Day 31: Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone!! Today was a great day in the town of Gackle. All the locals kept telling us “no one does 4th of July better than Gackle” and they were not wrong. We couldn’t have been happier to spend the holiday hanging out and not biking. 

We had a nice slow morning, sleeping in and strolling to the local gas station for some breakfast blueberry muffins. We are still amazed at the prices of things because we got 4 muffins for what would’ve been the price of 1 back home. Maybe we should all just move out here to North Dakota. 

There was a full itinerary of activities happening around town today and you know we had to hit them all up. We enjoyed BBQ and a Craft Fair at the Legion Hall, where I swear the entire town got in this one building. This is where we started chatting with different people in town and making a name for ourselves. “Oh! So you’re the bikers!” became very common for us to hear by the end of the day. 

We then made our way back to the Honey Hub to hang out by the pool with Jason, Ginny and all the kids. You know how we all go through the different phases growing up of what we are like by the pool: kids having a blast, teenage too cool to get wet, and then back to enjoying going in the pool. Well I happily enjoyed getting out of the summer heat, hopping in the pool with the kids, and showing off my handstand skills. Dustin on the other hand is still stuck in the too-cool-to-get-wet phase and cooked on the pool deck. 

By this point it was time for the parade! We got ourselves a great spot right across from the announcer, who managed to get multiple of the cars in the parade to do burn outs. I love how all the parades out here throw candy and stuff into the crowds. My hometown really needs to get on that. We left the parade with our hands full of candy, headbands, bouncy balls, footballs, pins, and ice pops! As you can see I really struggled to get mine open: 

We quickly realized that with all of these fun things going on in town that we desperately needed more sunscreen. When we got back to the house to lather up, we ended up all taking a nap instead, which honestly was needed after being in the sun all day. After our quick power nap we were ready for round 2 of Gackle fun!

We headed to the park for a picnic and the end of the silent auction. Earlier in the day we all put our names on some nice baskets, but most of them got way too rich for our blood. I however noticed a basket that had a great hat, tank top and quarter zip that basically no one had bid on. Tossed my name down with two minutes to spare, and boom we have a winner! With this heat that we have been having, I am so glad to have this tank top as a second non-biking shirt. However, Dustin just kept stealing all of my winnings from the day. He says it’s because he only steals from his friends, but I think it’s jealousy. (The hat and headband - all mine)

Of course it wouldn’t be the 4th if we didn’t have beer. We headed to Dani’s, where in one day we made ourselves regulars because right when we walked in the bartenders welcomed us with open arms and already had our beer selection before we could even sit down. We were able to enjoy a live band while relaxing with our drinks. Dani’s is definitely the place to be… I mean Pat and Leo even had to get matching t-shirts to make it official. 

To round out this amazing holiday, we went down to the local baseball field, where Jason’s day is in charge of the town fireworks! Now when I say that these were the best fireworks I’ve ever seen, I am not exaggerating. We were literally 100m from where the fireworks were being released and this was a full fledged 40min show! Back home we would’ve never been allowed to be so close, but hey in Gackle anything goes! After the show we even when back to the Honey Hub and set off even more smaller fireworks that the kids bought. 

This was definitely the most memorable 4th of July I’ve ever had. When will I ever be able to say that I spent the 4th in Gackle, North Dakota ever again? Well it’s back to riding tomorrow! Tune back in to see what town we end up in! 

- Julia :)