What a nice email (including the subject line, above) from a new friend from across the pond:

Good Evening/Afternoon Paula!

It is Friday night over here and after a hard day's work I am relaxing at home as I am traveling 2 hours at 7am in the morning to get to Alton Towers for a day of themepark goodness. Being an enthusiast I have just been watching Extreme Rides, a double episode programme repeating on Sky 3. The programme is a couple of years old and is filmed at the time when Holiday World debuted The Legend and features an interview with Will and then a coaster enthusiast is filmed riding. But who is riding, sorry screaming, next to him... You!

What a scream you have, and all the way round, relentlessly!

Hot on the heals of Extreme Rides, I'm sat here with my laptop and thought I would check out HoliBlog having not updated myself for a couple of days. Here I find your entry relating to Voyage's first test run. The SplashCam is showing 13.26 and I cannot believe the coincidence. So my laptop has remained open sat on the coffee table whilst I continue to channel hop keeping one eye on the laptop and one on the telly ... for an hour and ten minutes!!!

At first I thought there might have been a technical problem and I may have spotted somebody brave, if not stupid, walking down the lifthill. I resided myself to the fact that it wasn't going to be happening. Perhaps, just perhaps your American time zone differentials might have a bearing on the SplashCam which was now showing 14.25.

Three minutes later and at 14.28, what do I see? A navy blue train climbing the lift hill. After just over an hour I saw the train climb up and quickly drop over the top of the hill and then to return across the bottom of the splash cam on its return journey to the station.

A relaxing hour of anticipation, well worth it as I prepare for my own voyage 100 miles for my own rollercoaster fun tomorrow.

Keep up the great work on the HoliBlog. I hope to visit one day soon.

Best wishes,
Jonathon
Blackpool, England

Happens every spring right about this time.

Time for the coasters to reawaken and for employees to demonstrate their loyalty.

Time to ride.

We started with The Raven.

Later on at a meeting, someone asked who had gotten to ride.

Quite honestly, all you had to do was look around the conference table and check out the tousled hair.

Here's the train coming back into the station after the first ride.

There's Will in the back seat. Eric, in the front, gives the ride a thumbs-up. Poor Kristine, right behind Eric, opted out after the first ride.

Are you admiring the groovy eyewear? Those are safety glasses, as the earliest rides of the season are accompanied by the occasional flying grit from the graphite that is used to prep the track.

And speaking of trendy accessories, look at this fellow:

The bucket for Kima Bay has at last arrived.

They're swinging it into place.

This fellow looks a little nervous...

But these rascals don't have a care in the world...

Up four stories the bucket flew and landed safely in place.

One step closer to opening.