Fourth of July

Late once again, but now you can see the wonder that is Fourth of July in Seldovia, Alaska!

Senator Lisa Murkowski.  I met her later and gave a brief presentation about my research project.

Ground breaking for the new cannery (year-round jobs for Seldovia)

Most of the town (including my lab) participates in the three block long parade.  Here is an example of a float.

Main Street

Getting pumped for canoe jousting with Chris

Get Set

Go!

Our bout lasted a LONG TIME

It felt longer to me because I lost my paddle half way through

and then I was the one to fall in

Go Drawer G Gangsters! (Our team name)

But I hadn't had enough of the water so we signed up for the survival suit relay

:P

If your ship is going down you're supposed to jump into one of these suits so you can survive longer in the icy open sea

but ours was huge and  just filled with water.  It felt like 20 lbs in each limb in limb.

which made it nearly impossible to walk on land

This is how to get in: lay it flat and slide in.  Our team won third place, with a cash prize!

I celebrated by dancing polka in the street.