4th of July - a Celebration!

“The [fourth] day of July, 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” - John Adams 2nd President of the United States Signer, The Declaration of Independence

I got this quote from the Dr. Laura website, and although John Adams said the "second day of July", he was right on!

Marlene, Steve, and Dad came up to Idaho to celebrate the 4th of July with me. Events of the day started off with a 4th-of-July breakfast at Menan, a small town northwest of Rigby. Menan does a great job of putting on a traditional all-American Independence day celebration...flag ceremony, breakfast, softball, parade, fireworks, etc. It's an all-day affair. But all we did was eat breakfast. We had our own agenda for the day.

From there we headed up I-15 to Dubois and then over to Kilgore on our way to Island Park to ride our bikes.

Kilgore is a beautiful area that has a lot of cattle and sheep ranches. True to form, we got to drive through a cattle drive.

Can you see the three dogs? They are truly "heelers", because they would nip at the heels of the cattle to keep them moving along. Good work dogs.



It has been such a long, wet spring that the wildflowers are spectacular...still in July!

From the Kilgore area, it was over to Island Park and Harriman State Park to do some riding.

Steve, Marlene, and me

Silver Lake at Harriman State Park

This is the same trail that we XC ski in the winter. Every time I come here I know why I love this place!!

Me (above) and Marlene and Steve (below) from the

Thurmon Creek Overlook at Harriman State Park

From Harriman, we headed back home to get ready for the fireworks in Idaho Falls. If you have never had the opportunity to watch the fireworks in Idaho Falls, it is something you should put on your "to-do" list. They are fantastic!!! It is a full 30 minutes long and completely computerized; one of the radio stations here in town sychronizes the show to music. These are reputed to be the best fireworks west of the Mississippi. I agree!

The coolest thing about the fireworks this year is that a co-worker of Marlene's, Jeannie Miller, invited us to watch the fireworks from her parent's back yard...directly across the river from where the fireworks are launched. Talk about having the best seat's in town. A big thank you to Jeannie!! I couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July.