September 03, 2016

Swiss Days in the Desert

Today was a beautiful day today. A perfect beginning to the Autumn season. We decided to join tens of thousands of our best friends and go to Midway, UT for their annual Swiss Days Festival.

We have been to Midway before. It is a small community on the Wasatch 'Back' near Heber City, UT. We are always charmed by the cute cottage-like homes that mirror something you would find in a village in Europe. They are contrasted by the enormous mansions of varied architecture built more recently. Today, with all of the people, Midway had transformed.

The drive over the Wasatch Mountains from Salt Lake City to Midway took us through Park City, UT. It was beautiful. Many of the trees were already beginning to change into vibrant colors of autumn. Amazing. When we arrived at Midway we followed the traffic signs to the parking lot--promising us a place to park and a bus into the city square. We parked with everyone else in a recently cut grass field and had to dodge the cow manure as we made our way to the line for the bus. Randomly, we made it at a time there seemed to be only one bus working and after waiting for 15 minutes and no bus and a REALLY long line in front of us, we decided to walk from the parking lot to Main Street. 

So Lucky Dragon jumped up on Lady Hiva's lap--she was riding a wheelchair due to some pregnancy complications we had last week and cannot walk long distances any more. She hates riding in it because it really interferes with her independent spirit. But after being on near complete bedrest, sitting in a wheelchair was a small sacrifice to get out of the house.

Off we went. Me running and pushing the other two down the small two-laned highway. People watched as we went by, it must have looked interesting to see a guy carrying several bags, in slippers running down the road carrying a pregnant Lady and a little boy in a wheelchair!

We made it just in time for the parade. We found a spot right next to a friendly older couple from Heber City. They were so much fun to watch the parade with. Lucky Dragon would go grab candy and would always offer them some of it. They thought that was amazing. We danced with the music, cheered with the high schools, and waited for the free stuff given away. We literally left the parade with almost a whole grocery sack full loot--candy, t-shirts, coupons, water, and information pamphlets.







Lady Hiva's Favorite Float













I told Lady Hiva we could have joined the parade and she would have been our float! When these women passed I told her, "See they had the same idea!"

Should we tell him that he is dressed for the wrong 'S' country at Swiss Days! haha


We made our way to the square, stopping to do some shopping at the myriad of stores and booths along the way. Any kind of craft, art and items were on sale there. Lady found some shirts she liked and I bought some fun, colorful socks and both Tau'aho and Lady Hiva were both amazed by all of the Halloween booths we passed.


You can tell we have been re-reading Harry Potter together. I saw this cat  sitting so still and watching the people when Lady Hiva was shopping and we were playing on the grass and I thought, "There is Professor McGonagall"




We shopped for awhile, stopping at each of the booths selling some kind of toys. Smartly, they had examples out to play with and Lucky Dragon loved every minute of it.




The food lines



Lady, of course, was there for the good food! So we waited in line for a bratwurst sandwich with sauer kraut. The food lines were REALLY long. The line for a "Swiss Taco" that looked strangely like a Navajo Taco was literally like a line at Disneyland that zigzagged back and forth. Luckily that is not what she wanted. Halfway through the line Tau'aho announced loudly he had to "poop, right now!" So off I went running with him, leaving Lady Hiva sitting in a wheelchair to push herself. After our wonderful (said with sarcasm) experience in the porta-potty, we made it back to Lady Hiva. Instead of seeing her pushing her own wheelchair, there was a cute elderly German couple who were behind us in line pushing her.

It was amazing to see that someone cared to help those in need. They were so kind. He wanted to push Lady Hiva all the way to the front of the line while I held the umbrella up to shield us all from the short rain shower. I bought their food in thankfulness. They were the second couple who treated us as if we were their family. (It is refreshing after fighting with so many other people, who rudely were not aware of people around them, especially with someone in a wheelchair).

On the walk back to the car we had a scenic tour of Midway. While we all enjoyed that experience, next time we are going to drive closer and pay to park!










This was along the roadside...sans a child, but that water looked a bit sketchy to me!

Maybe it came from the ditch nearby??!!?

No comments:

Post a Comment