Posted by The Friday of Memorial Day weekend is the best day of the year. Why? Because it is, for me, the first day of summer. The happiest day of the year, because you know that you have so many fun, happy summer days ahead of you. Long days and short yet beautiful nights, wearing nothing but shorts and T-shirts for months, and losing yourself in that odd summer haze where time freezes to a halt and it feels like the time of happiness and warmth and sunshine will last forever…
Yeah, I love summer.
And yes, I know it’s not technically summer yet by the solstice definition. But it may as well be. The spirit of summer starts today! And here at Amusement and Airtime, summertime is the end of May through mid-September. Also, the Friday before Memorial Day is generally when outdoor water park season begins. And such was the case this year.
As is tradition, we here at Amusement and Airtime must ride water slides on Memorial Day Weekend. As is mandated by the Theme Park Gods. So here goes.
It took me way too long to get there after work. I closed up shop at 4:45 PM, but then found out that Lagoon was opening on Saturday, and immediately dropped everything and scrambled to get a reservation for the next morning! After that was all cleared out, and I managed to finally find my swimsuit and clean my nasty water shoes, it was time to haul my butt over to the Provo Recreation Center water slides!
The lap pool was occupied by a swim team, so I didn’t get a workout in. However, I had already closed all 3 of my rings on my Apple Watch, so I wasn’t too worried.
I haven’t given these slides names yet. But I started out on the blue one, I think, and then moved to the green one. I kept my water shoes on for both, which will help me to avoid heel blistering, but simply isn’t a good idea on faster slides.
I had fun on both slides. The water was warm, too. However, it was pretty freezing cold outside, and the wind was starting to blow debris in my eyes. Most of the lifeguards were running inside, and I was a bit worried that my bag with my watch and phone would get stolen. Plus, I really wanted Cupbop. So I decided to go back inside and call it a night. I skipped the lazy river (didn’t want to get close to the kiddies), the dive pool, both the indoor and outdoor recreation pools, and the hot tub, mainly because of distancing protocols and the fact that I was really craving some Korean BBQ.
Overall, it was an excellent first day of outdoor water park season, if starting with a whimper as opposed to a bang. I mean, I did the whole thing in less than 30 minutes. But hey — great things have to start somewhere. Splash Summit opens soon, and I’m planning on trying out Cherry Hill, Cowabunga Bay, and Spanish Fork Water Park this summer, among others. It’s going to be an awesome season!