Renton River Days Rubber Ducky Derby - 7/27/14

Small Town America - it's a gift. it really is. The sense of community, of safety and security. The feeling that things make sense. It's all there, pretty much, in Small Town America.

It's all a sense of fun and doing things that are good for everyone…and open to everyone. For example, Renton has had a series of fun events for the month of July to celebrate their Renton River Days. A couple weeks ago, we went to the Classic Car Show on N. 3rd St., the same street where they held the parade a couple days ago. And today, they had the Rubber Ducky Derby on the Cedar River. It's the fun of living in, or near, a small town in America.

So today we headed to Renton for some Small Town America fun…and dinner. I had planned to stop at a small asian sub sandwich shop and pick up a couple sandwiches to enjoy along the banks of the Cedar River but…they were closed. 

Best laid plans of mice and men, eh?

No problemo, we went to Plan B and we were off to Panera Bread down in The Landing.

Where I met Ty, on the left, and Jay, who was making our flatbread sandwiches. Oh, and I was a good boy…I had the Mediterranean Chicken Flatbread with some kinda Greek cheese and cucumbers and all kinds of good stuff.

I was able to see what Jay did…he made the sandwiches. I still have no idea what Ty was suppose to be doing. Regardless, I had a pleasant conversation with both of them.

There's Jay, hard at work creating my Flatbread Sandwiches.

And, I enjoyed mine. Carol had a Thai Chicken Sandwich that she enjoyed. We are sooooo cool. And hip!!

So, lunch firmly in hand, we headed back to the…Cedar River Trail.

We've been on this trail before. It's a beautiful path alongside the river. We've seen a Great Blue Heron and several Osprey while on this trail. Always a good time.

So we found a place to sit down and took care of lunch.

In honor of The Rubber Ducky Derby on the river, we both wore yellow shirts, for the Duckies, and I wore my Jonas Grumby hat.

Who is Jonas Grumby? Oh, shame on you!! 

It's The Skipper from Gilligan's Island.

Yeah, I know. The physical resemblance is uncanny. We both have those distinctive bellies that all old salts have.

It was a beautiful day…a tad bit warm but still, a beautiful day. Lots of folks were out and enjoying the river and the day.

This is the most shallow I've seen the River in a long time. Usually there is maybe two or three feet more water flowing down to the Sound.

The folks were lining up for The Derby well before the starting time.

And, the finishing line. What they did was string a fence across the river just beyond this bridge. The fence caught most of the Rubber Duckys. They had some folks behind the fence with nets to catch those few strays that got through.

And the folks were enjoying their river.

So we were set to root on our two Duckies…Duck Vador and Duckzilla.

Oh, wait!! Here come the Ducks!! Aha!! The race is on!! You can see the first ducks coming out of the shadows of the bridge…more are there, in the shadows and more still, behind them.

It was a tight field, crowded and there was a lot of jostling as each Duck fought for a better position.

But even with all the chaos of the pack, several Ducks were separating and establishing a commanding lead to victory.

The pack began to thin as the frontrunners showed their mettle and kept on building their lead.

You can see the excitement of the fans along the race route.

Go, Duckys, Go!!

"Did you see that!!" 

"Oh, yes, dear. I most certainly did!! I got it on my cell phone camera."

"Man, that Ducky must be on Steroids!!"

You can see, if you look closely, the tension on the faces of the Duckies as they careen towards the finishing line.

"Quak? Quak?"

"Whoa, slow down, Speed Racer!! Someone could get hurt!!"

This was the pack. By this time, the frontrunners had established a clear lead over the herd. There were maybe six or seven Duckies way out in front.

None of them were mine.

I'll show you my Ducky, Duck Vador, in just a minute.

The excitement is clearly visible on everyone's face as they watch the race.

Wow!! Did you see that move!?!""

Cheering on the frontrunners.

You can see how commanding their lead is over the herd.

Duck Vador? Oh, he'll be along soon. Him and Duckzilla.

And they reach the finish line. Brave soldiers, these duckies would have kept on going but the fence stopped them.

And still they came on.

Swim on, Brave Duckies!! 

Swim on!!

And Duck Vador and Duckzilla?

As far as we can figure, they were there…at the end of the pack. 

Harump, no real sense of urgency here, eh!?!

"Is this the Finish Line? Anybody seen the Finish Line?"

The action was so fast and furious that the Duckies actually forced a breech in the fence. They had to call in an engineer, the guy in the light green shirt, to shore up the fence.

And then they started collecting them up…in big trash cans.

You can see the second line of defense there…the women and girls in the water with the fishing nets…ready to grab up any wayward duckies.

The horror; the horror.

They gave their all.

The Rubber Ducky Patrol, a subsidiary of the U.S. Customs Border Patrol, was hard at it. Corraling all those Duckies and taking them to holding areas on military installations. 

They made short order of the Valiant Duckies.

And, soon enough, the Derby was over. And the people reclaimed the river. Seems any idiot could wade out into the River...

See!?! What'd I tell you!!

And, yes, there is a kid immediately behind me holding onto the rope tethered to the inflatable. I wasn't holding onto it with my butt cheeks.

Normalcy returned to the River quickly and folks began again to enjoy the Cedar River.

They were wading and throwing balls for their dogs to chase in the water.

And kayaking. 

Another beautiful day on The Cedar River.

You don't see anything like this in Los Angeles!!

We had a great time and enjoyed the time outdoors.

 It was fun, this visit to Small Town America. Gotta do it again, soon.

Hooah!!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

And, finally, we found some Rubber Duckies when we walked through Liberty Park. Carol is a Princess and me, well, I was conflicted.

It's an old problem, who to identify with? 

The Marines?

The Army?

 

What's a duck to do?

So the Princess got the best of both worlds.

Now, Hooah and Oorah!!