Harry Potter Theme Park

I got to cross off an item on my bucket list earlier than planned---visit the Harry Potter Theme Park at Universal Studios in Orlando! The reason I was able to go earlier was because there was an awesome deal in November---like 60% off flights and hotels---it was a steal because the cost was all under $500!! And that's the kind of vacations I look for! This theme park was only built a few years ago. I have to tell you that the HP park has 2 of the most awesome rides ever!! First there is the Forbidden Journey in the Hogwarts castle---you sit on a bench with your feet hanging free and the ride is totally interactive--you feel like you are in it and experiencing it as you chase a dragon, escape the gigantic spiders, get away from the whomping willow and have Harry save you from the dementors! You are spinning, flying, and dropping suddenly at every turn! The second ride is the Dragon Challenge---there are 2 coasters---one for the Chinese Fireball Dragon and one for the Hungarian Horntail Dragon---once again you are on benches with your feet hanging freely---the coaster takes you upside down with your feet in the air and the corkscrews you down and around the corners---such a rush!!! I couldn't get enough of those 2 rides! There is also a Hogsmeade/Diagon Alley town and you can visit the different shops that are in the books. With so much cool stuff in all the shops, it was quite the task to not buy it all! And of course there was butterbeer and pumpkin juice! I had the frozen butterbeer and loved it---butterbeer has a cream soda base. And pumpkin juice was yummy too---tasted like apple cider with a hint of pumpkin flavoring in it.

We did go to the rest of Universal Studios too. One day we got so drenched from 2 rides, we were just wet or damp all day and night---they provided "people dryers" but it didn't help much. Got to take pictures with characters---which is always silly fun! I always feel like I'm the only adult doing that! The other 3 rides I loved in Universal was Rip Ride RockIt---it started out going totally vertically up for many yards and then it just went crazy looping and curving around, all while listening to the music of your choice--then the Incredible Hulk ride was like the Dragon Challenge but your feet were not free hanging---and then The Mummy was a fun interactive one---not as good as the HP one though.

Another super thing about being at Universal Studios in February was that the weather down there was hot! 80 degree weather---can't complain with that! The humidity did frizz my hair everyday, but had to just deal with that! I loved wearing summer clothes! It was a good break from the cold winter temperatures in Utah!

Rodizios



Our raspberry lemonades! Mmmm!

Rodizio's is a Brazilian grill restaurant. As you sit, the waiters bring around varying meats on skewers and slice you a piece. It's like a meat-fest! They do have a salad bar to go along with it, but you mostly need to save room for the meat! And there was some delicious tasting meat!! They also bring around cheese rolls and grilled pineapple too. But my favorite thing there is the Brazilian lemonade--love that stuff!! I looked up a recipe and it looks like something I could do! You definitely don't go home hungry from that place!!

Blue Man Group

The Blue Man Group came to Salt Lake City, so my nephew and his wife came with me to the show! We were on the 2nd row in the "splash" zone---yes there is a splash zone because paints and other liquid stuffs come flying off the stage. So we got to wear lovely plastic-wrap ponchos over us for protection. Luckily, I did not get splashed! This group uses their facial features and captions to entertain---no speaking! It's amazing how much you can convey without speaking! They do a variety of skits and musical numbers. Funny show!! Plus their audience interaction is awesome! And the show finale is like a big party with toilet paper, confetti, streamers shooting down at you while you try to hit these huge balls bouncing around in the audience! New Year's Eve parties should have that much fun!! Had a great time!

ABBAmania

If you around in the 70s(and even if you were not), ABBA was one of the great bands. They were from Sweden. And they usually wore outrageous colorful outfits(at least now we think that---back then it was cool)! They had lots of catchy tunes and more recently they made a broadway musical called MammaMia using just ABBA songs(they made the songs follow a fun story)! Well now a pseudo-ABBA tours the world recreating the ABBA hit songs! So Jenn and I went to St. George to ABBAmania! I tried to dress as 70s-ish as I could with my flare sleeves and hair tied back with a scarf--if I could have found some reasonably priced knee-boots, I would have worn those too! The pseudo-ABBA group didn't dress too crazy though--in fact the girls almost looked in style since many of the 70s styles have come back right now. I was a bit worried about the fun-factor of the crowd seeing all the white-haired people around me--but luckily there's enough of the younger generation that know ABBA too---so we had a fun time dancing and singing to the songs! We even had our concert lighter app on our phones to sway back and forth on slower songs! Even though I lost my voice from singing and screaming for a few hours, it was well worth it!!

Falltime in Zion's

I had a chance to do the Riverwalk at Zion's National Park at the beginning of November. Over Veteran's Day weekend, it's free to get into the park. So my friend Jenn and I took advantage of that! The red, yellow and orange leaves on the trees were absolutely gorgeous. On top of that we had the sound of river to walk beside! Plus we had the awesome canyon walls as a background! And being in the off-season, there were not too many crowds to deal with! Got some great pictures! What a great way to enjoy the God's beauties!