4th of July in Manti

I celebrated Independence day with family and a few friends from Santa Clara. It was decided that we beat the heat this year so we spent our weekend in Manti. We stayed in our 1850's pioneer-era restored home. It is actually a vacation rental, capable of hosting small parties for receptions or weekend getaways. It was a delightful weekend becuase Manti really comes alive with their celebratory activities. There was a volleyball tournament, small carnival style games, food and entertainment, karaoke, a movie projected in the park, a parade of all the surrounding towns' clubs & organizations, and an impressive fireworks show. It was great.

Here's Sara walking around the Manti house. We stuck a coon tail on her, and she eventually forgot it was there. It was quite cute and quite funny.

Just waiting for the parade to start.

We also drove up into the mountains at about Fairview where it was even more pleasant. We went with intentions of seeing Mike and his friend Braedon as they stayed with his family by Scofield Lake, but it was a zoo up there. There were some truly zany people just out there having a good time. It was fun to watch, but we opted out of the crowded scene. My brother Dan had brought up his wife's Sunfish sailboat and it was just too crowded so we opted for a quieter, Electric Lake nearby.

We spent the afternoon with the Stucki family riding four-wheelers, barbecuing, canoeing, and sailing. Pono, Steve Stucki, and I went for a long ride high up into the mountains where it plateaued at the top. There were some snow drifts still up there and we made a stop and threw some snow around. I thought it was the coolest thing to be playing in snow in Utah, on the 4th of July. Playing around the water was fun too, and I'm really starting to crave sailing with Dan & Beckie.