Every year, our little Scandinavian village hosts a three day Viking Festival, complete with a parade, a race (5 miles), a carnival, and tons of other events over a long weekend. All the town’s merchants get all excited for all the business they get, and Front Street gets all decorated for the event. It’s a big deal.

I’ve never really participated that much for one reason or another. Two years ago I was visiting SF during Viking Fest, and last year I thought Freya was too little to be able to handle it all. But this year we made a point of attending.

First, Brian registered us for the road races Saturday morning. There was a five-mile run, which he did, and a one-mile “fun run” for me and Freya. The weather was cool and misty, perfect for running. As soon as I got there, I wished that I had dressed more appropriately, as I was determined to run as much as I could. But I was in jeans. I did it anyway; it was only a mile. Our daily walk is usually twice that. Next time we sign up for a 5k or something, which we intend to do more of, I will definitely use the jogging stroller and wear the right clothes.

I also ran because I didn’t want to finish dead last, as we did last year in the Boy Scouts 5K we walked. That was sad. So I ran for over half, pausing to walk a few times. Freya had a blast, and so did I. After we crossed the finish line on Front Street, we found a great spot to watch the 5-mile finishers.

The runners at the front were seriously hardcore, and fast. The winner finished in 23 minutes or so, and he was absolutely flying. Same for the next few guys, they were really fast and you could tell they were trying to beat their personal time or something. Competitive runners always have this grimace on their faces when they finish. No stopping to walk a block for them.

Brian finished around the 50-minute mark — his knee had started bothering him after three miles in. But he finished pretty well, and still running. We went home to relax before the parade. I also had made a crockpot of baked beans for the barbecue at Christina’s house post-parade.

She lives a few yards from the parade route, so naturally the cops would not allow us to drive to her house to park. They were pretty dickish about it. We had to park a few blocks away and carry Freya and a couple grocery bags. Wah. Well, it wasn’t that bad. The parade started a few minutes after we arrived, and we walked down to Fjord to get a great spot.

I normally think parades are pretty boring and lame. But a small town parade is different. Somewhat quaint, but sincere. Freya really enjoyed it from her perch in the backpack carrier. We saw lots of school bands, Marines and Navy soldiers marching with their machine guns, and lots of open-top cars with pageant winners sitting in the back, waving awkwardly. It was great. Near the beginning, the town fire trucks rolled by, and I was given a sexy firefighters calendar by what looked like a male model. Okay, I asked for it, and he gave it to me. Hee.

The schools all brought their costumed mascots, which was probably Freya’s favorite part of all. She squealed with delight at the giant, furry animals. There were a few floats, mostly with a Viking ship theme. Lots of candy thrown our way, most of it crappy, but a few notable exceptions (york peppermint patties!). It was hilarious how the crowd fell suddenly silent when the Republican Party truck went by, windows rolled up. Ha. Assholes. Even better when the “Tea Party” contingent passed, a sad group of white people in their 60s-80s, trying to hand out fliers. “Absolutely not,” said Courtney’s husband. Ha Ha.

Strangest inclusion in the parade was the massive truck bearing a cement septic tank. I wondered if we were supposed to cheer for the septic tank. It was near the end, of course, followed by a line of boring cars. I was disappointed in the lack of horses in the parade. That would have seriously impressed miss baby.

Afterward, we went to Christina’s for hanging out and barbecue. Nice and laid back, though we hoped for more sunshine. At least it wasn’t raining.

The next day, yesterday, after Freya’s nap, the three of us decided to visit the downtown part of Viking Fest, meaning the craft and food pavilion in the parking lot and along the waterfront. We got a cone from our Icelandic friends at Viking Feast Ice Cream, and then I scored a GORGEOUS blue-green scarf/shawl for $15 from one of the vendors near the water. It’s already my new favorite scarf. It’s a lot like the $60 one I looked at in SF last week at BCBG, only ten times prettier and a fraction of the price. Yay.

We then got coffees and departed for Home Depot. So long, Vikings. Let’s hope for sunny weather next year.