple Stuffing”.  Enjoy!!

6 slices firm white sandwich bread, cut into 1/2 inch squares

3/4 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery including some leaves

11/2 lb tart apples such as Granny Smith, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch-thick wedges

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage or !/4 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Toast and cool bread.  Cook onion and celery in butter in a skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4-5 minutes.  Stir in apples, sugar, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, nutmet, and cinnamon.  Reduce heat to low, then cook, covered, stirring, until apples are tender, about 15 minutes.  Stir in bread squares, parsley and chives.

4th Place: ThuNderaTion. TNT couldn’t compete with the competition this year, our second place ride from last year got bumped out of it’s spotlight. A cause of this? Long lines, tame rides, sore backs and necks. Next year? Likely the same story, I don’t know. Just a prediction.

3rd Place: The Giant Swing. Last year’s honorable mention for a great ride and short lines has been docked to third place in it’s first year of being ranked by me. Last year’s stroke of luck for this ride didn’t prove that it could be a contender in the ranks. Although the Swing did have one first place week this year, the other weeks put the swing down in the basement of third or fourth place. Not enough to contend with the two main rollercoasters and frontrunners this year.

2nd Place: Powder Keg. Our two time champion has been knocked out of first place for the first time ever. Although PK is one of my all-time favorite rides, long lines and bumpy rides couldn’t contend with the smoothness of our first place champion.

1st Place: WildFire. Finally, the champion. As Spider and I recently experienced, Wildfire nine times in one day is fairly unbeatable. Front seat? Best place in the entire park. Wildfire finally takes the championship, even after a third place finish AFTER Thunderation and Powderkeg last year. Can Wildfire take it again next year, and follow in the footsteps of Powderkeg? Will Powderkeg or the Swing, or even Thunderation rise up to the challenge next year? Read on, bloggers, read on. See everone next season for the new set of ranks.

Your humble coaster fanatic, Corky

4th Place Goes To - Thunderation because we didn’t get a ride….for what it’s worth, an hour long wait for one ride is not for Thunderation. The longtime sleeper in our Kamp trips to SDC was going up in the rankings, but because of this its hit rock bottom.

3rd Place Goes To - Powder Keg because we only got one ride. The one ride Spider and I took was awesome…bumpy, but awesome. The line was through the gates and out the door…and the front seat was out of commission, so the line was even longer than usual. Not to say that PK wasn’t a fun ride…it was. But not matching the fun of our top 2.

2nd Place Goes To - The Giant Swing because the line was nonexistant. Although the ride is super short, we hardly had to wait and was back in line for a third trip after me and Spider’s 2nd ride. you can never tell where this one will be in the final rankings.

1st Place Goes To - Wildfire hands down. No question that Wildfire be in first place this week for the following reasons. First off, the max wait time for this ride was five minutes, for the front seat. For any other seat, maybe a little more for the back, was no more than sixty seconds. The rides we took in the front three seats were makers of memories for years to come….also, we set a record for Wildfire today. Today, Spider, Bobber and myself went on a total of five rides on Wildfire before 10:30 AM…..then Spider and I went for four more after lunch. Nine total rides on Wildfire? if you DON’T think that’s worthy of a First Place this week, you’re crazy.

So here’s a warning notice…..the Final Rankings for SDC 2009 according to myself, Corky Blazek, will be posted the evening of the day before I leave Kamp this year (waaaaaaaaaa). Until next blog, Corky!!!

Has toenail polish