Happy Fourth of July! We got to sleep in an extra hour. Today we awoke to a less-frigid Colorado, yet with light rain and hoards of mosquitoes. Yet nothing could get in our way of a fabulous day with the incredible descents Rabbit Ears Pass had in store for us. Before heading out into the gravel road to leave our campsite, we did the ride dedication. Today's ride was in memory of Isalia's cousin.The first 8 miles were rolling hills. Then we saw the beautiful sign we had been waiting for: "Trucks shift to low gear. Steep grade next 7 miles." Rather than shift down, we got into the big chainring and did not pedal for the next few minutes... It did not take long to descend the mountain, but in that time, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery of the entire trip. Looking down upon the beautiful valley below, we flew past several cyclists climbing on the opposite side of the road and were simply glad to be riding downhill for the day. The end of the ride was mostly flat into town, along bike paths to avoid the parade route. We headed straight to the parade, which was full of chainsaws, horses, and bicycles.The rest of the day was spent almost as a rest day: we ate lunch (including free hot dogs from the church), showered and swam at the hot springs, and we wandered around the beautiful downtown. Bike shops and souvenir stores were entertainment as the day went by and we went out to dinner before the fireworks show. The fireworks on the mountain were great! We accompanied them with our own music, including Firework by Katy Perry. Here we are at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, trying to sleep despite the loud celebratory booms going on outside. What a great place to be on the 4th! We truly appreciate everything that this country is to us... And how much more we have learned to love it in the past few months together. God bless America!