Watching the Police

Julie and I were joined by Loris and Bill Benson in a trip to go see The Police and Elvis Costello. Some of these "older" bands are more like tribute bands. They don't include the original band members. Others probably should switch to new musicians because the originals are old and tired. The Police were absolutely fantastic. They had everyone on their feet the entire night. Sting, who is now 56, still has a fantastic voice and he can wail on the bass.

Bark in the Park

Julie and I took Jasper to the Park City "Bark in the Park" festival. It was nicely attended, which isn't a surprise since about 50-75 percent of families in Park City have at least one dog. I would guess there were over 100 dogs and their humans in attendance. They had demos, booths and competitions.

In the first competition Jasper entered, he got a DNF (did not finish). It was a simple race from one line to another, but he didn't quite get the idea. He sprinted about 20 yards and then turned to play with the dog running next to him. Then he just ran around having fun, but never crossed the line. Oh well.

In his second and final competition, he got to play frisbee. At least this was something he completely understands. He focuses on the frisbee as though there aren't any other dogs around. He got third place with a very stylish catch! His prize was a dog dish and a plastic frisbee. I think what he really prefered was the froen peanut butter Kong he got when we went home.

Watching the dogs compete was entertaining. Numerous labs were entered in the frisbee contest, but most seemed too interested in sniffing dog butts or playing in the water. One standard poodle was able to sky for huge air, but just couldn't seem to time it right and never caught the frisbee. Oh well.

After the competition, Julie took Jasper off to the side and threw him some more frisbee to wear him out.




Speed and timing.



With fairly good air.



This is Jasper's first prize! Yeah dog!

Thinking Thin - End of Week #?, I forget

Still working on my bold new physique. My weight is down to 179. For the first time in many years, I have broken back into the "normal" category (from overweight) using the Body Mass Index. If you want to calculate yours, try here. I have always hoped I was just big boned. Then I realized that you don't have soft, floppy bones around your waist. Damn!

Back to the mountain top

Another trip up into the mountains, this time with our friends Zack and Michelle (and of course, Jasper the dog). It was a nice day, with highs in the low 80s. Great for hiking. The only downside is the haze, which has been drifting in from all the California fires.



Zack and Michelle. We met them here in Park City, but they left us to move to LA. At least they come back to visit.

July 4th

July 4th is a big day here in Park City. It starts with a big parade, moves into a big gathering in City Park and ends with the traditional fireworks. Everything is well attended and it seems like the whole town is out for the party. Happy Birthday America!!

The day started early. Rob Schumacher (on the right), is home builder and our chair space acquisition manager. Rob got up at 4:30 and drove down with a pickup trucks loaded with folding chairs. He set everything up to claim our shady space for parade spectating. Yeah Rob!



Here we have Lisa, Julie, Kathy and Loris. All have big smiles since three of them just ate a wonderful breakfast up at the Morning Ray Cafe.



Park City's parade isn't much different than other small town's. Lots of people having lots of fun, but not necessarily and serious floats. The Rose Parade this is not.



Every time I see these stilt/shoe/springs I swear I have to get some. They go bounding along with huge leaps. I saw them first in Cirque de Soleil and have loved them since.



Lisa, smiling up from the curb.



One of the crowd favorites was the motorized coolers that you could ride. Only in America!



Our friends Zach and Michelle are in town from LA. Here we have Julie, Michelle and Bill.



At the end of the parade, Julie and I walked back up April Mountain. Everyone else grabbed a ride. Yeah Julie for being a studette!



We ended the evening with a nice gathering at the Benson's house and then trekked up to the water tower to watch fireworks. I was too lay this year to drag along all my camera gear, so no fireworks pictures.

And I end with a single picture that offers several warnings. First, we should all really watch our weight and try to stay healthy. Second, no matter what your body style, you should think about what you are wearing out into public and ask yourself "is this OK?"

Burning down the house

I woke up yesterday to the sound of fire engines. They were off in the distance so I wasn't worried about anything close. When I got up and looked out over Park City, I could see a big plume of smoke. Something was burning in a big way. I grabbed my camera and hopped on my scooter (eco-Steve).

Turns out that a small house had caught fire and was in the process of burning to the ground. The fire spread to a beautiful historic house, which is what you see in the picture. I don't know the history, but it is known as the Angel House.



The flames started shooting through the roof of the Angel House.



We've already been getting hazy air from the fires in California. This certainly doesn't help.



The small house was a total loss and the Angel House suffered over $1M in damage. This is a big event for a small town. It is even more worrisome when you see how Old Town has so many very old, very dry buildings within feet of each other. Many were built long before our codes that require fire sprinkler systems.

Free music on Wednesdays

Every Wednesday during the summer, there is a free concert over at Deer Valley. Yesterday was the first of the year and it was a lot of fun. There were over 1000 people there, which is amazing given how small out town is.



We went with Bill and Loris Benson and Jim Covaleski. Julie has the stylish hat. Everyone has the glass of wine. It is quite a picnic!



As the concert ended, the wilder fun began. From some source I never discovered, a ton of water came rushing down the grass hill. It was an area right behind the sound tent, so no one was sitting there. Then guys started diving down the wet grass.

Some went on their bellies.



Some used the knee method.



Everyone came up soaked, cold and filthy.



After a few runs by himself, this boy's dad went running down with him. It was nice to see father and son bonding in the mud slide.



Mom, we're ready to head home......



A gorgeous evening and well worth the price (free).

Why wake up early?

I got up about 5:40 yesterday. The full moon was just setting behind Jupiter Peak over in Park City. The sun was just coming up so the mountain was catching some early light.



I took a series of pictures. It is interesting to see how quickly the moon moved down. You don't get long to get the shot.

This year's first big hike

Julie, Jasper and I took a hike up Bald Mountain over at Deer Valley. We've been getting in some good long walks but no real mountain hikes. When we got to the base, our favorite hike was still closed due to snow and mud. The alternative was pretty good though.

Julie, back in the forest.



The view from the top looking out over the Jordanelle Reservoir and off into the Unitah mountains.



Steve and Jasper with the mountains of Solitude and Brighton in the background.



Still some fields of snow big enough for skiing (and dog snowball fetching). You get a better idea of the sie if you notice the jeep track running up the right side.



A good first hike and some nice scenery. Many more to be done.

A little fawn

This came from my dad and Colleen.



Colleen's note with a very important warning:

Yesterday while Doug was working in the woods, he found this fawn nestled at the base of a tree. He curtailed his work in the area for the morning and I took some pictures. It is common for the doe to leave a fawn while she goes off to forage. A fawn remains still and, with its natural camouflage and lack of scent, is very difficult to spot or be sniffed out by dogs or other animals of prey. Never "rescue" or touch a fawn as this will leave your scent on it, making it more vulnerable to animals of prey and less appealing to the doe.