Celebrating independence means you can do it on the 5th, too.

Note: After my last depressing post, I went in and checked my archives.
I'd started writing this back on July 7th, but never finished it.
It's also my 300th post, believe it or not.

To spare you from seeing the last post, I've uploaded it and changed the date so this will be first.

Last weekend, America had another birthday.

Julie and I talked about what to do on the 4th, and she was torn between driving up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (her cousin told her there was a pretty nice fireworks display up there), or staying home and watching the NASCAR race at Daytona.

I was cool with either decision, but I did decide to surprise her with a picnic dinner either way. I'd gone out a few days before and picked up some of the best ham (applewood smoked ham...incredible stuff), turkey and cheese for sammiches, some fresh fruit, some snacks and drinks, and decided to have everything ready for the Fourth.

She decided she wanted to go to Lake Geneva, so we got in the car and went.

Lake Geneva, for those who've never been there, is big. Very big. About 15 miles across big. There's the village of Lake Geneva to the north, and other smaller villages around its shore, along with private Summer homes. The wealthy and elite from Chicago have, since the late 1900's, have traveled to Lake Geneva to get away from their hectic, busy, wealthy lives.

Oh, to live that kind of life. But I digress.

We got there and wandered around the village of Lake Geneva (where we'd gone for a romantic weekend getaway last September), and found one of our favourite stores: Constant Cravings. They make the BEST popcorn in so many flavors, you can't decide which you want.

Well, Julie could decide. She knew right away what she wanted, but I was the proverbial kid in the candy store. I finally decided on a white chocolate caramel popcorn that I'm still nursing. It's damn good.

Around 6ish, we decided to drive around the lake to the village of Fontana, where the fireworks were going to be set off. We get there...and that's where the fun begins.

Seems they've got things barricaded off pretty well. You wanna park near the beach to see the fireworks? That'll be $15, plus (and this was the dealbreaker) if you did park there, don't expect to be able to leave until 1 hour after the fireworks were over.

Yeah, right.

We went back around the lake a bit to Williams Bay, where there's a little beach, a small park, and some parking. Got out the chairs, the picnic I made, and we sat on the shore and watched the world go by. It was wonderful, well, except for the damn gnats which decided to buzz me. Constantly. Even the citronella candle I bought didn't deter them. They were persistent.

There was also some question whether we'd be able to see the fireworks. Julie went over and talked to some locals (very hoihty-toity) but got them to tell her there was a church a little ways down past the beack in Fontana where we could park for free and watch the bigger fireworks with no problem.

The picnic dinner was done by this point, so we packed the car and drove around...and had a great view, mostly. The lower fireworks were obscured by the treeline, but the bigger ones looked good. I brought the camera and the tripod, and took a bunch of cool shots.

After it was over, we drove home...an adventure in and of itself. Let's just say there was a detour that ended up taking us halfway toward Chicago, and leave it at that.

The next day, Sunday, Julie had to work for a bit. While there, she found out one of the neighboring communities firework displays were canceled Saturday due to rain. (It did rain a good bit in DeKalb, but the rain seemed to stop when we hit Wisconsin. I personally credit the Wisconsin visitor's bureau with making sure the tourists didn't get wet.)

That evening, Julie and I packed our folding chairs and the dog (which might not have been the smartest move...I'll explain) and drove about 20 minutes over to Rochelle. We got there early, walked around the park and watched them set up the fireworks in the field across the way.

We decided to get a better parking spot, and moved to the other side of the road, right next to the "road" (really, it wasn't a road, but more of a grass ramp into the field) where they were coming in and out to make the things that go bang and boom and people go ooh and aah. (How many different ways can you think of to refer to fireworks? HMM?).

When the display started, we were right there, front and center...but I didn't have my tripod. S'all right. I balanced my camera on my lap the best I could, and took some decent shots.

But Julie was left holding Kadie, her half chihuahua/half shih-tzu, seven+ pound dog who really dislikes loud noises. I think Kadie spent the whole show under Julie's blanket, shivering, praying to whatever little doggie God she has that it would end soon and she wouldn't get splattered...

There were more bugs (did I mention I don't like the outdoors when there's bugs around?), a good bit of people, and some nice fireworks. A cool way to end the weekend.

Oh, and I could be evil and make you go to my Flickr page to see the photos I posted, but to be nice (for a change), I'll just link the slideshow here...