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Happy Fourth of July from Smalltown, U.S.A.

My grandpa was born on the 4th of July and my family has always had a pretty major celebration complete with a big breakfast, the parade, running through the sprinklers, family reunions, bbq’s and fireworks.  Even after my grandfather passed away we always celebrated the 4th in a Big Big Way.  Well, my grandmother passed away a few years ago and our July traditions changed quite a bit.  My family still tries to get together for a BBQ and party, but it has never really been the same. 

When Handsome asked if I wanted to spend the 4th of July with his family in the Small Town where his mom grew up, I agreed without any idea of what this would entail.  (Just a side-note, it entailed 3 days and 700 miles of gorgeous scenery and Smalltown charm.)  On Friday morning, Handsome & I were on the road early enough to enjoy the hot air balloon launch, we had to hurry in order to make it to the Parade by 9:30 am.  I forgot what Smalltown parades are like; horses with beaming rodeo queens, lots of cowboy hats and John Deer trailors, a significant number kids with wagons, and, as a highlight, the demolition derby car and the town’s propane truck.  That’s right.  The best part?  In Smalltown, USA they still throw candy at you for clapping.  Admittedly, I collected quite the cache of tootsie rolls and laffy taffy’s. 

Handsome and I hung out on Main Street and watched the Parade crawl from one end of the town to the other, laughing at the kid-clowns and waving at the Rodeo Girls on their shiny ponies.  After the parade was over I was surprised and delighted when every single entry turned around and went back down Main Street, the entire parade went by twice.  And, they still had candy, generously tossing it out the windows of pick-up trucks and Buicks.   And red wagons.

A typical entry in the 4th of July parade in Smalltown, U.S.A.

After the parade, Handsome, his family and I all wandered over to the School/Town Hall for lunch which consisted of Dutch Oven beef and potatoes with homemade chocolate cake or apple pie.  I thought about taking pictures, but, um, I was eating chocolate cake, I couldn’t be bothered to do something like drag out my camera (and proceed to document myself stuffing my face with German Chocolate Goodness.  You’ll just have to take my word for it, it was good!)  I think I could get used to this kind of Smalltown 4th of July.

This pretty much sums up the entire day in Smalltown, U.S.A. Cowboy hats are everywhere and so is the good, old-fashioned patriotism.

These types of old homes were everywhere and left me feeling both nostalgic and a little sad, all at the same time.

Handsome and I decided to spend the rest of the day with his parents and family, so we took the long way home.  The really really long way home.  Before heading south, we drove about 80 miles north, almost up to the Utah-Idaho border, with one thing in mind: World Famous Bear Lake Raspberry Shakes.  Of course, I didn’t take a picture of the actual shake, because it was gobbled up long before I thought to whip out my camera. 

Bear Lake, on the left is Idaho and on the right is Utah and the famous raspberry shakes.

Before heading south (i.e. home), Handsome and I followed half of his family up to Logan for dinner and a little quality time with the Wii.  Ok, they had quality Wii time, I had a nap.  (Handsome and I went to Logan a couple of weeks ago to visit his brother–who married a girl friend of mine last fall.) 

Handsome and I finally pulled into the driveway right before the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire began.  (It should be noted, this year the Stadium of Fire was headlined by Miley Cyrus and the 70,000 tickets sold out less than 30 minutes.  Ahem.)  Handsome and I leisurely wandered over to a park in his neighborhood, picked out a nice grassy spot, and enjoyed the show without having to deal with the horrendous traffic (typically Stadium of Fire goers + those outside the stadium to enjoy the fireworks have a solid 10 hour night to get there, watch the show and then get home.  It’s pretty crazy.)  Our low-key version was a perfect way to end an absolutely fantastic 4th of July.

*To round out our 700+ mile Smalltown weekend, Handsome and I also drove up to Western Wyoming to visit some of his family; however seeing as how it isn’t my family I’m kind of weary about posting the details.  Also, the picture-portion of that little road-trip is considerably less exciting, south-western Wyoming is nothing like Yellowstone, SW Wyoming is empty except for couple of windmill farms and a lot of sage brush.

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