It was a wonderful Fourth of July weekend this year. I suffered no catastrophes, made it through the whole weekend without falling down. I paddled a river, cooked the most awesome meal, had a wonderful night at the fireworks, finished the fourth with watermelon and kisses, and...when it was raining on this fine Sunday, rolled right over and went back to sleep all afternoon.
On Friday, July 3, my friend, Sandy, and I loaded up at her house in Piedmont and drove two more hours south to the Coosa River in Wetumpka, Alabama. We see the beginning of the Coosa everyday here in Rome. At the confluence of the Etowah and Oostanaula Rivers the Coosa begins right here in downtown. It is a muddy river here. In Wetumpka, the river has mica and quartz crystals through it and it looks like gold and diamonds in the water. There are interesting rock formations all along the river that you might or might not see depending on the discharge from the Jordan Dam. There are several rapids going from Class I to II to the infamous Class III rapids that goes by the name of Moccasin Gap. It has a pretty fast flow and is an S turn. You have to be on your Ps & Qs to make it. You must hug the right side of the first fall and stay right going through the S. If you don't the big sandstone rock has a shelf that will reach right out and grab you. That's what happened to many people. I don't know if it was the first time a lot of people had paddled this stretch of river, but almost every canoe flipped on the shelf of rock in the second bend. We laughed watching all of them. Sandy said that she had never seen so many people turn over. I anchored in the rocks and Sandy would reach out to people floating by and we made friends with about 15 people we fished out of the river. I met one young man from Fort Payne, my home town. He and his girlfriend made good natured fun of their friends who had flipped in the Gap. Sandy took a picture of them and promised they could see them on Facebook. Right after the picture was taken they flipped their boat in the calm water! It was so much fun!
Saturday, was grilling day. We have three different grills. Two gas grills and one old very nearly worn out kettle grill. Which is my favorite? The old worn out one. I carefully built my indirect fire, soaked and made a foil packet for the cherry wood chips for smoking. I use pure charcoal, none of that presoaked charcoal for us. I use a chimney starter to get it going. While waiting for the coals to turn white I made a rub for the Boston Butt. I used cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, dry mustard, brown sugar and gave that baby a massage like it never had in real life. I smoked the butt for two hours on the grill then finished it in the oven for three hours. It was the best pulled pork I've had since Henry Irwin ran his BBQ on Broad Street. I made my own sauce. I used brown sugar, pepper flakes, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, ketchup, garlic, and my secret ingredient is a Sprite. I simmered it for the three hours that the Butt finished in the oven. I made potato salad, slaw, and baked beans to finish out the meal. My brother, Everett and our Uncle Barnard came to partake of our repast. A good time and a full stomach were had by all. We loaded up the CRV with extra lawn chairs and headed to Ridge Ferry Park for the Fourth of July celebration and fireworks. We enjoyed the music, the moment of silence to remember our troops who have given their all for our freedoms, and of course the fireworks. There must of been near 100,000 people who watched the fireworks from the park and all the higher areas of Rome. When we returned home we had watermelon, printed pictures for Everett and Uncle Barnard of the night's festivities, hugged and kissed them and sent them on their way. They left around midnight and Freddy kept telling me I needed to let Uncle Barnard go home. I did, but reluctantly!
Sunday came with overcast sky and a gently falling rain. Just the relief we needed since we have been having weather so hot we just short of hellfire and damnation! We were going to church, but I couldn't wake dear husband up. I sat on the front porch with a good book, my Sprite, and an absorbing book. I slept Sunday afternoon away in a nap in my favorite napping spot, the sofa. We had great leftovers and probably will have them for the rest of the week. Can Living Life be better than this!
