Today was the fourth 4th of July that Nick and I spent as a couple. It was the first time we saw fireworks together on the 4th of July. Our first, Nick was in Europe. Our second, Nick was flying to New Jersey watching them from a plane. Last year my father-in-law, Rollie, was in town and collectively we didn't feel like going out for them. Last year we did see the fireworks from Strawberry Festival. That was our first time seeing them together.
Was the anticipation worth it? Yeah, I guess it was. We arrived and saw lots of people set up near the Junior High, even parking on highway 19. Nick suggested we also park along 19 and walk to the spot we want to sit. It may take us a bit to walk back, but at least we wont be stuck in a parking lot waiting to get on a street, waiting to get on 19. So we did just that.
When we arrived, around 9pm, there were several houses in the neighbor hood setting off their own fireworks. I think one neighborhood in particular effectively stimulated the economy by themselves with their fireworks purchases. It kind of seemed like a friendly competition was happening. At least 4 times in the hour we sat there, we thought for sure one of the houses had caught fire.
Promptly at 10 the "real" fireworks started. Cottage Grove put on a pretty good display. There were some colors, some sound ones, sparkley ones, shimmery ones....certainly not the best I have ever seen, but still, not bad. It was about 25 minutes of near constant fireworks.
By the time we got back to the car, there wasn't much in the way of foot traffic. We passed long lines of people in the parking lot trying to get out. I climbed from the passenger seat to the drivers seat. Nick got in and we were ready to go. I pulled onto 19 from the shoulder and stopped to let a family cross....and we were off. Talk about a good idea. Way to go Nick!
Happy 4th of July! (yeah, it's over and I realize that) but enjoy the weekend.
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