Our 4th of July

It's no surprise that we decided to spend our 4th on the lake, it is surprising that we didn't want to take the boat. We'd heard that the ramp would be crowded, and it was no lie. While there are usually 10-15 cars with trailers and MAYBE two or three cars full of families swimming, the numbers on the 4th were at least quadrupled.

We pulled in at about 10:30am and it was sheer luck that we were able to get a spot close to where we usually pull in. By noon, the place was packed. We're talking maybe 30 cars full of families swimming and around 75-100 cars *trying* to get their boats/jet ski's in the water.

The downside to all of this activity was swimming in "red water". Tennessee is chalk full of red clay, and the activity from all of the boats, jet-ski's and the sheer number of people swimming meant that the river bank was churning all day, producing water that looks kinda awful.

Point in case:


We didn't let it bother us though. We spent the day enjoying ourselves, gorging on food and by the time we got home, (Around 7pm) the kids were totally exhausted and sunburned, but the show had to go on! And by show, I mean more of Ed trying to set me on fire and less of things going "boom" in the air. After an hour of having my ear drums blown out by fireworks set upside in the canisters and having fireworks skidding across the driveway only to implant under my flip-flops burning my feet, I decided I was better able to execute a painfree enjoyable display. And it was, by all accounts, terrific!