Last look at bare

Today was our last visit onsite before we head back to work in the studio once more. Even since our arrival in Trinidad the site was changing. The temporary fencing postsare now up almost entirely around the site. In a few days gravel trucks will be rolling across the landscape and the trees we are not able to use (largely because of big grade changes) will be gone. Within weeks footings will be poured and walls will begin rising. I'll return for a quick visit sometime in February to check on progress and in March the climbing wall and many of the large features will be craned into their final place. By the end of March and into April it will begin to look a great deal like a magical theme park landscape. It is going to be very exciting!

Today, as I stood on the seaside boardwalk in front of where the entrance would be I could easily see it all in my mind and it looked pretty fine!

This is going to be VERY cool!! Stay tuned for the exciting adventure...

Imagining the future

It was another busy day in Trinidad with more meetings and scoping out the worksite in detail. The final survey will happen tomorrow allowing us to make the final tweaks to the plans. This coming week it is our hope to see gravel being hauled onto the site to begin the preliminary grading. The first concrete footings should happen early in the new year. 

Meanwhile work continues elsewhere including in Italy where the second and third ride are being fabricated. Last week in Orlando we rode a similar ride and while we were there the prototype ride vehicle was released for our approval. The band around the bottom of the barrel still needs to be detailed and the seat will be painted gold but it already looks very cool! We gave them an enthusiastic thumbs up!

As we walked the site again today I was reminded of when we first walked the land on previous projects. In spite of the land being flat and bare I could easily imagine the site with all of the buildings, rides, attractions and landscaping in place. I could hear the music, smell the flowers and hear excited people enjoying themselves. What I could see, smell, hear and feel in my imagination insired me to press on. This is going to be a spectacular project when we are done. Stay tuned as we make it so over the next year...

Thank you crew!

While Peter and I are sorting things out in Trinidad, the crew continues to work hard back at the studio. Yesterday I recieved a photo report of progress there. The small bridges are now all sculpted and looking good. In the background of each shot I can see they've also been very busy attaching the diamond lath to the welded features.

The painting crew is bringing the completed signs to life as well.

The first operator's both is also looking very colorful.

It sure is good to have a crew we can count on, even if we are thousands of miles distant.