Wet 'n Wild, Orlando, Florida

This definitely isn’t the mid Atlantic anymore. The fall colors in North and South Carolina have been replaced by palm trees, live oaks, and green grass. While Florida is currently experiencing a cold snap, with temperatures in the mid 60s during the day dipping into the mid 40s at night, there is abundant sunshine. The promise of amusement parks has provided the kids with ample incentive to get ahead in their homework. Brian is a week ahead on his plan, and Laura is even further ahead than that. Today we visited one of the famous water parks in Orlando, Wet 'n Wild. When we arrived at park at 10 AM it was 58 degrees. It reminded me of an early May trip to Canyon Ferry Reservoir in Montana – the initial exhilaration of practically having the entire place to yourself on a beautiful sunny, and then reality setting in as you smear sunscreen over goose bumps! Here is Brian’s account of the day:

I'm standing in an enclosed capsule on the top of a six story structure. I feel like a cartoon character from a futuristic society, standing in a tube waiting for it to blast him off to some strange location. I'm smiling, half in adrenaline, yet half in terror. A man outside the capsule calls: 'sir, I need you to stand behind the red line.' I look down; there is no red at all on the surface beneath my feet. I look up and begin to say, 'what red li--' *SHOOOOOM* A trap door falls beneath me. I attempt to let out a muffled scream as I plunge almost vertically downward, without enough time to even take a mental photograph of what was happening.

This was the scene today as I took on theme park Wet and Wild's tallest slide, a nearly 80-degree waterslide called the "Bomb Bay." Topped with a structure resembling the latter end of a missile or atomic bomb, you stand in the middle with your arms and legs crossed as the operator presses a button that lets you freefall down the slide into a watery explosion below.

We had a fantastic day at the water park here in Orlando. I commented a few times on how we seemed to rent the entire park for 40 bucks! There were literally only 100 other people there for the entire day. We never once had to wait in line for any of the slides, and we were some of the first people to enter the park. It's an odd scene, seeing an entire amusement park completely empty yet open at the same time. As one can imagine, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

I'm trying to pick up some accents around here. I can almost use a southern accent, but usually only in a joke; in standard conversation I stick out as a Northerner as easily as you could distinguish fire from water. But I've been really happy with how friendly the folk are around here. Guess I'm being exposed to that good ol' southern hospitality.