Rocking Fourth in Central, AK

My folks came to visit this summer, as did Bob's. We had a lot of fun showing them around the Fairbanks area. Bob had the great idea of heading up to the hamlet of Central for the Fourth of July. This is a tiny community that really puts on a good show, come Independence Day. We brought my parents, a couple of friends, and the dogs, piled into two cars and drove a couple hours up the Steese Highway, just short of the Yukon River. We stayed in the local roadhouse, which is a couple of trailers welded together. Mom was really insistent on getting a room with a door, which took a few tries. If we'd all been so picky, we probably would have been out of luck. The roadhouse was a great staging ground for all of our detailed plans that day: watching the parade (8 minutes) and siting in lawnchairs drinking beer/walking dogs/smoking/eating chips (14 hours). A good time was had by all. Highlights below include Mom, Dad, man with large cucumbers, man wearing Native mask driving WWII motorcycle covered in Crown Royal felt bags, wiener dog.