SeaWorld & NYG (Day 1)

Last night, we arrived in San Antonio safely at 9:35 PM.  After settling in to our nice Hampton Inn (which we are staying at for five nights...nice), we had some supper in our room with stuff we had, then settled in to bed by 11:30.  

Today, I woke up at 7:45, had breakfast (ham-egg-cheese bagel, yogurt, fruit, and milk), and headed to SeaWorld.  The Missouri and Rocky Mountain Districts of the LCMS were there, along with the general public.  It wasn't terribly crowded, though, since it was a Monday.  We watched four shows and rode three rides.  Here's a roundup of them.
Pets Ahoy -- A very entertaining and hilarious show involving pigs, ducks, birds, cats, dogs, rats, and a skunk performing a variety of tricks.
Azul -- A jaw-dropping performance featuring whales, dolphins, birds, acrobats, and synchronized divers/swimmers.  There were some really unbelievable tricks.
One Ocean -- The huge, beautiful, graceful killer whales twisting, turning, jumping, and flapping their tails composed this short show.
Cool Vibrations -- This was probably my favorite show of all.  It featured waterskiing, wakeboarding, wetbikes, and boats all doing intricate, close, impressive movements.  The best part of all, though?  Flyboarding, a recent invention consisting of high-powered jet packs that blast against the water and subsequently blast whoever is on the "Flyboard" up into the sky.  Other movements they can do are "porpoise dives" and twists, twirls, and flips.  We just saw the straight-up-and-down and the porpoise dive.  It was so cool to see that!
Journey to Atlantis -- A water-based, short roller coaster-type ride.  You ride in a large Viking-style boat up a long hill, flip around to go down and up a small track, then flip back around to go splash down into the water.  We didn't get too wet.
Steel Eel -- An exciting roller coaster with a very long, steep lift hill at the beginning before going up and down and through turns for the next two minutes.  We loved this!
Great White -- Just like Batman at Six Flags, this roller coaster takes you through corkscrews, twists, turns, and loops, all while your feet dangle.

The LCMS had a catered lunch for all of us, so we enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, baked beans, chips, and cookies, plus many drinks (I had lemonade).  Unfortunately, organization wasn't going well -- they ran out of hamburger buns, ice, and drink cups...while people were still waiting for food or drink.  The food was excellent, though.

After a fun day at SeaWorld, we returned to our hotel around 6 PM.  We stopped on the way to get gas and grab some wraps at McDonald's.  Then, at about 8:10 PM, we got on a bus to head to the Alamodome in downtown San Antonio for the opening Mass Event for the NYG.  We got there right at the start at 8:30.  For the next hour-and-a-half, we enjoyed inspirational and funny entertainers, dancing, singing, and just celebrating the love we have for Christ.  It's a pretty cool thing to see 25,000 teens all joined with you for Christ!!

We may have gotten out at 10 PM, but we didn't get back to the hotel until 11:30.  Transportation is not well planned yet, but hopes are high that tomorrow will be better.  It's been a great but exhausting day!!  Enjoy the pictures below.

The Steel Eel roller coaster; we rode it today at SeaWorld.

One of the many great stars we saw at the Azul performance at SeaWorld.

Three waterskiers are in perfect unison at the Cool Vibrations show at SeaWorld.

Flyboarding at the Cool Vibrations show at SeaWorld.

A killer whale poses at the One Ocean show at SeaWorld.

~Anna~