Growing up in California, where fireworks are illegal and the only professional show is two cities away, the 4th of July has never really been that big of a deal for me. So when I came home one day and found my apartment decorated in red white and blue, I wondered why in the world the 4th was my roommate Emileigh's favorite holiday. I found out no sooner than July 3rd. Something happens in Provo that transforms University Avenue from an annoying, traffic-infested street, into miles of tents, BBQ's, TV's and, perhaps the most noticeable element: noise. Lendrum and I decided that this was strange, so naturally we wanted to be a part of it before we turned into a boring married couple in a few weeks. We grabbed our pillows, blankets, and bikes and rode over to University Ave, prepared to camp out on the street along with the rest of the city. The energy there was insane. Apparently, everyone was camping out for the parade the following morning, which was said to be the best in the state. After riding our bikes up and down the scene, we finally found an open spot we could claim. By this time it was around 1am, and we thought it would be in our best interest to grab a burger at Wendy's. We put down our blankets and then rode our bikes through the drive through line. After about 10 mins of waiting in line, we were informed that our efforts to eat we in vain. Bikes are not allowed in the drive through. Lame. Luckily, we found a friendly car to order for us. Thank goodness. By the time we tried to get to sleep, the noise had died down about zero percent, so we barely got any sleep that night. We woke up around 5am to horns honking, radios, and police sirens. But hey, the experience of everything was definitely worth the lack of sleep.
After grabbing some bagels, we watched the parade, which was actually quite fun. I'm not the biggest fan of parades, but this one was bearable. That afternoon, we had burgers with some of Lendrum's friends. Then we headed over to Center Street to check out the Freedom Festival. It was your typical fair: a few bad rides and a lot of overpriced food booths. We did get free ice cream and five dollar sunglasses though! Worth it. The bummer of this day was that Lendrum had to work at night, and by work I mean get paid time and a half to watch the Stadium of Fire show. Meanwhile, I chilled with some friends in the ward and watched the fireworks from below the Y on the mountain and listened to our own "America" playlist. It was sweet; we could see all the fireworks in Utah Valley. And the Stadium of Fire fireworks did not disappoint. By the end of the night, I was exhausted! I was so taken aback by how crazy Utah (and specifically Provo) gets for the 4th! I'm definitely going to do this holiday right from now on. God bless America.
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| Happy 4th of July! Love, Provo. |
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| Waving the red and blue |
