Our second night in Green River we were lucky enough to stay at the Robbers Roost Motel. The accommodations were modest but more than enough for our needs. Plus, it was free. Thanks for putting us up!
This was the view out of our window in the morning. You would never believe this place is quite close to downtown (in the other direction, of course).
We walked down to the coffee shop to get breakfast but they were closed for the duration of the Melon Days Parade, so we decided to enjoy it as well.
I'm pretty sure the entire town (and even neighboring towns) came out for the parade and the Melon Days fair.
There were several marching bands from around the area.
Pretty much every single float was throwing candy to kids watching the parade, but this one had a candy cannon!
This inflated dinosaur typically sits outside of a local gas station/hotel/restaurant and made an appearance in the parade. They had to deflate him momentarily to limbo under the power lines.
The Melon Queen (from last night's pageant) even made an appearance. I considered booing but thought that would be mean. I will count my lack of cheering as a tacit objection.
The float for the Green River Community Center. Lindsay and Blair's hard decorating work paid off and they won 3rd place in the float competition!
The Epicenter crew made an appearance on bikes.
Unfortunately there was a chain malfunction, but Taylor was a trooper and kept on riding without it.
Rafting instructors shooting the crowd with water guns. When I visited Utah back in 2009, we went rafting on the Green River with these guys.
Mom, this one is for you. Horses! Haley (Auburn Alum and Epicenter crew member) is on the spotted horse in the center.
Once the parade wrapped up and we got coffee and breakfast we decided to check out the Melon Day vendors set up in the park.
It was a pretty typical fair with booths of junk and crafty items.
But there were also stations sprinkled around handing out slices of watermelon and cantaloupe. Honestly, I'm not a big melon fan (I know! Crazy, right?) but the boys enjoyed several free pieces in my honor.
Check out these guys tossing humongous watermelons like they are softballs! You don't want to get in the way of that!
After some perusing the fair, we toured around town a little. There are some great, vintage graphics left over from the 50s and 60s around town.
The Mexican restaurant. One evening Kurt, Erik, and I had a late dinner here. The Chile Relleno was excellent!
Not sure if this repair shop is still functioning or not. It reminded me of Marfa, Texas. They shoud turn it into an art gallery!
Another coffee shop in town. Every time we tried to go they were closed :(
Ray's Tavern. One of the few restaurants in town.
An old hotel. Rumor has it that a porn star bought the entire thing and lives there now.
Yes, the train does stop here! The route is the California Zephyr which travels from Chicago to the west coast of California. That would be an incredible ride!
Finally, the musical extravaganza of Project Green River got underway. It took a little while to get warmed up but all the bands were pretty good.
Wherever they go they have to show some Ohio love.
Not to be outdone, some Alabama representation.
Along with musical performances, there were a few art projects and gallery set up around the Epicenter. Check out all those volunteers in blindingly green shirts.
Here I am manning the merchandise table. I like to think I was the days best seller even though I was unable to convince anyone to buy the "Sampler Pack" (one of everything) for $80. Such a deal!!
In between bands while the equipment was being swapped, the band Magpie agreed to play an acoustic set inside the Epicenter. So utterly amazing. They were really great. They were accompanied by Bonnie Jeanne (I think! Correct me if I am wrong!) and aside from her beautiful voice and excellent ukulele strumming, she told some pretty funny jokes. I've adopted them as my own, so if you want to hear some jokes about hipsters, come find me. I've been perfecting my delivery.
There was a slight time gap where we took a break from PGR to partake in some college football. It was a bad news week. Not only did Auburn fall to Clemson, but Ohio State also lost against Miami. Good thing we had lots of other things to distract up from the sadness.
Namely music and dancing! The dance party got started later in the evening. This band invited the crowd to join them onstage. Front and center you can see some of Christian's moves. We weren't able to get a picture but Erik's imitation of every musician on stage was hilarious. His air guitar and air drumming are really top notch.
The bands played until around midnight and then we helped clean up and pack the equipment. You would think we would be done for the evening but you would be wrong. Our next stop was Melon Nights a little outside of town.
I can't even begin to describe how crazy this place was! The best description I can come up with is "hippie rave in the desert". We drove to what seemed like the middle of nowhere and came upon all these camp sites. Once we parked our car, we followed the techno music to the party.
There was a huge set up for a DJ and lots of people were dancing. There were laser lights and crazy little buildings spread around. Tons of people were in costume, including the DJs. The music was really good for dancing. I even got Kurt to dance!
There were also fire artists? I don't know what to call them. One girl had a flaming hula hoop that she performed with. Make that "hippie rave and circus". If that's not enough to blow your mind, these hippies are all about solar power. I'm not entirely sure but I think the entire party (or maybe just the DJ booth) was powered by the Solar Saucer.
We stayed at Melon Nights waaaay too late but it was such a crazy experience that I will not soon forget. I don't think we could have possibly fit more exciting things into our trip if we tried. Stay tuned for the recap of our last days!
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