Blast From The Past

    Hello all you Independence lover's  who are actually more interested in blowing things up.  I am in that bracket of people, but now live in a state were all fire works are illegal to even have.  Of course you can buy them at any Wally World across the state.  You just can not use them, or really even have them.   Arizona is a very dry state, because it is hot.   I do not call it the land of the sweating sun for nothing.  After staring at miles and miles of desert, and a full back yard of dirt, I often wander what would ever burn in this state.   But am also not going to test the waters.  I am tired of hearing how this state has a dry heat.  "Other wise it would be really hot!"   Really?   I figure after it is 98 degrees in the shade, for the 22nd day in a row, it is just F in hot, no matter if its a dry heat or a humid rain forest heat.   Which is exactly what you get if you own a swamp kooler.     Anyways, luckily for us, the monsoon season has hit the area.   And it has hit hard.   Basically it gets so hot outside, that even God takes pity on us all, and sends down a long drenching rain, almost every day.   The best part, is that it is a cool rain.  And it feels O so good!   The bad part, is it's a desert, so the land quickly turns into a running river.  

    Because of the threat of a storm ---- we did not get to enjoy a fireworks show in our new home town this year.   I say a threat, because the storm by passed us completely.   Although the next day a huge monsoon hit, and that put on a very nifty show.   Especially at our house, were our dog does not enjoy anything about storms.  We did enjoy the day before the no light show though.    While I wait to organize those pictures into a blog post, here is a re post of our family's 4th last year.    Enjoy!



4th Of July In Bellingham Washington

July 4th proved out to be a great day. Activity and weather wise.

I show the above pictures because the clouds are very kool, at least I think so. And to prove how sunny it was this day. I am skipping a few exploring posts, for now to tell about the fourth before it becomes to late in the month.

With all the talk of banning personal fireworks around town, we thought it might be a more boring holiday. But with three kids, lots of fireworks, and a nervous dog, it was far from boring. Max was fine when he was with us, he just wanted to attack everything we blew up to protect us of course.

I was out early looking for a good spot to watch the towns firework show. And quickly decided Boulevard Park was not it. When I drove through the parking lot about 11 A.M. the park was already full and people were starting to set up tents. This park fills up fast. And if you can sneak your way up the rail road tracks towards Bellingham, fewer people are around. We decided to BBQ at home. And than took off for the festivities at Squalicum Park in the afternoon. Since most events in this town are packed and full of things to do, I was kind of surprised at how few booths and activities were at the park. Not that it isn't a beautiful park to enjoy any time of year.

I have a post already on this sight about roaming around the park. And another great one in the works. We had some time to roam around the paths and enjoy the sun.

The rocks are always fun to chill on or explore. Just stay off the jetty's. Especially in bad weather.

Many kites were in the air to be enjoyed by the fliers and those watching. The currents right off the bay allow for some great kite flying! The above kite took two people to put it back in it's box.

This man had a neat kite. He said that he has flown kites all around this great country, and this park is his favorite place to fly kites, by far!

Further down the trail.

You can just see the old city hall in the background.

Many people packed the park. While bands played. And an art show was held inside this main building. Some vendor tents wrapped around the park.

Coloring time!

Don't forget to visit "Willy" down by the whale watching boats and restaurants.

Many people watch the fireworks from this park also. To many people. So we moved on. Ending up down by the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. As darkness rolled in, people shot off there own fireworks. And soon the empty fields looked like a battle field. Smoke of all colors, dancing with the slight wind.

It was still to early to enjoy the light show, so I roamed with Max and got some pictures.

Than we joined in to blow up some stuff!

Through the night, I learned again, how hard it is to take pictures of fireworks.

I have a lot to learn on this.

And gave up, to enjoy the show.

Blowing up things is great fun! It almost looks like her hair is on smoking in this picture.

This blurry van--we managed to annoy the passengers. People were shooting fireworks all around us. And he was worried that our kids were 30 feet behind his van. And told us so. We reminded him that we parked there first and than they pulled up, we were far from there van, and what the date of the year was. After awhile he and his wife decided it was safer to leave.

From our view spot that night.

We did learn that it is much better to be in one of the parks. Although packed, there is a lot of effect being just under the light show. With the intense lights and noise. It diminished a lot from our view point. And many of the local explosions were kooler than the actual show. At least from where we were sitting.