All's Well That Ends Well

Silver Dollar City's Outlaw Run Roller Coaster - NOT My Most Exciting Ride of the Day

 

Saturday dawned clear, cool and dry, and that is a rare combination of adjectives for describing July weather in the Show Me State.  On the docket was a family road trip to Branson and Silver Dollar City. 

Our first stop was at Dunn Brothers Coffee for 20 ounces of French-roasted happiness before joining our son’s family for the ride south to Branson.  Actually, Dunn Brothers was our first scheduled stop.  Our first stop came sooner than planned when I backed out of our garage directly into the vehicle of a friend who had spent the night at our house and made the mistake of parking in front of our garage door.  That took a little luster off the morning.

“Oh, well . . .” said my wife, trying to find the silver lining.   “At least no one was injured!” 

Not unless you count my pride.

The day improved after that.  I suppose if you are going to crash your car into something, you might as well do it first thing in the morning and get it out of the way.  The odds are pretty good nothing worse is going to happen to you the rest of the day so you can relax.

On 76 Highway we joined a slow-moving stream of cars for the final 1.1 miles of stop-and-go traffic to Silver Dollar City, with a lot more stop than go.  We were directed on past Silver Dollar City by parking attendants to Lot 5.  Best I can tell the numbers on the parking lots coincide with the number of miles they are from the front gate.   Not that that is a problem.   For my 5-year-old grandson, the tram ride TO the park was just as exciting as the attractions INSIDE the park.

The good news is that the weather was outstanding on Saturday, unlike on Friday when it rained for most of the day.  The bad news is that, unlike on Friday when only 4,000 stalwart souls visited the park, our family was joined by 20,992 other fun-seekers on Saturday.  Per a clerk I talked to, that's about 3000 above average.  

About the low attendance on Friday, the sales clerk said “During my shift  Friday I sold 2 t-shirts, $400 worth of rain gear, and a shot glass.”  I guess that proves there's more than one way to deal with the rain. 

The lines were long for everything on Saturday.  I can only imagine how crowded the park would have been if most people weren’t standing in lines.  The ultimate line came last when my son and I parted company with our less courageous family members to go ride Outlaw Run, Silver Dollar City’s new wooden roller coaster.

After waiting in line for a few minutes we saw a sign up ahead with the approximate wait time.  115 minutes.  At first I thought it was an hour and fifteen minutes.  I was wrong.  The wait was five minutes shy of 2 hours, or about the same amount of time it took us to drive from Jefferson City to Springfield.   I will experience Outlaw Run another day.  I had planned to save the most exciting ride of the day for last.  Instead it happened in my own driveway.

For your entertainment, here is a video taken by a passenger in the front seat of Outlaw Run.  Take a Dramamine and enjoy: