The fourth of July fell on a Saturday so there were lots of events to go to in and around Grand Junction and we had a fun day.
In the morning we drove to the nearby village of Fruita to take in the Farmers Market which is held in the green space park in the middle of downtown. There were the usual booths selling local produce (bought some lovely green beans and baby zucchini) and jewellery and other girly stuff, as well as a farm selling alpaca wool products and they had two small alpacas in a petting pen. They looked a little shy so I just looked at them – so white and cute little guys… or girls…?
While strolling and window shopping in the small downtown area we noticed a poster for a Mopar Car Show being held that day in Grand Junction so John’s eyes lit up and we headed to that event next. It was held in the parking lot of a lovely big hotel complex and there was a good display of about 60 or so Chrysler cars and trucks, mostly from the 1970’s to present day.
Each visitor got a ballot for the People’s Choice award so I voted for this spiffy 1957 pickup truck. It’s the same age as I and when I joked to John that it looked to be in better shape than I was, he said if I had as much cosmetic surgery as the truck did then I could look like that too. I think he honestly meant it as a compliment so I gave him a squeeze.
Then we treated ourselves to a nice lunch at Appleby’s, went back to the comfort of our air conditioned RV (it was really hot out by now) and I spent a lovely afternoon painting the lizard in my latest work in progress.
At 5 pm we drove to downtown Grand Junction (same street that had the Farmers Market on Thursday evening) and settled in to watch the fourth of July parade. It was a small parade with no marching bands but lots of American flags flying. The theme was ‘Abe Lincoln’ and I got this nice photo of the parade marshal and some horses.
There also were some great tributes to the troops and veterans.
Nineteen Corvettes drove by, each with a veteran riding shotgun and in the front window was a sign indicating which conflict the veteran served in. Several were WWII and reminded me of my parents who also served in that war.
What a classy way to appreciate these folks who served their country in their younger days. The crowd really responded with applause and “Thank You”’s as the veterans drove by.
We sent a photo of one of the Vettes for Vets to the Scugog Standard newspaper at home as a suggestion of something our local Corvette club could do in a Port Perry parade. The editor thought it was a great idea and said he would try to set up something like that for our next parade which is the Labour Day Fair parade in September.
Several local business were touting their services, this one below being a limo company with a stretched limo and a stretched Hummer.
And of course what is a parade without the Shriners?
We went back to the RV and had a delicious spaghetti dinner with fresh salad and wine with garlic toast made on the BBQ. Later that evening we listened to the fireworks going off but couldn’t see them due to the trees in our campground. A lovely day!
July 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm Talking about a squeeze, that big Shriner in the little car looks like he was squeezed, into the car!
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:07 pm Hey, first I want to say great blog. I don’t always agree with your opinion but it’s always a nice read. Keep up the good work.