World Fantasy Con in San Antonio!

We got invited to World Fantasy 2017! No, we are not guests of honor. We were invited to help run the Con Suite! Since we are not GoHs, we have the privilege of buying memberships.

Christmas - Head for San Antonio

The Christmas season is upon us. We decided to take a weekend off and check out the decorations at our favorite two theme parks, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Sea World. We planned to visit Fiesta Texas on Saturday and Sea World on Sunday.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

As in previous years, they only had about two-thirds of the park open. For obvious reasons, all of the water rides are shut down. Hey, who wants to be wet when it is cold? Unfortunately, the train ride was also converted into a static decoration.

We got to the entrance gate and had our first adventure - a metal detector. Since we were wearing steel-toed shoes, the metal detector sounded off. This caused a minor delay which the staff handled both well and quickly.

Once we got past the gates, the difference was obvious. Christmas ornaments and strings of lights hung from the trees and balconies. Something new - bottomless hot chocolate! If you buy their souvenir mug, you get free refils all day! The cost is reasonable and whipped cream is included.

They replaced their standard shows with Christmas themed shows. Thankfully, only one required an extra fee, which we thus did not see. Over is the "Rockville" area, they set up a huge Christmas tree and did a daily "tree lighting" ceremony, just after dark.

It was after dark, that the decorations exploded with color. Each area had a differenc color theme - the "Los Festivales" area was multi-colored lights, the "Spassburg" area had blue and white lights, and so forth. They did a much better job of decorating the park this year than previous years!

Sea World

Sea World also did a much better job of decorating. They did this in spite of being in the midst of a major renovation of the park. They are rebuilding the water park area and are adding an animal interaction area where the log ride used to be. Both of these should be open next summer. Rumor has it that they are going to do away with the two-year season pass - this used to be their best deal and one which we have availed ourselves for many years.

The Christmas version of the Clyde and Seymour Sealion show was much the same as last year. The Christmas show in Shamu Stadium was new, as was the show in Azul theater. Over by the "Rio Loco" whitewater raft ride (which, by the way, was open!), they set up a small Christmas village with a number of booths selling Christmas-themed stuff and food, along with the traditional visit with Santa Claus. They also had a three-piece country band singing Christmas carols, some traditional and some more contemporary.

After dark, the place transformed. They had wound strings of lights around many of the trees, creating a candy-cane forest with red and white stripes. Other areas looked like peppermint sticks with their white and blue stripes. Over by the Penguin Encounter, they festooned the trees with strings of white lights. The effect was gorgeous!

Summary

If I had to give out awards for Christmas changes, I would have to give the award for decorations to Sea World this year. It was close, however. The award for food, however, has to go to Fiesta Texas for their bottomless hot chocolate and for their winter-themed funnel cake variations.

32 Days

Now, it is thirty two days of over 100 degrees here in central Texas. That also means thirty two days without rain. The heat is drying out the ground and turning our crops into acres and acres of fire hazard.  Look at this chart of  the rainfall over the last two years.  In the past twelve months, we have not had more than about three inches of rain in any month.  Normally, two months are over four inches and two to three additional months with over three inches.

This map shows the spread of the drought here in Texas during the last month. The whole south-east corner of Texas has reached a critical drought level.  We think we have it bad, but when you look at the map, San Antonio and Victoria really have it bad.  San Antonio gets its water from the Edwards Aquifer which is located west of the city.  Victoria gets its water from the several man-made lakes which depend upon a constant flow of water from the same aquifer.  How much longer before that aquifer starts to run dry?

But the drought is spreading up into the Hill Country. The lakes that supply water to Austin, Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan, are reaching record low water levels. The boat ramps are now all high and dry. Lake Travis is only 47% full, while Lake Buchanan is 53% full. If the drought continues, the exceptional drought category will have spread to cover this ranch. Fortunately, our east pasture got a good start early this spring, so the herd still has plenty to eat. But without rain, they will eat it down very quickly. We need rain, but it is just not in the forecast. There is a high pressure system that has been hanging over central Texas for the last six weeks. This is forcing all the rain to pass north of Texas, up in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, it does nto look like that high is going to move any time soon. Lord help us!!