Fort Townsend, midday on the 4th/Stapilus |
The roads north to the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas were packed with traffic on the 3rd. Around Gig Harbor it was awful; try to pull off into even one of the smaller community (Purdy, for instance) and even there you'd be likely to be stuck in your car in stop-n-go, for extended periods. The whole of the Northwest seemed on the move.
On the fourth, things seem to have settled down a bit. Port Townsend, a popular destination and a popular one on sunny summer days like this, was busy but not jammed. The boat-repairers at the shipyard were busy, and people were out and about. Still, the energy level seemed high. Higher than usual?
Wednesday night we sat on a deck overlooking Puget Sound, across to Whidbey Island, and saw something that seemed remarkable, and we were told was unusual for the area: A series of full-scale fireworks shows. Not on the 4th, you notice, but on the 3rd. These were in small communities (Langley, Freeland, maybe Port Ludlow), that delivered up substantial shows, pre-weekend. The speculation was that they did this so residents and others would be free to watch still other shows on the 4th.
We shall see. But if the shows of the 3rd were solid, we're looking forward to those of the 4th.