One of the great things about Americans is the way we all get cranked up for Independence Day. It’s a big event for most, with parades, BBQs and spectacular fireworks shows!

Californians for the most part stayed away from “real” fireworks this year because of the extreme fire danger — we’ve already had more than 1700 wildfires throughout the state precipitated by dry lightening and high winds, so our Governator asked that we not buy fireworks in order to help prevent even more. But many of the usual controlled exhibitions went off as scheduled including northern California’s largest at Cal Expo in Sacramento. Here are a few more images (click to enlarge):

We were blessed this year with cooler temperatures — we call anything less than 106° “cooler” — so Dawn and I took in the annual East Sacramento “Fab 40s” parade followed by lunch on the patio at Rio City Cafe in Old Sacramento. There was a nice breeze and we relaxed watching the boats cruising the Sacramento River. What began as a lousy day for me turned out to be a pretty darn good Independence Day!

This is my final “official” Patriot’s Journey post for 2008 although I’ll continue to photograph and write about this great land of ours as the mood strikes me. If you’d like to re-read any of my previous “Patriot’s Journey” posts, click on “archives” in the navigation bar on the right, then click on “Patriot’s Journey” and you’ll be directed to all of them. And I’m sure my fellow journeyers — Drumwaster, Larry at The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason — would appreciate a visit, too. I’ve enjoyed participating in this year’s journey with some terrific bloggers and hope to do it again next year. ‘Til then, God bless America!