A family, fun-filled Fourth of July in Bridgeport
Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I hope you all had a safe and
sane Independence Day. We had a great day as we have been
vacationing over the Fourth of July weekend in Bridgeport. I’m not
too sure on all the happenings in South County over the weekend
since we have been gone, but I’ll report on any news in next week’s
column if anyone wants to give me a call with any news.
A family, fun-filled Fourth of July in Bridgeport
Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I hope you all had a safe and sane Independence Day. We had a great day as we have been vacationing over the Fourth of July weekend in Bridgeport. I’m not too sure on all the happenings in South County over the weekend since we have been gone, but I’ll report on any news in next week’s column if anyone wants to give me a call with any news.
Andy and Tamra Barrington did host their annual Fourth of July barbecue at their place, and John Brewen hosted a small Fourth of July Barbecue at his shop.
As I stated earlier, we spent the weekend in Bridgeport (which is where I am writing this column from) for the first Bridgeport Ranch Rodeo. Todd was on a team with Hec Hurley, Wyatt Bourdet and Lee Whitney. The guys did well, winning both the calf branding and the double mugging events, but were just out of the money in the other events so they were just out of the average overall. Hec rode the bronc and made a great qualifying ride, while Wyatt showed the horse in the ranch horse class, and Todd and Lee won the double mugging event. Todd looked like he’d been bull dogging his whole life and he was so worried about that event the whole drive up here!
I’ve never been to Bridgeport before and let me tell you, it is beautiful up here. It’s a small little town right at the bottom of the Sierras. The town is surrounded by lush, green meadows in the flats, but bordered by the Sierra mountains. The backdrop of the rodeo arena was snow capped mountains and it was just beautiful. There was a creek right behind our motel and the kids spent several hours fishing (without any luck as the creek was pretty much fished out), but we did get eaten alive by mosquitos.
We stayed for a few extra days after the rodeo for a few days of vacation. Besides us, also staying for a few days of R & R were the Hurley Family, Wyatt and Lacy Bourdet and Lee Whitney. Since Lee has spent several summers working in Bridgeport, he was our official tour guide and we were so grateful to have him. He took us to a great fishing creek outside of town where Lacy proved to be the only true fisherman in the bunch. Then we went to the old ghost town of Bodie. Bodie is a National Park that is an old, abandoned mining town that has been preserved. It was amazing to walk through the town and look into the windows of old stores, hotels, churches and homes. Everything was left intact in the old buildings as if the whole town just got up and walked away one day. The old funeral home was one building still intact and it was filled with coffins that were waiting to be filled. We spent several hours exploring the town of Bodie before Lee took us to Twin Lakes for an evening stroll around the lake on a beautiful pontoon boat.
The Fourth of July is a huge event in Bridgeport – they say one of the biggest events in the state – and the whole town participates in family, fun-filled activities. We started the day off at a community pancake breakfast, followed by a great, traditional Fourth of July parade. The kids played in a mud volleyball tournament that was true to its word, MUD volleyball. It was hilarious, and the whole crowd (which was huge) was rooting on our King City team as it was comprised of Sierra, Todd and Brody Sans, Taylor and Twyster Hurley, and an extra gal they picked up in Bridgeport. Since most of the teams were families, or adults, our team was a hit as it was all kids. Twyster was a hit as he spent more time “swimming and floating” in the mud than he did actually playing the game. The kids took several nose dives and completely immersed in mud dives during the game. They lost their set, but did manage to win one game in the set. It was a day they’ll remember forever. The rodeo took place at the arena and the stands were filled to capacity with Fourth of July spectators and there was a live tribute to Johnny Cash on the front lawn of the courthouse later that day that was just fantastic. The day ended with one of the most spectacular fireworks shows I have ever seen. The day also included a watermelon eating contest, greased pole contest and a “find the money in the haystack”contest. It was a true, old fashioned, family oriented Fourth of July. We will definitely be attending the event again next year and hopefully for many more years to come.
We all had a great vacation, but will be heading back home on Tuesday, back to the real world! Buddy begins Pony League All-Star Baseball games this week, and the Salinas Rodeo will begin next week.
