Knott's Berry Farm Log Ride Rededication with Charles Phoenix

This week Andy, our friend Joel, Lilly and I got to do something awesome! We got to accompany our friend Charles Phoenix when he hosted the rededication of the Timber Mt. Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm! We were VIP's and even had some fancy schmancy VIP badges.

Charles is A-MA-ZING! He knows everything about Knott's history and was hilarious and just a delight to watch while hosting the rededication. He even had a special suit made with boysenberries all over for this special day. Boysenberries are the signature berry of Knott's when it was still an actual berry farm and are what put them on the map! I learned so much about this historic theme park, its founders, and the log ride this week.

The log ride had been closed for several months while they gave it some much needed updating. Previously the ride had not had any type of major overhal since it first opened in 1969. They added lots of new animatronics made by the same company that constructs rides and audio animatronics for some famous Disney attractions.

While at the rededication I also got to connect with a fellow former Disneyland Cast Member who now works at Knott's! It was great to see her and interesting to learn some of the ins and outs of a theme park that isn't Disneyland. I liked getting to see what a tight knit community the employees of Knotts have. That "everyone knows everyone" dynamic really creates a charming small town atmosphere within the park.

The next best part about the event was that VIP's were treated to a glorious free lunch of hamburgers, fries, and delicious milkshakes. I live for free lunch. I think I ended up with not one, but two milkshakes. Well my first milkshake was stolen and then finished by Lilly, so just one and half milkshakes, I guess. Still more milkshakes than anyone should be consuming.

The only real disappointment of the day was that the log ride unfortunately was not ready in time. I cannot wait to go back to Knott's. Lilly is actually tall enough to ride the log ride and I think she will love it!

First Charles hosts the grand opening of new rides at the Knott's Boardwalk. Check out his AMAZING boysenberry suit!

Lilly and I enjoying the rededication ceremony

Charles making the crowd go WILD at the Timber Mountain Log Ride rededication ceremony!

Charles with Ethan Wayne (son of John Wayne). Ethan was there with his dad when the ride first opened in 1969! 

Andy and Charles IN the log ride track! Hopefully it will be ready for us to test out on our next visit.

Lilly and Joel are totally in sync. 

I am now the proud owner of 100 fake shares of the Calico Logging Co.

I am in LOVE with the fact that my shoes match Charles' suit!

Number 25: Make Pop Rocks Cupcakes

Pop rocks cupcakes are something I’ve wanted to try for a while. I love pop rocks! But I knew that I had to do some research in order to make them work…

I do not know what makes pop rocks tick. I mean, I don’t know what makes them explode in your mouth. Do they explode in heat, on impact or is it moisture? Through my intensive and extensive research I learned it is the moisture that makes pop rocks pop. Of course cupcake batter happens to be very moist, so I can’t just dump a bunch of pop rocks packets into the bowl and call it a day.

Through my research I discovered that if you coat the pop rocks in fat, it preserves the pop until you put those little suckers in you mouth. 

Fat? Ew! Like lard? No. Like butter or peanut butter or one of several interesting combinations I stumbled upon on the interwebs. 

Through my research I also learned a few other interesting things. For instance, pop rocks are gluten free, they are not Kosher, and they were first patented in 1956.


I decided that the cupcakes should also be rainbow, another thing I've always wanted to try and something that looked fairly easy to accomplish. All you do is mix the cupcake batter as directed and then separate into bowls. You add different color food coloring to each bowl and then pour each color into the cake pan (or cupcake pan) one at a time. You can even swirl them together if you want. The batter is thick enough that they don't all run together. 


For the Pop Rocks part, Andy went out and bought me 39 packets of Pop Rocks. I decided to use a recipe I found for the Pop Rocks filling using cashew butter. Since I'd never heard of cashew butter before and the store didn't seem to have it, I ended up with regular peanut butter.


Turns out, the peanut butter worked! I brought the cupcakes over to the Columbia Entertainment Company Theatre before one of their performances of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and allowed the cast and crew to be my unsuspecting taste testers. I had to warn them of the peanut butter in case of any allergies (turns out there was someone allergic to peanuts).


As far as I know they really liked them! They may  have just been nice because I was standing right there. Who knows? The tasters did admit to having an explosion in their mouths upon reaching the creamy center, so the Poping Pop Rocks part was successful! I did what I set out to do and my scientific research was not in vain.  I also brought them Oreo Pops that looked like bumble bees. I got that idea from Bakerella. Bakerella's turned out much nicer than mine, but c'mon, she is Bakerella! 


I did not taste one of my Pop Rocks cakes. I think I'm a little scared. I promise I will today as soon as I get home. Now here are some photos!

Above: 39 packets of Pop Rocks!

Below: Making the cupcakes rainbow...

Above: Rainbow cupcake before peanut butter and chocolate Pop Rocks Filling is added

Below: Rainbow Pop Rocks Cupcakes all iced, garnished and ready to go!

Above: Bee Oreo Pops

Below: Oreo Balls with the left over stuff from Bee pops

Below: Dirt and Worm cups I made yesterday for Father's Day (Just wanted to add this in there. Be impressed.)

So if you're interested in seeing the amazing play The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, please click HERE for more info. This week (June 23rd through 26th) are their last performances and you don't want to miss out! The cast is FABULOUS and so talented and the show is HILARIOUS! Check it out!