Sea World - San Antonio, Texas

There I was sitting.........kicking back and relaxing......enjoying the views........and I am waiting for the rest of the gang to get their fill of assorted water rides and a wave pool.

We had taken the drive from Austin to San Antonio to visit Sea World. We spent the entire day there in the blistering sun.........damn it was hotter than hell.........but I would do my best to find a shady spot and wait while the rest of the gang had their fun. Me?.......well.....I do not participate in life-threatening, vomit inducing, masochistic shenanigans disguised as entertainment........no, not me........but I fully understand that the kids wanna have some "fun". I simply enjoyed absorbing the scenery and establishing a makeshift home base where everyone in the family knows where to meet up later.

Did I mention that I was relaxed?

Hehehe........you didn't think ole Signtopia was gonna be walking around a place as huge as Sea World.......in this hotter than hell sun.........and take the risk of collapsing so far away from home.....did you? I, of course, rented the forty dollar motorized cart..........and after I obtained mine there was only one more left.............whew! I would have been absolutely miserable if had to to hobble around this place..............hey, years ago.....no problem.......but these days, my leg and upper thigh start killing me within about fifteen minutes of walking. Oh well.......I suppose it is something I have to live with. Things could be far worse.

Try to figure out what this is.

I was looking up.

Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1 and Supernurse had a pretty good time........and I know full well that both of them probably could have used a decent nap at least twice that day. When I think about it, why bother with getting all excited to see killer whales and sharks, when I can just sit there and experience moments like this.

Everybody loves dolphins.............I read somewhere that there is a list of things to do before people die...........at the top of that list, the people surveyed said that they would want to swim with the dolphins. Well........you can't swim with the dolphins here..........but you can get really close to them.

Signtopia Expansion Pack 2 (Noodle) and Princess Fartknocker tried to get the dophins to swim close enough so that they could touch them.

She would have shit herself if a dolphin would have popped its head right up at her.......but it didn't..........and she waited and waited.
Meanwhile.........the rest of us walked over to see some sharks.

Oh yeah.............sharks........and nobody wants to pet them.

Nobody wants to pet them because they have mouths like this when they smile. I see this kinda stuff and I lose all interest in swimming in the ocean. Okay......so enough of this......we go back to the dolphins.

You never know what you will see while watching others try to pet the dolphins. Smile for the camera!

This one got real close.......Princess Fartknocker was enjoying this.

My two grandsons...........they came close to touching a dolphin. I know they really enjoyed themselves here. Notice the other people that you see in these pictures.........now just imagine being the cheese on a giant taco........hehehe.

Gee.......20 years.......where has the time gone?

I can remember taking my kids, when they were knee high to a grasshopper, to Sea World in Orlando, Florida.........and I can remember when we went to Fort Lauderdale and petted the dolphins at the now defunct Ocean World. Twenty years ago, I never imagined one day that I would be at Sea World with my grandchildren........but here I am........it is like a deja vu all over again.

Sea World has this huge "stadium" that houses the Shamu show. It is impressive. At one end is a jumbotron and at the other end......

........this is where the whales enter the large pool.

The place was crowded and this was the last and final show of the evening. See these people?...........you know them...........there is Hector, Paco, Chico, Consuela, and the rest.........the Gonzales, Rodriguez, Lopez, Diaz, Cabrera, and Chavez families............it was like seeing the Orioles on vacation........hehehe............seriously though.........it was a nice crowd but I found myself wanting a taco.

I was a bit dissappointed with the Shamu show..............we sat through several minutes of what basically was some cheerleading by this girl and the character next to her.......and lots of loud music pumped over the sound system that they tried to get you clapping and dancing to.

It was filler.......it was boring for me........let's get the show on the road..................I don't wanna dance, I don't wanna sing.........I want to see Shamu. Oh no.......not yet......we have to have a dance competition and the winner will get a free stuffed Shamu toy............so I sat there as everyone watched the jumbotron as the camera zoomed in on the contestants in the crowd.........they even filled up the time with a "kiss cam" kinda thing like they do in between innings at a baseball game. Eventually..........the real show began and there were maybe five or six kiler whales.............Shamu must be one of them........I don't know......I don't believe I heard them mention any of their names. Okay.......so they come out and jump up into the air a few times and get fed by their handlers on the decks that are placed at the edge of the pools. Then......and I suppose this is the big deal for everyone...........each of the whales begin to use their tails to splash gallons and gallons of water into the crowd............I would have been more impressed if a whale jumped up out of the water and pissed on everyone...................but it seems the kids really enjoyed this show. After all is said and done.....it is all about the kids. As long as they enjoyed themselves, nothing else matters.

By the way...........

......here is a picture of a whale.....................the whale is on the left.