Happy 4th of July a little late

The pictures from Hearst Castle are up here. I keep thinking that they need more organizing, but I don't really feel like doing it right now. That is only about half of the pictures I took, but really do you want to see 150 pictures of one place?

We went to see fireworks in Martinez on Tuesday night. I have to say that they were possibly the saddest set of fireworks I have seen in a long time. Most of the crowd seemed happy with them though, which got me thinking about what I am really comparing them too and it is just not fair to expect Martinez, CA (population ~37,000) to be able to compete with Philadelphia (population 1.6 million) or New York City (population 8 million +). Seriously it is smaller than Binghamton! Anyway so I thought I should catalog my history of fireworks watching by year and then rank them. Sounds like fun huh?

2006 - Martinez, CA
2005 - none
2004 - Philadelphia, PA
2003 - New York, NY
2002 - Radnor, PA
2001 - none
2000 - Atlantic City, NJ
1999 - Washington, DC

Now for the ranking, which is based not just on the quality of the fireworks but also on the overall experience of watching them.

1.) Washington, DC - My first big city fireworks, and how can you beat watching a celebration of America's birthday in America's capital at the base of the Washington monument.
2.) Atlantic City, NJ - The first time I watched them with Michael, sitting on the beach, surrounded by sparklers and no one else in sight. I don't think it was so much the fireworks that made this one of my favorites so much as all the rest of the experience.
3.) Philadelphia, PA - We had a good view, and it wasn't super crowded.
4.) New York, NY - The fireworks were amazing, constant, never-ending so many at once it was like a small town big finale the whole way through. There were just far too many people and too many buildings in the way. Oh and it was REALLY HOT!!
5.) Radnor, PA - pretty decent for a small town, and we could walk from my apartment to see them.
5.) Martinez, CA - honestly these were just pretty sad.

Mike's parents arrive this afternoon for their visit. They couldn't have picked a worse time in terms of my feminine cycle. I am eating some chocolate and going to the gym today to make my mood as sunny as possible.