Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Alpine Coastin'



It's amazing how things people talked about during your childhood becomes something you learn to treasure as an adult. Today we took the kiddo to ride Park City's famous Alpine Slide. I had only gotten to ride it once myself since marrying Loren. He jokes that I'm a wimp and it wouldn't be hard to go faster than I did on my first run down the slide. I loved it all the same. It was obligatory to share it with the next generation.
We all went down the slow slides but Orion rod by himself. Afterwards he said he wanted to go on the fast slide. I was proud of myself for not slowing down as much as I did last time. We had a blast chatting with the ride regulator sitting at the top of the slide managing when each person could go. We had to tell the little man we were not going to go on the fast slide however because although we paid for a "Double Pass" we would be riding something just as exciting.


I'm not sure we were exactly sure what to expect but the Alpine Coaster was a wild thrill. You are drawn up the hill in a car that can seat two people. You control your speed, but the workers running the ride at the foot of the hill tell you to hold the lever all the way forward since all the other cars behind you are running at full speed. If not told that Loren an I agreed we might have tended towards slowing down. However at full throttle you are hurtled down the mountain through turns and dip as if on a roller coaster. It probably feels faster than it is due to it's proximity to the ground. Very thrilling.
I hope we can ride it again next year.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Virtual Ecstasy



Though my husband refutes any such thing the Park City Arts Festival is definitely a celebration of visual delights. Today the was such a good experience meeting other artists, getting inspiration and observing professional practices regarding branding and marketing materials. I found many different approaches to art and it was interesting to talk to the artists and learn more about their stories, techniques, processes and inspirations. The artists whose art I like better also seemed to generally have it together with business an marketing materials ready. I was actually surprised how many artists did not have marketing materials or even business cards available for patrons of the festival. It was a good lesson in what not to do when participating in an event. People may not always be able to purchase something at the festival but they may be interested in making a purchase later on. Self promotion seems to be as much planning for the future as it is for the present.


Since this was the first time he'd been to an even quite like this, Orion really struggled staying entertained, even with the scavenger hunt he was handed at the entrance along with his wristband. I'm glad he was interested in some of the art and was able to still talk about some of what he liked the best. In the end however after four hours and seeing about half of the festival we left to go get some food back at the condo with my in-laws. I hope to convince my husband to go with me next time just the two of us so we can see more and stay longer.