Celebrating the 4th (I Love a Parade!)

This is Part 2 in my series of posts about our July 4th experiences in Copper Harbor.

We awoke early on July 4th. Actually, we hardly slept at all - due to my untimely migraine. It finally broke about 4:30 a.m. Even though I was only asleep about 2 hours and Steve just a little more than that, we felt pretty good that day. Maybe it was the excitement of Independence Day and the fact that we would be participating in the big parade again. 

Since there had been a slight chance of rain the night before, we didn't drive the Corvette up to Copper Harbor on the 3rd. Steve drove home to get it on the morning of the 4th instead. The parade was due to begin at 10:00 a.m., and we had plenty of time to decorate it after Steve returned. We changed up our decorations a bit from last year and everything held on nicely.

 

We also had time to enjoy some bacon and cheddar scones that Donna picked up for us at the bakery on the waterfront that morning. (Why didn't I snap a photo of that tasty treat?)

We got our candy ready and got in line on one of the side streets. Here's my handsome, happy hubby waiting for the parade to begin.

We had 14 lbs. of candy - approximately 1,658 pieces (about 98 more pieces than 2014). Since I was down to 6 pieces by the time we made it to the final campground last year - and it broke my heart to see those kiddies with their hopeful looking faces and no candy left to throw to them - I set some extra candy aside in a bag on the floor to make sure I didn't run out too soon this year.

While waiting in line, we spotted the truck from the Bella Vista (our motel) 2 vehicles in front of us. We were directly behind them last year.

The Country Village Shops (advertising their fudge and ice cream) had their vehicle in front of us. The cones are cute, but Mr. Blue Cone fell off before we returned to town.

When I was going through my photos for this blog post, I noticed a disembodied head in their side mirror. Kind of creepy, huh?

The parade begins - from our perspective.

The parade begins - from Marty's perspective.

He was able to capture the sign on the door of the lead vehicle.

He also got a nice shot of the first vehicle from the Lac La Belle Fire Department. These guys will come in real handy if we ever have a forest fire up here.

Next, Marty caught Uncle Sam and 2 of the costumed reenactors from Fort Wilkins. I'm wondering if the gal is supposed to be Miss Fanny Hooe - the girl the nearby lake was named after (but that's another story).

When we were about to turn left onto the main parade route, we spotted horses.

Marty got a better shot when they passed by.

Here's Uncle Sam on his unicycle again. . .

and another Uncle Sam sticking out of a Jeep.

Those girls in the Jeep followed us last year, too. Once again, we caught the driver not looking at the road. Makes us a little nervous. What if we had to brake suddenly?

Each time we picked up a little speed, the buzzing noise from our pinwheels caught us a little off guard. They held up nicely the entire trip. Not bad for 97¢ each.

The thing we most enjoy about the parade is seeing how excited the kids get when we throw some candy to them. They run out into the street a bit to collect pieces that didn't quite reach them.

I don't know if you can tell from the next photo, but some of the adults enjoy the candy, too. (Click on it to make it bigger.)

After the parade goes through town, we drive through the campgrounds of the Fanny Hooe Resort and both state park campgrounds at Fort Wilkins to give them a show, too. The scenery is lovely.

I failed to fully explain Marty's parade duties to him this year, so he didn't get any photos of us when we were driving in the parade. He got sidetracked capturing a drone. . .

and a pretty planter box.

Since he chastised us several times for returning through town instead of along the waterfront where he was waiting for us last year, we made sure to take the back streets this year. However, Marty didn't realize that part of the waterfront route was already blocked from vehicular traffic for the fireworks. Thus, when we came back, he wasn't at the correct spot. By the time he realized it, it was pretty much too late to get any good shots of us.

But, I got a shot or two of Marty and Donna rushing to the corner to try to photograph us.

(Sorry Marty. You're such great fun to tease!)

Marty did get this shot of my handsome, happy hubby, however.

After we pulled back into our parking spot at the motel, he also got a shot of us in the Vette. I'm not sure why Steve threw his hands up in the air, but I followed his lead.

That marked the end of the parade for another year, and that marks the end of Part 2 of our July 4th experiences in Copper Harbor. Stay tuned for Part 3.

All is well in the Keweenaw.