Fantastic Fourth

Bradford’s parents own a cabin in Fairveiw, about 40 minutes South of Provo through Spanish Fork Canyon, and we like to go down and relax there a few times a year. 

The past few years we’ve gone down for Halloween with our friends to watch scary movies, eat way too much food, and play games. We’ve also found that we enjoy going down for the 4th of July. We went once before with all our friends but this year, Bradford and I were the only ones that could make it.

The city of Mt. Pleasant (a town more like), just a hop skip and a jump from Fairview, has a lot of fun festivities for the 4th. They have a fun run, a big breakfast in the park, a parade, a library book sale, a rubber duck race down the creek, stands of delicious food and wares in the park, lots of entertainment, a rodeo, and of course, fireworks.

Bradford’s parents came down with us on Tuesday night and we all went to the rodeo. I find that I tend to cheer for the animals more than the cowboys… its always a small victory to me when the cows can get away before they’re roped and brought to the ground.

The next morning, Bradford and I did the fun run (though I think the name is misleading- dang lungs), then we went back to the cabin to change, eat some breakfast (I think I even napped a bit) and then headed back out to go to the library sale where I picked up two practically brand new books for $2.50. After that, we staked out a spot on the side of Main St. and waited for the parade. 

Once the parade was over we went back to the cabin to change into our swimsuits and go for a swim at the pool. Unfortunately for us, a little kid decided he needed to poop before he could get out of the pool so it was temporarily closed when we got there. They disposed of the mess and threw in some cleaning chemicals but it wasn’t quite enough to make me feel comfortable about playing around in the water. We decided to pass and instead went back to the cabin until lunch when we ventured out to the park for some food. We had some Hawaiian food, tacos, and the most delicious snow cone I’ve ever had.

Once we finished our food we drove out to Spring City where Bradford’s parents own some property. We walked around the land for a little while, explored where his parents want to build their retirement home someday, and then we drove out to Bradford’s favorite spot in all of Sanpete County. The Spring City spring.

The first time I’d ever been to the spring, Bradford had been talking it up like it was really something to see. He was very excited to show me and our friends the amazing spring. I don’t know what we expected but when Bradford pulled into the Sinclair gas station parking lot and turned off the car, we were a tad surprised. His spring was nothing more than a tiny monument with a plaque and somewhat unimpressive spring bubbling at the bottom. Needless to say we all teased him for a while about his grand spring. Although, to Bradford’s credit, we do enjoy going there and filling up whatever bottles we can find in the car whenever we’re down there. The water is rather tasty.

On our way back to the cabin we decided to buy a pizza at Bradford’s beloved Cavalier Pizza. We knew we would be hungry after the fireworks later that night and everything would be closed down by then so we got the pizza to keep for a late dinner. With pizza in hand we headed back to the cabin again where Bradford watched a movie (and ate about half the pizza) and I napped for maybe the third time that day. 

We ended the day by watching the fireworks down by the park. The fireworks display right over the cemetery and the first year we went, we didn’t realize that we were practically on top of some of the graves until after the show. This year we were a bit more respectful and found a spot in a nearby field. We love the fireworks show in Mt. Pleasant. It is one of the best firework displays I’ve seen and we look forward to it each year.

I think all of us onlookers were a bit nervous about the fireworks due to all the crazy fires we’ve had around the area lately. Though we were thankful that they didn’t cancel them like so many cities here did, we were all aware of the falling ash and debris. Little kids would dash out and make sure all the sparks were sufficiently stomped and put out when they’d fall nearby. Thankfully, it all went off without any accidents.

I love spending the Fourth in a small town and I’m glad Bradford enjoys it too. It is an excellent holiday, one of my favorites, and it somehow feels more special in Mt. Pleasant.