Day 10 was to be the “big day” – the day I would spend at Adventureland Park in Altoona, Iowa. Not to ride anything, just to soak up the vibes. Y’see, I worked in the rides department at Adventureland (a.k.a. A-Land) for four summers – the best four summers of my life – the last of which was 32 years ago. Since my last visit (I wanna say about a decade ago), the park has changed ownership twice. And I think we all know that amusement parks are always looking for new rides to unleash on the public. So, I expected things to have changed, but gosh golly gee! Just sitting inside my rental car and looking over the cartoony “map” of the park had me aghast at how much has changed.

As I approached the park entrance, it occurred to me that I had forgotten amusements parks have their own version of the TSA these days. I had to let park personnel know that I was hooked up to a medical device that could not go through the screening machines. They routed me around the metal detectors and got me through politely and professionally. All was good so far.

If you’ve been reading this blog since its beginning (and who hasn’t?), you may recall me saying a few years ago that I was basically done with roller coasters. I just couldn’t physically handle them anymore. So, my intent on this final visit to A-Land was to start by just walking around the park to see what all has changed, and what little hasn’t changed, then make a quick jaunt to my nearby hotel to get my Good Camera before returning to the park to photograph the Hell out the place. But here’s what actually happened:

Almost immediately upon my entry into the park, I noticed one of the old “games of skill” had been taken out and converted to an information kiosk presenting A-Land’s 50-year history, and some of what I’ll call the park’s pre-history. For example, I learned that the land now occupied by A-Land was the site of Des Moines’s first airport! But it was only used for six years before the airport on Fleur Drive took over.

I spent a lot of time reading through all the information at the kiosk, before I finally started my walkabout. In fact, it was already time for lunch. I was shocked at how little choice there was foodwise. No more Rathskellar, no more Iowa Cafe. After wandering the whole park looking for something decently fun to eat, I just settled on a hot dog. Then I ate it, despite having just settled on it. Interpret that as you will.

When I had finished my tour of the park, I felt my dear old friend The Tornado (a wooden out-and-back style roller coaster, built in 1978) calling out to me. I decided I couldn’t leave without one last ride on what had been my first grown-up sized coaster, so many years before. Despite my experiences a few years ago, and the fact that I was wearing the Vyalev pump on this occasion, I had to make it happen.

It was an absolute blast! And I felt fine afterward! AND my pump still worked! So, I decided to give the Outlaw (a 1993 wooden twister-style coaster) a final ride as well. After this ride, I walked about halfway across the park, then started staggering. I bought a soda and had a seat in some shade and waited for several minutes for my balance to get back on track. Once it did, I began the journey to retrieve my camera. But now, the park’s newest coaster was calling out to me. I debated it for a while, and was almost out of the park when something in my mind asked, “When are you going to be here again?” And thus it was that I took on the Dragon Slayer.

Now, the Dragon Slayer is an entirely new beast. They were not building anything remotely like this when I was a ride operator. For those in “the biz” it’s an S&S 4th Dimension coaster. For the rest of you, it’s this (I found this on YouTube; I don’t know the people in the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUhdYluZXKI

Again, I had a blast and was fine afterwards. My destiny was now clear: I must ride all of Adventureland’s roller coasters once before leaving. As it turned out, I had just enough time to git ‘er done. I got in one ride on each of A-Land’s seven coasters, with only a few minutes left before closing time. I was wearing a loose enough shirt that none of the rides personnel I encountered noticed the bulge of the pump. And the pump is still working normally. So…it seems I can start doing coaster-oriented travel again! In which case, I should probably hit Maryland next, as Six Flags has announced their Maryland park will be permanently closed at the end of this season.