4th of July 2006

In Dayton the fireworks were on the night of the 3rd, not the 4th, so we watched them from the hotel balcony while sipping wine. We ordered in some food, but the hotel is not setup for you to eat on your balcony, so we just drank while the fireworks were happening. It only lasted about 15-20 minutes, so we didn't starve.

Derek invited me to a cookout at his place on the 4th. His parent's cooked up a nice dinner of BBQ ribs (which were the best I have had in Dayton), and an interesting mashed potato salad that I have never had before, but it was good. The kind of food that sticks to your ribs, or something...I won't even try to explain the picture.

It is always great to get a home cooked meal and eat in a family type setting when you travel as much as I do, and this was no exception to that. I got to meet most of the family, including the elusive Porkchop, who seems to have acquired a certain antisocial behaviour. Maybe the cat is just shy, but she wouldn't stay outside with us for more than a couple of minutes. She has no idea what she is in for!

The day wouldn't be complete without someone getting dumped in the pool. Unfortunately for Jordan, she was the unlucky one. The flippers are identified here in case Jordan has any question about who was at fault.

And of course, Duke had to join in on the beer drinking. It just wouldn't be fair to leave him out.

After plenty of beer and Mike's Lemonade we got fenagled into playing a game of Sorry.

I had forgotten how to play this game and finally realized that is a game of strategy. Not so much to win as to see who you can make allies with and who you will make enemies with.

Not a game to play with highly competitive control freaks! (Luckily there were none present at this particular playing).

I didn't win, but then I wasn't the last one to get my pins home either. I won't elaborate on who was last or I may not ever get invited again!

Let's end this piece with a couple of pictures that sum it up. We called it a night around 10 and ended a fun day with a quiet night.