Longview, Washington

July 7, 2023

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Not gonna lie, we were pretty happy to be moving on to warmer weather. Our destination was actually in Oregon, but it was just over the Columbia River from Washington. We ended up spending most of our time in Longview, so that is why the post is named what it is.

Another nice travel day!

Rick happy to be wearing shorts again

Our home for the next three nights was a little county park that was oddly laid out, but was pleasant enough. We occupied ourselves most of Monday by running errands in Longview. Tuesday was the Fourth of July, and we attended the Go Fourth festival at Longview's Lake Sacajawea Park. It was a beautiful warm day, and we thoroughly enjoyed the hometown feel of the festival.

Mt. Saint Helens in the distance while crossing the bridge over the Columbia River

Longview has been a logging town since its inception 100 years ago 

The festivities included logging-related competitions

An unintended photo crop at the sunglass booth 😏

We sat and watched golfers pony up to attempt a hole-in-one in the center of the lake. We actually witnessed what looked like a ball bouncing into the hole.  (Some guys in a boat came out and pulled a ball out of the cup on the floating "island" --we're just not 100% sure it was the ball we saw.)

We tried to visit a Japanese garden on a small island in the park...

...but it was closed on evenings, weekends and holidays, apparently

In between festivities, we walked around the surrounding quaint neighborhood.

We picked up some dinner at a Hawaiian food vendor (some kind of rice bowl with pork, pineapple salsa, and a teriyaki sauce--quite good!) and found a place on the lawn to stake our claim until the fireworks started. We passed the time people-watching and listening to various bands play on stage--everything from brass band to country to pop. 

As dusk approached, we noticed quite a few fireworks displays that appeared to be set off from the nearby neighborhood. We had never been to a state on July 4th where fireworks were legal, and we marveled at how the park suddenly sounded quite like a battle zone (but in a good, festive way).

Fireworks like these were going off all around us

At long last, 10pm arrived, and the fireworks began. Since Longview was celebrating its 100-year anniversary, they added a bonus feature of special flares on the water at the beginning of the show.

Everyone knows what fireworks look like, but we took several pictures of them anyway. (humor us! 😉)

There seemed to have been some kind of miscommunication between the pyrotechnician and the festival organizers, as the piped-in patriotic music ended well before the firework display was finished. No matter, they were just as enjoyable "au naturel". However, the ending was a little awkward, as there was more a sputtering slow-down rather than an exciting grand finale. After there was no firework set off for about 10 seconds, a few people started quietly cheering. Then another firework went off. After another 10 seconds, the announcer came on to thank everyone for attending. As people started to leave, a couple more leftover fireworks were shot off. Kind of weird.

If we thought we had been in the midst of a battle zone before, it was a full-on air raid after the official show ended. Everywhere we looked, there were fireworks being set off constantly. Not just one every now and then, not just a little roman candle here and there, but constant BIG fireworks. Like the ones we just saw. All over town. The only other notable sound we heard as we were leaving were the many sirens.

As we headed home over the bridge and looked across the river, we could see at least 9 or 10 different fireworks at any given moment. Julie tried taking some pictures, but they didn't turn out--you'll just have to use your imagination.

By morning, the mortaring was over, and we packed up and headed toward our next destination--Mt. Rainier National Park!

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