Monday December 6th 2021

The temperature is climbing out of the normal range for this time of year. Yesterday peaked in the high seventies. Today peaked in the low eighties. Tomorrow is forecast to be a degree or two warmer. It is not something to complain about, but it is taking some getting used to.

Yesterday was a very busy day. I left my RV home a little after 11AM and didn’t get home until well after 10PM. I was at SeaWorld Orlando for a little over nine hours. Taking time to decompress after I got home, I didn’t get to bed until 2PM. Today was a very slow day. I needed to get re-energized. Reading over the picture intense blog post I did last night, I realized that in my hast to get it published I might have given the impression that I didn’t enjoy myself. I had fun at SeaWorld yesterday.

In the twenty five years since my last visit to SeaWorld a lot has changed. In particular the number of huge roller coasters has multiplied. I think there was one the last time I was there. Today there are at least three with another one being built. They aren’t my thing, so I didn’t ride any of them or even make a careful survey. The roller coasters are above and around everything. The park feels more developed and cluttered than I remember. I really didn’t know my way around when I got there and still don’t after 9 hours of wandering around.

All of the shows I saw were great with the exception of the special show with a celebrity guest I wrote about last night. The Orca and Dolphin shows were great. Both focused on conservation and the habits of the animals in the wild. People in the front of the theater got good and wet with all the jumps and splashes the creatures executed. The Sea Lion show was also good, but the sea lions and otters were more like supporting players to the two costumed humans on the stage. The story focused on a tour of a marine science lab.

The best show of the day was the Ice Skating show. It began with a violinist playing Christmas music for the crowd as a pre show. The main show was a half hour with twelve a twelve skater troupe and some featured skaters performing to Christmas music. It was a continuous show with lots of costume changes and changes to the people on the ice. I attended the last performance of the day and stayed in my seat to watch the fireworks that closed the park.

SeaWorld goes all out on decorations. During the day you see lots of Christmas trees and Garland on the building fronts. As night came on the Christmas lights came with it. Everywhere you look, including the middle of the lake, were adorned with colorful lights. Christmas music played all day in the background. Kids could visit and get there picture taken with Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the Abominable Snow Man and all of the usual Sesame Street Characters.

The worst part of the day was getting out of the park and home. I didn’t know any of the short cuts in the park so I had to follow the mob. Once clear of the entrance gate I it was a long walk to the back of the parking lot. In my car I had a car merging nightmare as all of the cars between me and the exit had a desire to be in front of me. Driving home I had to pass through the traffic leaving Walt Disney World. The state park was asleep as I drove to my site through a little bit of descending fog.

After all that activity and discovery, today was a day of rest.