Hope everyone had a "bursting" good time!

I hope everyone had as splendorific of an Independence Day as we did... well, the day actually was kind of ick, but we had a great time despite all that. It started out, Mini-Dew and her friend were going with me to Wild Adventures theme park, which was fairly recently purchased by Dollywood (I'll come back to that...) Well, friend's sister-in-law joined us, and we hit the park, riding rides first, petting the petting zoo animals then hitting the water park. We weren't going to be ousted by weather this time... except for the souls of our feet, OUCH! The water park was over-crowded, no more lockers... and full to the brim of people. We hit the wave pool to cool off, then sis-in-law and I hit the Wahee Cyclone... well, the 1 1/2 hour line for the Wahee Cyclone. During that time we witnessed two heat exhaustion episodes (literally, eyes rolling into the back of their head, passed out, scraped knees... crazy) in the people in line around us. It was forecast to be 97° Saturday... don't know how high it got. Despite the crowds and the lines, and the overpriced food, and the poorly choreographed fireworks display set to mostly beebop music... heaven forbid they should go Patriotic on the 4th of July... ... we had beautiful fireworks, which is a must for me on the 4th. ... and the consequential fire...The magic show and only performance entertainment was a pathetic, "man escaping from a box chained closed and submerged in the water" trick. They used to have concerts... thanks, Dollywood. They also used to hire deputy sheriffs to manage the flow of traffic after large events and holidays... failing to do so caused several fights and unhappy customers trying to leave that place. It took FOREVER! ... and people get downright mean when they are tired and hot and stuck in unnecessary traffic jams.

The good news is that today is my birthday, and my wonderful groom gave me my favorite flower in the whole wide world... an orchid. My first orchid plant ever!! It's beautiful!Have a great day!
~Dewdrop