July 4th In Dutch Flat

We headed up to Dutch Flat and Alta for the Dutch Flat Parade today. The air was smoky from the American River Complex fire, but not TOO bad. We got to Dutch Flat just as the parade was starting and sat down on the grassy berm across from the Dutch Flat Hotel (It's still a little strange looking at the Hotel in its new found glory... I have a permanently burned in memory of a chain link fence surrounding the grounds)


In past years, water balloons and various other water weaponry have figured prominently in the parade, and this year was no exception



A few more images of the parade:






After a healthy 4th of july meal, we drove to the cabin where the parents had already been at work cleaning (YES!). I unlocked the bathtub and discovered a new friend living in the tub: Hopkin Green Frog



My parents had brought up a carpet, but there wasn't quite enough room to fit it into the middle of the vast cabin floor without completely nullifying the days of Feng Shui work that I had put in, so I suggested moving the wood hopper to the wall. We did this, and after cleaning up a bag full of dust and putting down the rug, the cabin is looking fantastic:

For dinner, I grilled up one of our grass fed skirt steaks and made a chimichurri sauce out of the cookbock that Christa and Tom bought me (thanks guys!).