Busch Gardens, June 4

Thanks to my Veteran status, every year I get four free tickets to either Busch Gardens or Sea World. Last year I invited Donna, Gerald, and Leah to Sea World. That was smack dab in the middle of the Covid pandemic and what a night mare. 😱Or maybe Sea World is always a night mare, I'm not sure. The service was just horrible and the lines were hours long. It took us nearly two hours to get lunch and I swear, the employees were working in slow motion. It was like everyone had the Covid brain fog. Anyway... that as last year. 

This year we went to Busch Gardens and it was the exact opposite. 😊It as storming in the morning so we decided on a little later of a start (plus I had to drive from Orlando). By 11:00 when we met, the rains had just about ended. The weather was overcast which was fantastic since that helped keep the heat at a minimum. The place was not crowded either. I think everyone was scared off by the morning storms, or maybe the Saturday after a holiday weekend is the best time to go. The lines for the roller coasters were sometimes only 10 minutes. The most we waited for anything was 30 minutes. I rode all of the rides I wanted to. Lunch was great, only three people in line ahead of us. And the shows were amazing. The talent of the performers amazed me. I feared for the their life, that was how death defying their stunts were. My favorite was the couple that were roller skating on a circular platform. They did so many stunts just skating in circles, holding on to each other, sometimes the ladies feet were around the guy's neck and he was swinging her in the circle. All centrifugal force, I guess. I can't explain it... it was just amazing!  

A fantastic day! Mark joined me. He didn't talk much to my family, but then again, Gerald can talk enough for a few people. I asked him about it later, and he said he didn't have much to contribute, the topics of conversation did not interest him... hmmm, he also said he could be socially awkward. That worries me a little, but not enough to spoil the day. Plus he was wearing his new shorts and t-shirt (untucked on my insistence) with some very ugly socks. I need to kindly present him with better looking socks when he is out in public in shorts. He just doesn't care about appearances. That worries me a little too, but hopefully he will let me call the shots on his attire.  

Me and Leah petting a kangaroo while the guys rode the Iron Guizi (one roller coaster I refused to go on... Donna and Leah don't ride the big coasters either). The kangaroo was very soft and surprisingly tolerate of the people touching him. His fur wasn't like a cat, but more like a sheep... like a Sherpa blanket. Very neat to be able to touch him. I'm sure they must rotate the fellows that are in the people pathways. There were a bunch more behind the fence and this guy was doing his time with us.