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| July 2-4, 2005 - Celebrating the 4th | ||
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I celebrated the 4th of July with the "Shadow Lady" and her family.
They throw a family BBQ, along the lines of their
Memorial
Day celebrations...
One of the funnier things starting out on the trip was that the weather changed just as we were entering Grays Harbor County... we had JUST talked about it a few moments before we came up on the border... Sunny to cloudy and drizzly in 100 yards... welcome to Grays Harbor! |
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"Help Wanted - Citizens needed to overthrow corrupt American
Government" TOO FUNNY! I talked to this guy, and asked if I could get his picture... the phone number isn't his, but it's probably 'real'... we came by later, and he had a crowd of kids around him... oh, well, freedom for all, right? Clark's Restaurant has THE BEST ice cream I've EVER had!!! It's Awesome! We stopped and got Black Raspberry Swirl cones... AWESOME!
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On the 3rd we drove down the coast...mostly for the scenery, but also to
take in the Annual Show of Craziness in Long Beach. We stopped by the Pacific County Courthouse that was built in 1910...it seems pretty fancy for a place that had to have been VERY remote when it was built! As we got to the Columbia, we were treated to some REALLY nice scenery! |
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We stopped at Cape Disappointment and stretched our legs out
on a short walk to the Lighthouse. The trail snakes over
to a small hidden cove along the way, which is quite
beautiful, and then picks up an old access road leading from
the US Coast Guard base that's nearby. Along the way, a deer basically paid us no mind at all, chewing nonchalantly on the leaves of some trees growing in the brush along the trail. At the end of the road, the lighthouse is quite an impressive site, especially near sunset! |
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Among the scenic views we saw from Cape Disappointment was the cliff in
front of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center... it was alive with
pelican nests... thousands of them! The view of the Mouth of the Columbia, "The Graveyard of the Pacific" - more than 2,000 shipwrecks in the immediate area - was amazing! |
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We left the lighthouse and went North along 101, and before
too long we were in Long Beach. We ate at a place
overlooking the water, watched the sunset, and then drove
out on the beach to check out the fireworks. It was the day before July 4th, but folks were firing off quite a bit of 'ammo'... nothing like it would have been the next night, but it was still fun to watch! |
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On the 4th we went over to one of the Shadow Lady's aunt & uncle's house, and
spent a great day with her family... It was a lot of fun! I played volleyball, even... I'm not that good, and the field isn't flat or anything, but it was a lot of fun. After watching the "Great Sister Shootout", I decided that I shouldn't challenge anyone to a match of ping-pong! |
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The kids made ice cream, and everyone brought food... the
pastor and his wife brought their new baby... it was a great
day. After it wound down, we drove back and stopped by the Symetra Financial Center to watch the fireworks... |
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The sun had set, and it was twilight when the various communities started
their displays...
Our vantage point gave us a great view! |
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When the display in Bellevue kicked off, we realized that the
building they were constructing was blocking our view... we
went to the corner of the building, which was a conference
room, and watched the show... even with the partial view, it
was spectacular! It was pretty cool to be looking right over at the bursts, rather than up... we were even higher than a lot of them!
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Symetra sprung for most of the cost of the fireworks... it was even called
"Symetra Family Fourth"... it was a pretty awesome show, and our view of
it was quite fantastic... of course, how could it have not been? The
shadow lady and I had a front row seat... it was very, very nice!
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