Out of Towners Fill Park For Columbia Cup
Chris Breen
Chris Breen and his five friends are testing their hand made radio controlled hydros on the water.
Something they traveled all the way from New Zealand to be a part of.
But a handful of these small hydros are nothing like the real thing.
"Reach out and touch them hear the noise, like the thunderbolts, the big ones now don't make the same noise as the old ones do kind of everything I guess," says Breen.
"I think my chin hasn't stopped from touching the ground- it's amazing, absolutely amazing," says Philip Woodham.
For first timers, this experience is nothing short of overwhelming.
They have read about it, watched it on tv, and heard about it from friends...But all those things fall short for 11 year old Camus Allison Bunnel..as he stands next to the high speed hydros.
"The races are fascinating there is something about going fast on the water or in the air for that matter thats just fascinating to me," says Camus Allison-Bunnel.
But not everyone comes for the show- business booms for vendors, and some extra hot weather never hurts an ice cream stand.
"Some come for the ice cream and they watch the hydros, we get on the hydro day- they will be lined up..four or five abreast," says Gene Cote.
And the easiest way to see the entire park? Is to hop on one of these trolleys and take a quick 20 minute ride- all around the park
Despite the fact that this is his first time in the states- Chris Breen says this experience is already exceeding his expectations- and who knows he may even become a regular.
"I'm seriously thinking of shifting here permanently well maybe not seriously but the thought's there anyways."