July 4th-Small Town Style

Happy Fourth! We had breakfast at the lodge, then borrowed two of their cruisers to bike down to town. We met up with Linda just before the start of the 11am parade. We selected a shady spot and waited for the procession. It began with the airport fire truck, followed by a variety of parade entrants. Alaska Air was there. They were driving their Alaska Air van, having affixed wings and a tail. As it drove by, the gal that was doing everything for the yesterday was in a flight attendant's outfit. "Do you think she does that too?" I mentioned to Deb. A large delivery truck was dressed up as a Moose, for the local lodge. A small pick-up truck was made over as a bee, with all the pre-schoolers in the bed. There was a fish fry scheduled for later in the day, with the benefits going to the pre-school. "Bee there, Bee hungry," the tailgate read. The Glacier Bay National Park had their fire truck out, with the ranger waving from the top. My favorite parade participant was the guy in the Hawaiian shirt carrying a life size cardboard Sarah Palin. She had a cardboard sign, like the panhandlers on highway exits, which read, "Unemployed, will work for salmon or beer." I had my picture taken with her.

Following the parade, we walked to the park. The Boy Scouts were giving away free root beer. They had made the beverage from scratch, which they were dispensing from a 30 gallon trash can, through PVC, and into my cup. It was very good. Our attention was then drawn to the pavilion area. Each year, 40 residents stand and read the Declaration of Independence. Children, adults, and seniors read their part from the historic document. I have to say, it's been a while since I read it myself. A large thunder of applause followed the reading, and we moved on to the National Forest table. They had free samples of chips and dip, made from invasive plant species. Yum. After picking up a Gustavus tee shirt, we stood in line for the all-American meal: hot dog or hamburger, chips, and drink. We took in the sack race, while we ate. It was followed by the other standard contests (spoon race, three-legged race, egg toss) and some ice cream.

Linda needed to head back for a nap, so Deb and I biked down to the dock outside of town. On the way, we passed the 36 par, golf course. At first I just thought it was someone's backyard. Then I realized there was more than one flag. The course was carved out of someone's alfalfa field, where waving stalks of grass stood, a mowed fairway took shape. Each tee box had its own piece of rusted farm equipment to mark it. I pulled the bike to the side of the road and made sure I had a few good photos to take home.

The bike ride back to the lodge was a little breezy, but it made for good exercise.

A little bit about Gustavus. First, it's small. Reading material puts the population at 400-500 residents. You can’t really drive in or out of it, so there is no vehicle theft. Just as we weren’t given keys to our room in the lodge, no one locks their cars or bothers to take the keys out of the ignition. They don’t even bother to register their cars here, either. Many vehicles don’t have plates, and those that do have plates have not renewed them in years…decades in some cases. Hell, not even in this century! But that’s not the story I wanted to tell you. Here’s how laid back it is in Gustavus… Linda was telling me about the one rental car shop at the airport. When you rent the vehicle, you sign the contract and the guy sends you out to the car in the parking lot. No need to give you keys because keys are in the ignition. Well, a customer rented a vehicle, signed the paperwork, and hopped into the car in the parking lot. He went about his business for a week, then returned the vehicle to the rental company. At the time of return, the rental guy went out to check that the car had been refueled. It was then he discovered the car, which had been rented for a week, had no new mileage on it. Apparently the man who rented the car had actually gotten into a private vehicle instead of the rented vehicle. Because the owners (who were on vacation somewhere and oblivious to these events) had left their keys in the car, the renter assumed he was in the right vehicle. I’m not sure how or if the rental car company actually told the car owners what happened. Just one more reason to keep your car messy.Read more