kennywood on the fourth of july

"saturday... in the park... I think it was the fourth of july"

actually... I know it was the fourth of july but I also know it was friday
friday in kennywood park
on the fourth of july

http://kennywood.com


great shot of lisa and grant in the first car on the jack rabbit

could not locate my Panasonic Lumix that takes such great point and shoot shots
so I resorted to the old Canon G2 that is a half a decade old
which is like a century in digital camera years
but it does the job
unless it gets clicked on in the bag and gets turned on
when I have intentionally turned off the sleep function

we arrived at kennywood with a flashing red battery symbol on this old 4.0 megapixel camera

the sleep function gets in the way when I move on the sidewalks or ride with this camera around my neck
so it makes sense to have the sleep function turned off
it backfired in this case

a quick shot on the thunderbolt
we thought we would only ride it once... so we waited for the first car
dean rode it four times
lisa went once I was treated to the other three rides
grant was too short to ride the thunderbolt

managed to snap a few shots
not quite the shot that I would have wanted
the first car is still in its cool original ornate form
but I did not get a shot of the train pulling into the station

even with the flashing red battery symbol the camera allowed for a few shots
turned off the display and snuck a few shots in every now and again
then turning things off to let them gain power again

it is not about capturing the moment
it is about living in the moment
not having the camera as an option can be a good thing
it is important to live life rather than document it

here grant and I ride the turtle while dean and lisa ride the Phantoms Revenge
grant is not tall enough for all of the rides at kennywood
but there are plenty of rides to offer that same rush
so many of these old rides are classic
still offering the same rush that the offered nearly a century ago
our perception may be different than the people from that era
but the response to speed is quite the same

lisa also had her iPhone
so I snapped a few shots with her device
as well did she
I really could have done better with my Panasonic Lumix point and shoot
these are the days I own the camera for
not for the photographs of cyclists on the street


the lines at kennywood were not too bad
in fact the lines were short enough that we did many back to back rides only to return for more back to back rides
lisa and I alternating with the rides that dean is tall enough for and grant is not
which was fine

just as there was not time to locate the camera
there was not time for me to put my bike on top of the car and my bags of gear
the departure time getting out of dc seemed symbolic of how much time I would have for riding on this three day weekend

time off the bike can be as healthy as time on the bike
went running today instead