We all met up at a place called Shorty’s Diner for breakfast/lunch. The portions were huge. I had a Western Omlet that could have made two breakfasts for me. I took no prisoners and made it into one breakfast. Oh… and McDonalds… Your sweet tea is only slightly sweet in comparison to the diner’s tea. I forgot just how sweet sweet tea reallly is.
Samantha was able to join us for brunch. She had to go back to the park so the rest of us came back to my hotel since it was the closest to the park. We basically hung out for a couple hours until the park was to open. The temperature was very mild and the sun was out, but I’m not sure it made it to the 60 degree mark they were calling for.
Buschgardens was the next stop. Dad and my uncle got ECV’s (Electric Chair Vehicles) while the rest of us walked. I took a slew of pictures which I will post when I get home. The park is divided into different countries (Ireland, Italy, Germany, France etc). Each country was decorated in theme of its national tradition. We took a train ride to kill some time before Samantha’s first show. The smaller rides were open, as well as, one roller coaster which I decided it was best not to ride due to my back.
The first round of Samantha’s show was still backlit by the sun. We went back and saw the 9 o’clock show. The pictures came out better because of the cleaner lighting. It was great to see Samantha dance. It’s very obvious that she enjoys it. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all say that about “Work”.
I don’t know how many miles I put on my boots yesterday. We finished off the night with a ride on the sky tram. I was able to get some distant shots of the lights throughout the park. We ended up in France and strolled back through Ireland to the gate. We opened the park and closed it. My back was shot by the time we got to the gate. I took Vicodin and Ibuprofin before bed. Needless to say, I slept until about 4 am. After that, I was in and out of sleep.
Not sure what the plans are for today. It’s raining a bit. The only thing on the agenda at this point is breakfast/lunch with the gang. I thought about going over to Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, but I’ll cross that bridge after breakfast. I’m still sore. Maybe we’ll go back to the park later and catch another show or two. I will probably need one of the ECV’s myself today.
More to come…
~Cappy