Camping in Michigan - The Tent

On Thursday night, July 2nd, Jon flew up to Michigan.

On Friday, July 3rd, Jon, Justin Pouch and Tony Nagle loaded an ABF freight truck with lots of stuff from Dad's house. Jon still can't believe that piano didn't roll back and crush him.

On Saturday morning, July 4th, the Caruvana clan packed the minivan and drove north to Harrisville State Park, where we set up camp.

Syndi had spent the week at camp Barakel, and we would need to pick her up on Tuesday. The rest of us tented for a few days on the shores of Lake Huron. Saturday night we went down to the shore of the lake and watched the fireworks displays. The closest fireworks were from the Harrisville celebration, which we watched as we stood a few feet from the lapping waves and looked to the north. Two other displays could be seen to the south, probably the Oscada/Au Sable and the Tawas Point fireworks. It was pretty cool.
We had fun in the tent.
As you can see, we had a nice view of the neighbor's campground. We could hear the waves lapping on the shores of Lake Huron throughout the night. It was a soothing sound.

After we picked Syndi up on Tuesday, Junior, Stephen and Syndi sqeezed into their sleeping bags on one side of the tent. Julia slept nearby in her pack-n-play. Syl and I slept in our sleeping bags on the other side of the tent.

Next we'll post some pictures of our visits to the beach.

The Return from Michigan!

Well, the family made it back from Michigan...and just in time for the annual Rome fireworks show. These are a few of the booms we saw just before the spectacular finale.
They pulled into the driveway shortly after 5 PM Friday night. After dinner we headed over to our standard spot on the Oostanaula River levee. We handed out the traditional glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces, then watched the show.
Earlier that evening, within minutes of their arrival home, the kids had found the wall Daddy had painted as a chalkboard. Seemingly 30 seconds later, they had it covered in chalk artwork.
It's good to have us all together again!

Fourth of July Fireworks

On the evening of July 4th, a while after our morning swim party, we headed to the levee on the Oostanaula River, across the river from the Sara Hightower library. We spread out our blankets and set up our folding chairs, and prepared for Rome's grand show.

Here Syndi spreads out on our famed NY Giants blanket. (I'm still a fan!) This was our third annual trip to the levee for the Rome Fireworks Show. Our first year here, Sylvia and Syndi went to see it, and watched from the parking lot of the Methodist church near the levee. Two years ago we actually all went to the levee and watched with Aunt Chris and Uncle Brent. Last year we went with our neighbors Gary and Roz. This year, Gary, Roz, Aunt Lorrie and Grandma joined us on the levee.
We sat on the sidewalk at the top of the levee on the west side of the river.
This is a shot looking down the levee. You can see the people beginning to fill in the spaces. In the distance just right of center you can see the famed Clock Tower rising above the tree line.
We camped out where the sidewalk split. One path went under the bridge and one went up to the bridge.
The show began around 9:30 PM with a series of brilliant fireworks. I slowed the shutter speed on my Sony H1 digital camera and took some great shots of the fireworks (on my tripod). Here you see some red, some white...
...and some blue. God Bless America! I adjusted the shutter speed throughout the night, seeing what worked best. I generally kept it in the 1 to 3 second range, but tried faster and slower than that for experimental purposes.
I thought the firework spiraling upward through the red blast was pretty cool.
The Rome fireworks had a nice variety of color, shapes and size.

This one kinda looked like it was raining down on Ridge Ferry Park, where the fireworks were sent up from.
The Crown!

The small red blast at top had quite a red halo in this photo.

This shot looked like a traditional American firework.Sometimes we had one firework after another, with one soaring across the previous.
The Cross.
Note the next firework on its way skyward just to the left of the original.

Two Stars.

I really loved the "star within a star" look I caught here.

The Rockets (Red) Glare.
Here you see the major firework with little explosions at its tips, with a second smaller firework below it, and yet a third soaring through them both, on its way to a blast above them.

A Tail of Two Fireworks.

I loved the tails these two left.

The Flower.
This looks just like a weed in my garden last year which blossomed into one of the most beautiful, delicate flowers I've ever seen.

The Three Wise Men.

I had a longer shutter speed for this one. Notice the three separate tails at the bottom merging into one.

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!
Cool!
Syndi was laying on the Giants blanket with her glow stick necklace (another annual 4th of July tradition). She was highlighted by the glow of the fireworks.
I turned the camera around and caught the glow on Junior and Sylvia (and the crowd) also. Junior had a yellow glow stick necklace and bracelet. You can see the Clock Tower in the distance at center, and the church at the right (above Sylvia). The scene was framed by Aunt Lorrie's crutch.
A beautiful blossoming firework over the bridge. The finale followed shortly and the show was over within 5 minutes. It was another great show. Hats off to the folks in Rome who do this show each year. I am incredibly impressed with the quality show this small town puts on.