Hi folks!

I just noticed that Outlook just barely sent out the email that I sent last night. I wish I knew enough about Outlook to have some idea of why it didn’t go out when I pushed the send button. Sorry to give you two back to backers.

Today was a very unique day. No touring, No camping, No cooking, No Museums, just exhilaration and adrenalin enhanced fun. We even got to sleep in a bit for a change. Boys got up at 7:30, ate breakfast buffet style at the hotel and headed off to Busch Gardens at 10:00. It was another hot muggy day so rides that drenched you in the process were regularly interspersed throughout the day. We were just wet all day! For those of you that haven’t been to Busch Gardens, this is a theme park that has these great little recreated villages complete with restaurants and shops that are so well done and cute you almost forget there is these monster roller coasters in the background of each of these seemingly docile villages. Apollo’s Charriot is the tallest ride in the world. The Griffin is the only ride in the world that sends you over a vertical drop cliff, and on and on. We have 4 or 5 boys that don’t do coasters but found plenty of other things to do. The food at this park is excellent and with the stipend they were given for lunch and dinner, they were able to purchase great ethnic foods in these villages. The German FestHaus had great entertainment while you were eating. The grounds of this park are immaculate and thick with a combination of native hardwood forests and manicured ornamentals. It’s a pretty amazing place.

The boys ran in packs between the rides and mixed and matched in different groups all day. There was lots of sweat, lots of smiles, and of course, they thought this was the funnest part of the trip…imagine that!

The day was cut short unexpectedly by a storm cell that moved in after dinner, complete with a great lightning show and some microburst winds and heavy rain for about 15 minutes. There was an accident related to that on the big Griffin ride. A balloon (apparently made of plastic and metal) atop one of the buildings in the French quarter blew off the building and got lodged on the track of the Griffin just below one of the big loops. They were unable to shut the car down in time that had already been sent and the car struck that object full speed. The balloon structure became lodge up under the car and some how in the process injured almost all of the 30 people on board. Luckily there were no scouts on board which was a bit surprising given that ½ of the park visitors today were scouts. They hauled quite a few people out in stretchers. The rain continued a drizzle the rest of the evening so we worked our way towards the front gates sooner than the 9:45 originally intended. Inspite of the weather I think everyone had a really good time. Everyones worn out so I’m sure they will sleep good tonight….again….

It’s hard to believe the adventure is coming to a close. The boys are looking forward to seeing families again. Their thoughts are now turned that direction. We are going to try to pull their attention away from home one last time for about 1.5 to 2 hours tomorrow morning by walking the old town of Williamsburg and let them see some of the old shops and craftsman there. Then we are off to Baltimore for a 4 hour drive. We fly out of Baltimore on Delta at about 5:50 Eastern time. We’ll stop for lunch somewhere on the way. We’ll plan on seeing everyone at the airport!!!

Here is the link to yesterdays pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/100869686042495152805/Jamboree603Day16#