The Think Tank

The Rose Festival officially kicked off yesterday despite some pretty crummy weather.  Along with the opening ceremonies always comes a grand fireworks display, and we try to make it each year.  Undaunted by the prediction of rain, our dear friend Debbie came up from Eugene to enjoy the show.

I headed straight over to the East Side Esplanade after work (at 3pm) and helped them set up our Easy-Ups, which worked a real treat keeping us dry in the pounding rain.  Needless to say our early arrival was not as necessary as it has been in years past when the weather was beautiful, but we didn’t want to take any chances.  The wind blew pretty hard until we got our tents anchored, then it mostly died down and took a back seat to the rain, which was impressive, but beneath our canopies we stayed nice and dry.  Shannon met up with us when she was done with work and we all ate fried chicken, drank warm coffee, indulged in some beers, and just generally had a great time.

Seven Chilly hours after we setup camp, amid a moderate drizzle, the fireworks show started.  Quite a few brave souls had ventured forth into the unpleasant evening to join us, and everyone was greatly pleased by the display.  In my opinion the show was much better than it has been for many years, with the fireworks more spread out and very evenly distributed between high and low, which made it a lot easier to photograph.  The only real trouble with the pictures came from rain drops on the lens, which is just part of the deal when you  aim your camera skyward into the rain.

You can see all the pics by clicking on one of the images above or by clicking here.