A fourth of July in Garezers

We kicked off our fourth of July celebrations this year with a little bit of World Cup viewing and a parade. Of course the parade was more of the family-down-the-street-with-a-tractor-and-a-wagon type than the Dziesmu Svētku variety. Actually, the XIV Latvian Song Festival was taking place on these warm summer days (in Hamilton, Ontario), we just didn’t make it up to Canada and instead were celebrating America’s birthday on the shores of Gaŗezers.

What is the fourth without a barbecue? Master griller Alnis manned the burgers, with a little bit of supervision.

We sat down to a table decked out in red, white and blue.

After taking a break to digest we hit the cheesecake. Yes, there really are 50 blueberries and seven stripes of raspberries. And yes, it was delicious, if I can say so myself.

That evening was the camp bonfire, but afterward we had some fireworks of our own down on the beach.

It was the next night, Saturday, that we headed to Atbalsis, the resort and campground adjacent to Gaŗezers on neighboring Clear Lake. Mikus wasn’t the biggest fan of the late bedtime nor the noisy/bright celebration, and fell asleep halfway into the celebration with his head tucked into my armpit. But the rest of us enjoyed the show, filing this fourth of July away in our memory banks another good one. Now if Atbalsis would just cut down that one tree...