I really didn't want to spend another 4th of July at my house like we did the previous year because of stupid Covid. I was really hoping that we would be able to go to Paul and Peggy's and spend time on the lake. 4th of July was on a Sunday this year and most of us had the next day off. Bev asked me if I was going to Paul and Peggy's and I said as far as I know unless something changes. Then Mom messaged me stating that Peggy officially invited us. She contacted Mom to let her know. This was the plan for the 4th.
Our neighbors also invited us to a 4th of July gathering but we had already committed to Paul and Peggy's and they understood. They said if they were still doing we were welcome to come over. I told them we probably wont be home until midnight or later. They said they might be up and if not that they would have us over for leftovers another day.
The day before I made Funfetti 4th of July cake, like I did last year because it was a hit. I had a cake pan shaped like the USA and I just recently found a star shaped cake pan at the Goodwill. Doug and Jenn were going to be at the ocean with the Fain's and Erika and Zach were stuck with their dogs and Doug's dog Charlie all weekend. I felt bad so I brought them over one of the star cakes I made. I brought the USA cake and some chips to contribute to the party.
The day of, I wanted to leave by about 1:30 or so we could enjoy the lake before dinner. Ben and I got everything ready and packed it up in the Escape and headed out to get Mom and Grandma. I wanted to use the lake since it was nice so we shoved the blown up inner tubes inside as well. There wasn't a lot of room in the Escape with all the coolers, bags, chairs and extra things so I figured we can take Mom's Expedition since it is bigger and everything will fit in there. Ben wanted to bring the kayaks but I told him we would be taking Mom's Expedition plus Paul and Peggy have kayaks, why bring more?
We went to Mom's house first so we could trade vehicles and pack up everything. We crammed all of her stuff in the back and then went and got Grandma and her chair, bag and dessert. I am glad we decided to use Mom's Expedition because we had a lot of stuff between the four of us and it all wouldn't have fit into my Escape. We drove through Vail and to the back way to McKenna in which we had to follow a dork a portion of that drive. There were tons of people driving around heading to 4th of July festivities.
We turned onto Hwy 702 at the McKenna Y and drove down that road until we reached Hwy 7, we drove across the highway, down 352nd and turned right onto Hwy 161 to Clear Lake. I wasn't sure who all was going to come this year but when we got to the house around 2:15ish, there weren't that many people there yet. It was nice since we had plenty of parking spots to choose from. We've never been here this early before since we've always come around 4 p.m. right before they started cooking dinner.
We unloaded the Expedition and put most of it into the collapsible wagon Mom bought a few years ago and wheeled it to the front yard. We found a good spot along the shore of the lake and parked our tables and chairs next to where Bob and Bev had their chairs. We put our stuff in the fridge and freezer and went around visiting with everyone.
We heard we were going to do a boat parade and Paul and Peggy had their boat all decorated in red, white and blue. According to Peggy, they used to do the boat parade many years ago but then they stopped for some reason. Last year, Covid resurrected the boat parade for the first time in decades. Carrie, Peggy, Gracie, Caleb, Caleb's wife, Morgan and their baby Abel, Mom, Ben, Grandma Karen and I all piled in. It took us about an hour to circle the entire lake. It was fun to see all the boat decked out with decorations and some people went as far as it dress up for the occasion as well. Our boat died about five times because it has a bad fuel line. Luckily, Caleb knew how to fix it so we could continue on.
We got back to shore, visited with people who arrived while we were out and then Ben and I got ready to float in our inner tubes. This was the first time it's been this nice since 2015. We floated for about a half hour and then somehow we talked Amy into going on the double kayak with Ben for a bit because she was being a Debbie Downer. We didn't know that kayaks were suppose to stay on the other side of the buoys, whoops! They managed to survive the boats and the choppy water and made it back in one piece. Trish was pretty happy and we all decided we wouldn't tell Amy.
Between 4:30 and 5:00 is when Paul fired up the BBQ and started the burgers and hotdogs. We made our rounds chatting with people again and some competitive cornhole games were being played. Food was done shortly after and like always we ate way too much food but it was so good. I went back after my cheeseburger and sides for some dessert. I could not finish my dessert and I felt bad. Ben and I took some of our stuff back to the Expedition so we didn't have that much to take later on when it got dark. I did eventually get tired of wearing wet clothes so I changed into my extra clothes I brought with me.
I spent some more time wandering around talking to people and catching up. I wandered down towards the lake because I saw Mom talking to Carrie. I stood next to them listening to their conversation when 12 year old Gracie interrupts while holding an open beer. Carrie asks, why, my dear are you holding a beverage? Gracie basically states that she needs someone to drink it so she could use the bottle as a rocket launcher. After that I am not sure what happened but she did get her empty bottle because she was shooting bottle rockets out of it.
I wandered around a little bit more and it started getting dark. The neighbors and the people next door at the boat launch started getting their fireworks out. Some of the teenaged kids in our group started getting their fireworks out as well. Most of the docks around the lake were shooting off large booms, colorful fountains and extraordinary aerial fireworks. Mount Rainier was a nice backdrop for these fireworks as it got darker.
Ben and I walked back to the Expedition one more time to grab our 4th of July bin so we could play with sparklers and the glow sticks. I passed out glow stick to those who wanted them. I can't remember when I bought them but they were red, white and blue ones. I played with sparklers for a few minutes and then the huge firework barge started its display. It is about a 15 minute show that starts around 10 p.m. It was nice to sit there and take it all in. I sure do miss 4th of July at my grandparent's house.
After the show, we packed up our stuff, put it in the wagon and wheeled it to the Expedition. We thanked Paul and Peggy for another good time at the lake. They were very happy we could come and hang out with the family. We took Grandma home first and then Mom. We transferred all of our stuff over to the Escape, said bye to Mom and Dad and headed home. Along the way, we noticed that most people were compliant with the no fireworks/burn ban in Thurston County (since it was so dry so early this year) but there were some people still doing fireworks.
We got home after midnight and we both got cleaned up from being in the lake. We went to bed around 2 a.m. where we still could hear people around the neighborhood blowing up fireworks. As far as we could tell Wade and Oliver did well with all the noise. They were glad to see us when we got home but they didn't look scared or skittish. I am so glad I had the day off the next day.
Happy 4th of July everyone! Please let's end Covid!
Next Adventure: Centralia: Picking Up Caches, An Adventure Cache and Papa Pete's For Bev's Birthday
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