July 4 Tour De Lake

We went over to Julie and Dean Taylor's house this 4th of July for the premier Tour De Lake. The idea was to have a boat parade in the small community lake in their subdivision of Loch Highland in Roswell, and paddle over to the spillway where there would be a dedication of a bench plaque in honor of their beloved neighbor Tom Lynch. It was supposed to last from about 1:30 until 6pm, but we brought along some Carolina fireworks which meant the party lasted until sundown and beyond.

The Flotilla This is the boat parade from the perspective of the middle boat. You can see the dock about 50 yards in the background, so everyone is on the way to the clubhouse first, then on to the spillway. We arrived late, and missed being in the parade :-(	Everybody Rides! Julie Taylor, our hostess, went to Big Lots and bought up quite a few one-man and four-man inflatable boats so that everyone who wanted to could participate. We got one of the four-man rafts and paddled on over to the spillway. At the end of the night, we left it at Dean and Julie's so that we'd have an excuse to go boating with them next visit.
Cap'n Tom Tom and Donna Nash came in their styrofoam sailboat. That's a lot easier to navigate than a raft, I'll tell you.	The Dedication This is the bench plaque that was dedicated to the memory of Tom Lynch, who recently lost his battle with cancer. Tom was instrumental in improving the quality of life of many of the residents in the community.
Grillin'! After the boat tour, it was time for some refreshments and food. Dean mans the grill, cooking up regular hot dogs, Kosher beef dogs, buffalo dogs, and Johnsonville brats for everyone, while satellite radio provided the musical entertainment from the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville station.	Shine Your Lights! Five of the girls pile into one boat and light up their giant sparklers. While Diane was the first to get hers lit, she let it drop a little too low when lighting the others' sparklers and hers drowned. :-( Julie is helping her get what's left going again.
Fire! Fire! Bill and Penny brought along some Georgia fireworks (roman candles) and got things started. We used the green area next to the dock as our launching pad.	Just Happy to Blow Things Up David gives a goofy grin because he got a chance to launch some aerial fireworks, instead of just the ground works like New Years Eve. Thanks to Shelton's Fireworks in SC for the "Hula Girls" combo that provided our biggest bang.
Good Buddies Dean (R) and Tim (L) share a brew and conversation at the end of the evening. Tim is an artist. Some of his colorful kitschy paintings hang behind the basement bar at Dean's.	The Girls The day is done and the girls (minus Julie) pose for a shot together. L-R: Penny, Susan, Diane, Lu, and Donna.