Six Flags - Fiesta Texas --- Batman The Ride

This month, the big event at Six Flags Fiesta Texas is the opening of their new ride: Batman: the Ride. We stopped by earlier today to check it out.

Because of the recent rains and the threat (90% chance of thunder storms) of rain, the park was not very crowded. The lines were unusually short for a prime season weekend.

The approach to the ride is flat, paved and well landscaped. This is important to my wife, who has a bad knee and can no longer climb lengthy stairs. Because this is a new ride, the landscaping has not grown tall enough to provide any shade. This may prove to be a problem to the park when the lines are long on those very hot high-summer days with the sun beating down.

The seats are in groups of four, one group on each side of the track. Each group consists of two pairs of seats facing each other. In the loading position, they are low enough for easy seating. With the restraints in place, the seats will hold fatties like me comfortably.

The following pictures are from the Six Flags website. The first shows the track layout:

The second shows an artist's rendering of one one the care filled with riders at the top of a loop.

Unfortunately, the ride did not thrill me. I much prefer Iron Rattler - that ride reminds me of the times I rode a mechanical bull... Only, the Iron Rattler cannot throw you off. Riding a mechanical bull is much more hazardous!

And then the rains came....

It's a wonderful day in the ....???? After the long drought, we have been getting above-normal amounts of rain. The ground that dried out and compacted several feet down is now swelling with water again. Woe be it to the infrastructure that is in the ground. Here, in McGregor, Texas at the intersection of state highway 317 and US Highway 84 a water main has broken, just in time for the evening rush hour. This is a major crossroad in the city and the only traffic-light controlled intersection in US 84 (notice how brightly the traffic light shines - NOT!).

To the urban dwellers among you who are asking why people don't take the freeway.... the nearest freeway is Interstate 35, located thirty five miles to the east and headed north-south, while US 84 is headed west. The nearest east-west freeways are Interstate 10 in San Antonio, located 100 miles to the south, or Interstate 20, located 110 miles to the north. US 84 is the ONLY major east-west highway in this part of Texas.

A New Rooster...

One of our most recent batches of chickens are beginning to mature into hens and roosters. These are supposed to all be the same breed: Production Red. In this breed, the body is supposed to be a "rust" shade, with the roosters having a few white feathers among their tail feathers. Occasionally, I have seen some white underfeathers on the neck which becomes visible when the rooster puffs up his neck for a display.

No way,no how is a Production Red rooster supposed to look like this: