4th of July 7/4/06 (yeah, I know, redundant info)

The 4th of July. Probably the one day it's guaranteed that most people in the states go outside. To the parks, to the lakes, to the relative's backyard. During the day we went to Minnehaha Park. Lots of picnics and people playing.


















And an occasional old guy in shorts and knee-high black socks.












And families posing for pictures.












And toys... bicycles and quadcycles(?) for people to rent.












Like these people.


















Their only complaint was that there were no cup holders for their beers. The guy in the back (out of view) was holding two beers - a chaser, I guess. Notice the woman in back isn't pedaling. The true measure of a friendship.












Here's a big head keeping watch over the falls. I'm sure he has a name. I'll pass the name along if I even learn it. For now, let's call him Bob.












Later we went to see the fireworks in downtown St. Paul. We got what we thought was a great spot, far enough away to get a panoramic view of the show over the capital building.


















Emergency services were right in front of us. Very convenient.












As usual, St. Paul changes the location of the fireworks every year. I'm sure it's a little joke they play on everyone in the 5 county area. This guarantees you'll get a bad spot since the fireworks are always behind whatever you're sitting next to. We thought we had taken that into consideration this year. We were wrong. After a mad jaunt down the street, placing our lawn chairs in the middle of a sidewalk next to an ugly apartment building, this is what we saw.