July 4, 1776

Our beach vacation last week started off with some history, inland, with a tour of Williamsburg, VA, on July 4. Along with staying at the "1776" hotel, it was a great way to celebrate Independence Day with the Jehles, Hayes, and Trotters.

Bobsledding in the Summer

Anyone who's been within 5 feet of my physical or online presence this last week knows that I've went BOBSLEDDING. It was really fun and scary!! I thought I'd post about it for the record.

Utah's Olympic Park - the remnant mountain games setup from 2002 - now features an amazing museum & activities complex, including the world's steepest zipline and summer bobsledding.


Tucked behind the trained driver (above), I followed the instructions to press my arms against the side, keep my head from knocking the others, and not to squeeze the driver too hard with my legs.

I was scared, but as we all know from watching the Olympics (& Jerry Seinfeld), that bobsledding is the one sport "someone could involuntarily win the Gold medal," if thrown in. I figured I'd survive.
Ski jumping is also a summer sport in Utah - pretty cool. I also visited on the Sunday before, where 10 year olds were jumping off the ramps, just like this was the normal water-pool-time sport in PC.

Flying French Elephants

A business acquaintance I met last week in Utah sent me this poster this week. A delightful, surprise gift! Given that my Mom was a French teacher (and read us lots of Babar) and my brother wrote a wind power law journal article, this poster is a good fit for me :).

Yes, it does appear that the elephants may run into the windmills, but that is part of the "tension" in the art, in my interpretation... Also, not sure why the Babar doesn't capitalize on all the renewables and add "Babar Chooses Solar Power." He could also earn some carbon credits from those trees.

Maybe I should take up "lobbying via poster."