Happy 4th of July...

From a small town in America. That's just about the best place to be on the 4th.

We spent the 4th of July in Seward. They are known around Alaska for having one of the best celebrations. 

It starts with fireworks at 12:01 A.M. on the morning of the 4th. It doesn't get dark so it feels like the sun has just gone down. Boats came out onto the water, a group of kayakers paddled out and rafted up and we sat by a warm fire. It was a perfect evening. 

Next morning we watched the Mount Marathon Race. The race is 3.1 miles overall, up and down the 3,022 ft tall Mount Marathon. We watched the mens race from the campground. The course looks like it is straight up and even straighter back down. I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but many runners slid part way down the mountain on the patch of snow. Brrrr. 

Tiny colored dots are people

Tiny dots are people on the snow.

The Mount Marathon Race is one of the oldest foot races in the U.S. and as is the way of anything fun or interesting, started as a bar bet. The bet was that you couldn't run up and down Mount Marathon in under an hour. I would not take that bet. But many have. Like these ladies to the left. The front three are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. 








First place went to Christy Marvin, winning for the second time with her personal best time. That in itself is amazing. And she doesn't even look that tired at the finish line. 


We rounded out the day with a 4th of July meal and some time to reflect on where this country is going. 








I am feeling pretty good. While watching the parade, oh, didn't I mention a parade? With floats, boy scouts, Smokey the Bear, classic cars and pirates. Pirates? Not sure what they were doing but it looked like they were having fun. As did this woman, walking her salmon.





Our feel good moments came when one of the floats filled with children went by and one of the boys was trying to hand out small flags. In his excitement, he tossed it to someone, who could not catch it before it hit the ground. The young woman next to us was a little upset and remarked that he shouldn't throw the flag. We agreed, but knew the boy didn't understand. Before we could get out from behind the barrier, a young man came out between the floats and picked up that flag and another one. 


I think the young folks get a bad rap sometimes, but maybe they aren't so different from us.

Happy 4th, ya'll.