On Friday morning, all hell broke loose at 6am – or at least that’s what Bub thought! Actually, it was the Fireman’s muster – big boom firework explosions and any city vehicle with lights and sirens driving through the town at full volume. All so that folks would wake up and go to the park for pancakes. It’s a fun tradition unless you don’t know anything about it. Bub was NOT happy. We all know that she’s not a morning person, and that grumpy attitude is compounded by over eager fire fighters.
Little Bro and I had been up for a while so that we could run the 5K which started at 6:30. Which means people mill about and continue to register until 6:50. And, then the kid’s 1-mile run begins. And, then when all of the kids are finished, the race director and his stop watch quickly drive to the 5k start line that we all walked to while the kids were running. And, then it’s finally time to start. The course was “out this road until you meet pavement again, then make a sharp left turn and go back to town.”
Little Bro was going to jog alongside of me, but I told him to just go. No sense in wasting his $10 when he could be a contender for a prize. (Unfortunately, he got 4th…) Tucker missed the start of the race because he had wandered off to find something or someone. I let Liz off of her leash after about a half mile; she’s much better behaved off of it than on. She had a good time. I got a horrible (worst ever) stomach cramp about mile 2 which actually caused me to stop and bend over for about a minute. (Otherwise, I may have PR’d.) Right after the stomach cramp had mostly passed, Tucker and his ridiculous ostrich legs breezed nonchalantly passed me and said “C’mon! I gave you a ten minute head start!” And, then he cruised along trying to catch Little Bro. With about ½ mile to go to the finish line, Little Bro met up with me to “run me in.” He had finished and wanted to be supportive. Awwwww… He’s the cutest 34-year-old that I know. As I gasped for air and ran as hard as my lingering stomach pain would allow, he asked “Is this our pace for the marathon?” Cute? He’s an ass! I just laughed in his face. It might be his pace for the ‘thon, but it certainly won’t be mine! We didn’t win any awards, but we had fun.
We returned to Little Bro’s house for some breakfast and showers then he and Bill Bailey were off to get the derby car to the parade on time. About this time Nana showed up, and we all played in the yard while waiting for the parade. As we played, my cousin, Ace, and his wife drove by and hollered. They took all of the police detours around Fairview and came back to play with us and watch the parade. The kids had a good time, and we turned on the sprinklers to play in. The dogs had more fun in the sprinklers than the kids, but the kids loved getting the dogs wet. There was giggling galore!
The parade was typical Pioneer Days in Fairview: candy, fire trucks, and derby cars. We had fun getting to know the cousins better.
(I haven’t seen Ace for 20+ years and had never met his wife/kids. That side of the family doesn’t get together very well…. Or, actually, EVER.) Little Bro and Bill Bailey had run out of candy by the time that they got to us – but this is OK. The boys don’t need much! 
The parade ended with two very tired little boys, so a nap was in order. We all sat around and waited for the social event of the year to start: THE DEMOLITION DERBY!!!I haven’t been to the derby since probably the first year it took place – 25 years ago. And, I’ve thought of it as redneck, hillbilly fun (which it is), but we had a really good time! It was probably more fun because Little Bro was driving in it, but I still think that we would have had a blast even if he had been sitting next to us. He did well, but didn’t make it out of the first heat. The first hit that he took broke his right rear axle, so he didn’t have much power coming out of that area. A few hits later took out the right half of his engine (or something like that) that severely diminished his ability to accelerate. A few more hits and his drive train (very important car part – even I know that) was disconnected. He was completely immobile. But, it was fun watching him and the other drivers get bashed and trashed. He and Tucker worked furiously on the car with the hopes of getting it running again for the free-for-all heat, but no luck. No amount of welding would keep the drive train in place. When baling wire and duct tape didn’t do the trick, he knew that he was out.
We finished off the weekend by heading up to the mountain and fishing again the next day before returning home.
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