TVC - Day # 2 - Happy 4th of July America!!!

I get a little introspective about my life on the 4th of July.  It is easy to take for granted the freedom we enjoy in this country called the United States of America......I spell it out because somehow just saying "USA" seems to lose the magic.  The form and breadth of  freedom we enjoy here is unique in the world.  We cross state borders without having to show any identification.....we need no visas to travel these United States.  We can aspire to any career we wish, live anywhere we wish, choose any lifestyle we wish, associate with anyone we wish, speak our minds anytime we wish.....without fear of imprisonment.  We are truly FREE!  This freedom allows TLE and I to travel as vagabonds, or nomads, if you will.  I am so thankful for this freedom, and even more so on the 4th of July.

On Friday, July 4th, TLE and I began our second day of work in the TVC office.  We arrived about 5 minutes to 8 and the office had already been open 30 minutes.....there was such a crowd at the door to check in they opened early.....it took another 30 minutes to get through the first rush of people, and then the day pretty much settled down to a manageable pace.  The good thing about the steady flow of business is the day goes quickly, and before we knew it we were walking home with another day in the books.

We had been talking about going to see the fireworks show that is presented in South Lake Tahoe each 4th of July.......all the beaches around South Lake Tahoe are packed on this day with tens of thousands of people, some who arrived as early as 8 am to save a spot on the beach.  After giving people suggestions, and directions all day on where they might go to view the fireworks I was sure we had no chance to get to a beach anywhere, park and then actually see the fireworks.

In fact, I had pretty much resigned myself to not seeing them this year, but while we were eating dinner (BBQ'd hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs) I remember the beach we had ridden to a few weeks ago at Tahoe Keys.  We decided to head over at 8:30 pm to see if we could find parking, and then walk to the beach.  Amazingly we got to within a couple hundred yards of the dirt path that runs about a 1/4 mile to the beach, found a parking spot and then walked the rest of the way.  The beach was not SRO (standing room only), and we easily found a spot to put our blankets on the sand and watch the fireworks show with about 45 minutes to spare before it began........perfect!!

Sharon and Rod

Nick, Elijah and kate

Finally 9:45 pm arrived and the show began......

The show lasted about 25 minutes, and the grand finale was truly spectacular!  The picture at the top of the page is only a snapshot of what we saw.  As we began our walk back with a few hundred people we were all commenting at how pleased we were that we had made the effort, and how happy we were that we were able to arrive last minute without spending all day saving a spot.  What a night!

Thanks for stopping by!