There's nothing more spontaneous than a roller coaster ride, except for maybe the decision I made to visit Six Flags over Texas (SFoT) on a recent 105-degree Sunday afternoon. We were driving by the park after attending a Rangers game the night before, and it was taking forever to navigate the maze of novelly-named streets surrounding the Arlington family funplex where the ballpark is located. Suddenly there it was, its sky blue spire barely visible against the bright horizon until a string of scream-filled cars was drawn to its pinnacle and gracefully released: Mr. Freeze. It gleamed, it beckoned... "But it wasn't running last year," I whined to my companion, Joseph. Before I knew it we were stocking up on bottled water and making pacts with each other that no matter how crowded it was, no matter how hot it got, we'd ride till we dropped.

By Pableaux Johnson and Jen Scoville. Updates by Jen Scoville and Joseph StricklandLast year, Ranch contributor Pableaux Johnson (coaster hater) and I (coaster lover) embarked on a trans-Texas trip to review all the best roller coasters with a focus on the newest thrill rides at each park. We reported our experiences in point/counterpoint, but more often than not we found things we both loved and hated about each ride. And we couldn't get to every coaster in every park. We tried a couple of times to get in line for Mr. Freeze at SFoT, but it was very new, buggy and even though it had already debuted, frequently not running, so we were forced to record only our perceptions of the shivery villain.

This time, Joseph and I rode Mr. Freeze first thing, and because we'd eventually like to have reviews of ALL the Texas coasters on the Ranch, we've also added critiques of two SFoT oldies but goodies, The Shock Wave and Judge Roy Scream.

It was much different riding with Joseph, mainly because on the first lift where Pableaux (who is unfortunately out this season with a blown disc) would begin to exude his first droplets of a cold sweat, Joseph puts his hands up in the air -- and leaves them there for the whole ride! But it was definitely more fun to try and scare Pableaux. When I pointed out to Joseph that a certain coaster's tracks were unusually wobbly, he said, nonplussed, "Yeah? Nice knowing ya." Perhaps it's one of those things where a delicate balance is required, but Joseph loves roller coasters too, maybe even more than I do (or thought I did). So if it seems like I'm hedging toward uncertainty this time, maybe I am a little... for Pableaux's sake.