Kiddie Park, OK and Frontier City, OK

Total Timber Tour 2 Blog Day 14

Welcome again all followers.

With leaving yesterday’s park well after closing (squeezing one last ride on Prowler) and staying quite close to the park meant the blog was written once we arrived at the hotel, so we didn’t get to bed until after 1am!

Today we had planned a leisurely drive down to Oklahoma City to spend the afternoon / evening at Frontier City - but that would be too easy! So, up for a challenge, we set about adding another park to the trip. Weather was back up to the high 90’s also.

Kiddie Park in Bartlesville, OK was sort of on the way (well about 1 inch to the right on the map = +200 miles) so we contacted them prior to the trip to see if we could stop by and take a look at their kiddie coaster. Unfortunately the park only opens evenings on a Friday, and we needed to be at Oklahoma City by this time so it didn’t look feasible but, with the wonders of the internet and some very big hearts, the guys there opened it just for the us two! We were expecting to be met by just one guy, but had a full welcoming committee, including the Park President. That’s two Presidents in one week!

The country was once full of parks like this, but now only a dozen or so remain. This one is the last remaining run entirely as a non-profit venture for the community. They take a great deal of pride and commitment in their rides and you can see examples of hard work from the whole community to keep this little gem alive and entertaining.

The coaster, The Little Fireball, has quite a history. For many years, it was called "The Little Dipper". Until one night, when all of a sudden an Oklahoma storm just popped up sudden like with no warning. The wind picked up something terrible blowing dust and leaves, a terrible howling sound commenced. The coaster was full of little folks and their parents. Out of the sky dropped a tornado on the ground and within seconds it sucked up the coaster and everyone in it. However, no sooner than it disappeared, it came flaming back out of the sky, folks were screaming as the coaster landed back on the track and safely stopped. Now you know the rest of the story. In Oklahoma, you never know what the weather will be like from one day to the next. And, you never know just how big this windy story will grow as it is told....

It should also be noted we’ve never ridden anything quite like it.

Thanks to Ron, David and the other guys who turned up for us. We were welcomed with amazing generosity and friendliness. In return, we presented a Union Flag which will now be proudly flown at the park to commemorate our visit. If you’re every passing by be sure to look them up – you won’t get a warmer welcome anywhere. We are both so very grateful.

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So onto Oklahoma City and an evening at a near-empty Frontier City. You may recall we stopped by here on the last tour when it was closed for a photo op. Indeed, tomorrows parks were also on that blog and closed, so it’s nice to get to them during opening. All the coasters were running great but we’re worried for the park as it was so quiet. They were even giving away free seasons passes with one day’s entry.

And finally for today, “Tour Bus #2” ran out of oil, so we’re now on V3.0. That’s a white one, a black one and now a silver one to match the looping star at today’s park. Let’s hope this is the last time we have to change it!

Until tomorrow....