So I was driving to work this morning… having an otherwise good day… minding my own business when I saw a Ford Expedition loaded with kids pass me by on the freeway heading northbound on I-15. Then it dawned on me… today is Stake Lagoon Day… and I am missing it!
Forget for the moment that I haven’t been to Lagoon in over 10 years… and who even knows if that family in the Ford Expedition was heading to Lagoon… they could have been on their way to a funeral for all I know. But for some reason… as they whizzed by me… I was a bit envious… a bit jealous… Why wasn’t I going to Lagoon today? My thoughts raced back to the last two weeks in church… when it was announced that Stake Lagoon Day was on August 5th… Not for even a millisecond did I ever consider picking up tickets… in fact… Stake Lagoon Day hasn’t even been on my radar since the early 90’s.
Then it dawned on me… as I was stung with a bit of pre-teen nostalgia… Stake Lagoon Day is one of the biggest holidays of the year for a good segment of the Utah population (those between the ages of 5-15). Call it a theory if you want… but I remember as a 10-year-old boy, Stake Lagoon Day was a bigger, more exciting day than just about any holiday but Christmas. Not even Halloween topped Stake Lagoon Day… Seriously… given the choice between salt water taffy and a silly parade around the school gymnasium… or the Colossus Rollercoaster, that wicked scary Wild Mouse ride, and some cotton candy… Lagoon would win hands down. I have about a million good memories of Lagoon… and I still think that one of the more exciting days of my life (before age 12) was being tall enough to ride that crickety old white roller coaster.
The good news for me is that my daughter is just a year or two away from entering into the prime Lagoon years. So today I’ll go ahead and celebrate…. after all, this is very possibly the last Stake Lagoon Day that I’ll miss for the next 15 years or so. The truth is I can’t wait to take Abby and David to Lagoon… what’s not to love about the Jet Star 2, the Tidal Wave, the roasted corn-on-the-cob at Pioneer Village… heck… I’m even looking forward to that pesky Musik Express ride… only next time… I’ll be the one sitting on the outside seat being sandwiched by kids having the time of their life.