John, John and Pattie

This week we some some great friends from Raleigh head west to visit.  In the photo below, from left to right:

• John Steigerwald - Julie and I worked with John a bit at IBM, but more importantly, he became a manager at our company, Ganymede Software.  John is one of the seven other guys I golf with every spring in Myrtle Beach.
• Pattie Steigerwald - John's loving spouse and Julie's cohort for visits to the pottery kilns in NC.
• Julie - My tolerant spouse
• John Q. Walker - a long time best friend and coworker.  We worked very closely together at IBM and were two of the founders of Ganymede.  I work as well with John as anyone I have ever met, even though our thought processes seem dramatically different.

The pictures are out of chronological order, but who really cares?

This is us over at the St Regis hotel for a big wine and food fest.  Lots of distilleries and wineries were present to show off their beverages.  We did this last year, but I think it was better in 2012, mostly because the food was handled a lot better.

Here we are at the top of Deer Valley, not long before some thunderstorms came rolling in.  It started raining a bit after we got back down to the base.

Our friends the Covaleski's were also in town and Saturday evening, just before they headed back to Virginia, they threw a party.  Right as it was all starting, these three biplanes came buzzing right over the house.  In 8 years, I have never seen these planes around Park City.  The Covaleski's have certainly raised the bar for good parties with a private flyover.

At the party, the Covaleski's grill regulator had died and was leaking propane.  The cooking moved into the house and into the hands of Chad on John.  The food turned out great, but I still can't imagine ending a party at your house after midnight and having to head to the airport around 8:00 in the morning. I am weak.

Another big event while our visitors were in town was the annual 4th of July parade.  It's always fun to see a big parade in a small town.

Every year I see this big monstrosity and every year I want one.  Can't say why, but it would be fun.

The worst job in the parade... following the big horses. At least they gave him a wheelbarrow instead of carrying a bag.

How do you train a big dog to ride down the street with his butt hanging out of the car?  He seemed quite happy with the whole thing but it is still a weird idea for a float.

Poor little horses in ugly hats.  I felt for them.

There was a long line of girls, all sorted by height.  The little girl in the back had to feel a LOT of pressure with this big tall guy stalking her.

You just can't beat a motorized, riding ice chest.  I'm thinking Nobel Prize for something.

Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) is the new big thing.  Supposedly fun while getting a great core workout.  This guy was doing fine until they unloaded on him with hoses and squirt guns.

Every year, the people from the Park City Math Symposium march in the parade.  This year they even made a very complex float of sorts.  I am sure it is something very important to mathematicians.

Normally when you see bagpipes, it is almost 100% men and mostly adults.  This was the youngest and most gender-balanced bagpipe group I have seen. Just the same, they always play the same one or two songs and it sounds like a cat being beaten to death in a bag.

Our group, watching the parade.  I go down at 5:30 to put out our chairs and leave a car. Then Jasper and I walk home in the peaceful hours when few people are about.

JohnQ saw a stranger walking by with a box of Krispy Kreme donoughts.  He just shouted out "Sure, I would love a donut."  She actually stopped and gave John one, and then offered one to a little girl that was next to us.  You just never know until you ask.

This is Teresa, our good friend and the wife of our builder.  She is a recent and very happy grandmother.  Unfortunately, Sullivan was pretty zonked out this day and running a bit of a fever.  How he slept through a loud parade is a testimate to a child's' ability to survive.

I didn't get photos of Bill and Loris's 4th of July Barbeque.  I left my camera at home because the fireworks show was canceled. Without that in hand, I just forgot to take any shots.  Great food and people.  I'm not sure how it happened, but John Steigerwald (our guest) ended up at the grill cooking many, many pounds of Tri-tip.

The Steigs left yesterday and JohnQ leaves this morning, although it still isn't clear who will win the race home.  American Airlines was a disaster yesterday. Bad weather in Dallas left planes and crews scattered everywhere and the best the Steigs could do was get from Salt Lake to Dallas for the night.  In theory, they were on a flight this morning to Chicago, and from there to Raleigh.  Yuck!

A great week in Park City with great friends that we just don't get to see enough!