A Texas-Sized 4th of July

With Dad's heart surgery, Michael's car breaking down, and my grandfather passing away, the road trip was postponed a few days. We took the opportunity to celebrate America's birthday here in Texas.

We attended the Round Top 4th of July parade - the longest running July 4th parade West of the Mississippi. Governor Rick Perry was even in attendance to be the Grand Marshall (not that he was a draw for me). Round Top (population 77) sure knows how to celebrate America's birthday. They had everything from antique cars and fire trucks, to the Colorado County fair queen.

A few of my favorites:









In the evening we went to the Brenham Country Club to see the fireworks. While it wasn't quite the National Mall in DC, it was a perfect ending to the day. We put our lawn chairs on the 9th green under a pitch black sky with the sound of crickets everywhere and watched the fireworks over the fairway (they accidentally shot off the finale before the rest of the show). A perfect warm summer night under the stars in a small town in Texas.