Plenty of sunshine headin' my way: Vacation Days 7-9

June 13 - Sea World
Run:
7.4 miles (7:15 average), with a faster final mile on the road our hotel was on (Palm Parkway) to try to pick up a final Strava segment...but alas, I ran on the wrong side of the road again.

Activities:

Our final full day in Orlando was spent at Sea World!  We did everything one could possibly do there, and were there the whole time they were open (9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.).  Two of their major rides were closed, so that was disappointing, but we would have had to skip something else had we done those since we were there until they kicked us out (I was singing "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here" in my head on our zombie theme park shuffle walk out of the park).

Albani loved touching the stingrays and sharks, and she tried to get wet at the Shamu Orca whale show (her uncle sat with her and his kids; Jon and I sat out of the Splash Zone!).  We rode to the top of the huge classic (old) Sea World tower, rode through Antarctica and on a helicopter simulation ride, and saw dolphin, bubble ("Pop"), and pet shows ("Pets Ahoy").  We all got plenty wet in the rain yet again -- our Orlando daily tradition by that point.  We finished the day in the kids' ride area, and there were no lines since everyone smart had already gone home, so the kids could run off and on the rides without waiting.

After Sea World, we got Chinese take-out and the kids swam in the hotel pool from about 9:15-10:00 p.m. It was a long day!

Sea World entrance

Antarctica entrance

It was 32* in the penguin area!

The controller is shaped like a turtle

Touching stingrays, which she loved

The Manta was an amazing roller coaster

Orca whale show

Touching sharks (& look at her curls!)

Eating here was clearly a must

June 14 - Air Travel Day/Benton Visit
Run:
My final run in Orlando was 9.3 miles at 7:37 average, with a Strava segment course record on Palm Parkway (the correct side of the road this time!).  By some miracle and/or GPS error, I ran the nearly 1 mile segment at 6:15 pace without feeling like I over-extended myself -- keep in mind that I was supposed to be base running all these vacation days, so although the Strava segment-chasing was really fun, I knew I needed to keep it in check, and most of the segments I took were 6:30-6:45 pace.  Plus I was really tired during this run!

Activities:
We didn't set alarms and slept in for the first time (me until 6:45 a.m.), then got packed up and ready for our return flight!  It was delayed about 60 minutes, which seems to be about as good as one can hope for, but we arrived in Wichita around 4:15 p.m.  My dad picked us up at the airport and we spent the night at my parents' house.  My mom provided a lot of healthy food, which was greatly appreciated!  I was so over the hotel breakfast by the final day; Albani loved it because she got donuts every day (I never purchase donuts at home because I'm mean like that).

They still loved each other at the end

June 15 - Benton Visit/Car Travel Day
Run:
7.1 miles on Kansas country roads at 7:30 average pace.  I love running the roads around my parents' house because I always reminisce about training in that area in high school!

Activities:
We gave my dad early Father's Day gifts before driving back to Ozark that afternoon!  I loved our vacation, but there is truly no place like home, and we thanked God for bringing us back safe and happy.

Happy early Father's Day!

Grandma love

Walking data from my phone

Above is a screenshot of my vacation walking, with a "normal" day before we left included for reference (June 6 is my normal work day; June 7 is a travel day) -- so we walked 39.7 miles over our 6 active vacation days.  I felt like we walked farther than this recorded most days, but then I remembered how much longer it takes to get somewhere when walking vs. running, plus this doesn't account for standing around time on feet!  Wish I could count this in my weekly mileage!