Happy Birthday America

Russ and I decided to come to Park City Utah to celebrate the forth of July. Well, we really were not concerned with the fourth, but just getting away from rainy Durham for a few days while Carter was enjoying herself at camp. This was a spur of the moment trip and we thought that the parched Utah mountains who have been rain free for the last two months would give us the relief we were looking for.

When we landed in Salt Lake City we were hardly bothered by the ninety degree weather that seemed to be taking the locals down. I attribute it to the thirty percent humidity that made the heat feel at least fifteen degrees cooler to us southerners. Once in Park City every native we talked with brought up the drought and the great need for rain. We of course told them that was one of the reasons we were here. I should have kept my mouth shut.

The other thing that everyone told us about was the big fourth of July parade that went down Main Street and ends in the city park. Apparently it is a float filled fun fest for young and old alike. As far as I can tell Utah is the procreation capital of America. I am yet to see a family with fewer than four children in stair step order with barely a year between them. So the parade is more for young than old since the young out number the rest of us.

Thinking about spending time standing on a street watching a parade full of a bunch of people we don’t know surrounded by thousands of ankle biters is not what we came out west to do. So yesterday against all the howling parade promoters we decided to sign up for white water rafting as our way of celebrating this wonderful country.

After a nice dinner in town last night we came back up the mountain and fell dead asleep only to be suddenly awoken at three in the morning by the biggest thunder and lightening storm with buckets of water gushing down outside our windows. Lucky for Park City we broke the drought for them by bringing the rain with us.

The morning was cold and overcast but we were assured that rafting would still go on. We went to breakfast only to be interrupted by a call from the nurse at Camp Cheerio who started by saying, “Carter is fine, but…”. Thankfully it was just an ear infection that still required me to have a forty-five minute phone call with the local Sparta, NC pharmacy.

At last we were picked up by the adventure guide Tyler and went off to raft with another delightful couple, Sarah and Anders who are staying at out hotel too. The sun broke out just in time for us to glide down the river with some minor rapids for excitement. We got a chance to see Blue Heron and red rock mountains which was the perfect way to unwind and appreciate America on it’s birthday.