Tuesday
Up bright and early again today and another hot day is forecast, coffee by the pool first thing seems to be coming a bit of a ritual, a very fit young man next door was outside by his pool working out (skipping and pretend boxing) made me worn out taking a sneaky peak.... umm might need to get up early tomorrow morning as well me thinks !! anyway, I digress.... today we have decided to take a trip to Boggy Creek so went onto Google Maps and found a different route which took us straight passed Champions Gate and onto the 17/92 East and took us on a bit of an adventure as a number of times we thought we were hopelessly lost but we carried on and came to a junction where we turned right onto Poinciana and about 2 miles down the road was Boggy Creek, as we got there before 10.30 we got $4 per person off with a coupon we had and we were booked onto the 11.15 boat, so we spent just over half an hour looking at all the baby gators who were really active and sitting in the shade as it was really hot. Onto our boat with a rather large German family who talked over the boat captain the whole time (which by the end of the tour got to be REALLY annoying) and also an american family. The airboat ride was as thrilling and fast as I remember it being last time and we did get a bit wet when the captain spun the boat round, about half way through the tour and when we were out in the middle of the lake the boat stopped suddenly and we floated towards a log which actually turned out to be a 9' male gator who was sunning himself on the top of the water (apparently it is quite rare to see them out in the open like that), we then watched some large snail kites diving for snails (obviously) and managing to catch them (all the time the German family were talking !!), we made our way back to the dock and had the obligatory photo with the baby gator which we bought because he was rather cute and we were off on the road again, I thought the whole morning was well worth the money and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
We made our way back to I4 and stopped off at premium outlets and had a bite to eat but by this time we were all so hot we decided to go back to the villa for a dip in the pool. I had developed some quite bad blisters from my shoes that I have worn all through the summer so we ended up going very quickly to Super Target in Posner Park and I got myself some trainers (I would rather have bought a handbag !!) We ordered a Dominos for tea and had an evening of competitions in the games room.... I am awesome at air hockey... unbeaten so far.
Wednesday
Coffee by the pool although it was a bit overcast this morning (no young man working out today [msnsad]), when everyone had woken up and had breakfast we were off to Seaworld with me at the steering wheel !! this is the first time I have driven on the Interstate so I was a bit nervous, but we made it there without any incidents and we had high 5's around the car for my big achievement !!. Got into Seaworld and it was very quiet, I love Seaworld it has such a lovely atmosphere and is very laid back, Gary and Jennifer headed straight for Manta whilst Bryony and I went to the Ray Pool and then sat in the shade and waited for them both to come off the ride, we then made our way round to the Seamore and Clyde show, we were glad we got there early because the mime artist was so funny, I love the way people don't even know that he is making fun of them, he got a huge round of applause when the show started. The show was just as funny this time as it has been the many times we have seen it before, we then headed over to Shamu and managed to get a seat at the very back of the stadium. This is the first time we have seen the show since the trainers haven't been in the water and we thought that it was just as good. We had a wander across the bridge and down to the dolphin show stopping for a churro and a drink on the way, the gates had just opened for the show so we managed to get quite a good seat near the front of the stadium. The show started and the lady came out onto the ledge to jump down into the pool with the dolphins when a lady came out onto the stage and said that they were having to settle a dispute back stage, apparently the 8 dolphin team were acting out and the show couldn't start until they had calmed down, so she talked to us about what happens when they are being naughty and about 10 minutes later they started the show, the lady dived into the pool and swam around with the dolphins but before the end of the act they had fallen out again and had to be taken backstage again (leaving one dolphin in the front pool because he wouldn't go back !! it was really interesting to see how it was all dealt with and eventually sorted out so that the rest of the show could continue without another hitch. Even though it had its problems I still think that this show is the best of the bunch. Just as we left the heavens opened, which had been threatening for a while, so we went on the sky tower which we had never been on before and it gave us a totally different view of the park. As the rain didn't look like it was going to stop we decided we would come back to the park another day and go back to the villa where the girls went to their room do start the homework that had been set for them from school and college. We ended up going to the Golden Corral for dinner then back to watch a movie.
Thursday
Coffee by the pool and "workout man" is back [msnsmile2], it has been forecast to be up in the late 80's today and we had decided last night that we would go to Busch Gardens today so after a breakfast at the Waffle House we were on the road to Tampa. Got to Busch Gardens about 10.30 and it was very quiet, Gary, Jennifer and Bryony went straight on to Montu whilst I went into the King Tut exhibit in Egypt and before I got through they were off the ride and wanting to go again, which they did. By now it was sweltering hot so we headed for the Sky Tram for a more sedate ride (the way I like them) to the back of the park, Gary and the girls went on Kumba and when they all came off Gary had hurt his back and was bent at an angle, we went and found somewhere shady for him to sit down whilst we went for a wander round, we saw the Tigers (which I love) and the girls bought themselves a cuddly tiger each in the shop. When we got back to Gary he was in quite a bit of pain and against his wishes I decided that we should drive back to the villa via Walgreens (for some back meds) so he could rest. When we got back I got down to some serious sunbathing and the girls went in the pool wihle Gary sat in the jacuzzi massaging his back. Take out for tea tonight.
I hope my trip reports aren't too long, if you want me to stop waffling please let me know.
Bookmarks