Independence Day!

Sonya’s Blog - Day 12 - July 4th! Happy Independence Day America!!

Blake want to go to KC Riverfest at the Berkley Riverfront Park for their Independence Day Festivities. They will have live music, food trucks, kids activities and fireworks. It is free admission if you are there before 5 PM so we will aim for that. They get around 40, 000 people every year for this celebration. First we do laundry, try and fix some stuff in the RV and do a general clean-up. Not very exciting stuff, but stuff that needs to get done. I have been doing loads in our tiny washer/dryer unit, but I cannot do the sheets. I would have done them in The Black Hills, except they had lots of rust in the water and it would stain your whites. They have a nice clean laundry room here, so we will get them done this morning. Blake has to run to the RV store to get some items. We have had a few things fall off our trailer (little screws and bolts and stuff), so we need to get replacements and some other stuff.

Our neighbours with the angry pit bull packed up and pulled out this morning. That was good, now we are not so nervous about the kids and Kizmet being out and walking around the RV. We got an early start on the laundry and everything should be washed and put away by lunch time or just after. Blake and Isaac headed off to the RV store and Natasha slept in till after 10, she is in a much better mood today.

We headed off to the Riverfest just after 3. It is about 40 minutes away. We cannot take Kizmet, so we have all the fans and AC running in the RV and she has had lots of walks, so she will be good to rest while we are out. Hopefully, if there are any fireworks nearby she won’t be able to hear them. The traffic was not bad and everything went smoothly. We were able to park right down by the Riverfront Park, so that was awesome. We got there in time for our free admission and were able to get a good spot in front of the main stage to watch the live bands. The first band up was a Journey Tribute Band:

They were really good. The lead singer didn’t look a lot like Steve Perry, but he could sure hit those notes. It was 30 degrees, but there was a nice breeze by the river so it was beautiful to sit there and listen to the sweet sounds of Journey. The next band up was called Run Away or something. They were really good too. This older couple got up to dance and the whole crowd cheered for them. The guy was wearing an American Flag jumpsuit and the lady a red American themed pant suit. They must have been 80 or something and they were dancing up a storm. I think Natasha got a pic, so you will have to check out her post. The next band was really high energy, with back up singers and everything. They started out with Stevie Wonder’s Superstition, did a great job. Then moved into some big hits that everyone knew and could sing and dance a long to. Another great band. The last band was The Zeroes, they were an alternative 80’s rock band. They opened with Rebel Yell by Billy Idol, so Blake was super stoked. Not very alternative, but loads of fun. They even had on the skinny ties, sweet! They moved into Kids or America and raised a ginormous American Flag up to cover the whole back of the stage, yeah they did! Then they sand Sweet Dreams, and for an all male band, they did a great job. They sang a whole bunch of 80’s songs (including Sunglasses at Night)

and then took a break for the fireworks. There was a lot of fireworks and they were really good, plus they played a whole bunch of American tribute songs while the fireworks were exploding.

They started with a Jazzy Kansas City song and then played like 10 more songs. All of the fireworks were supposed to be done when the songs ended, I think, but the people running the fireworks kinda screwed up as the fireworks just kind of petered out before the songs ended. The band started up again and then so did the fireworks! Then the fireworks stopped, the band started up AGAIN, 1/2 way through their song the grand finale finally started. The band played right through it this time and it was AWESOME!!! All the people with little kids had already packed up and were heading out and then had to stop and watch the rest of the fireworks. Pretty funny, but a great show nonetheless. Masses of people started leaving as soon as the finale was over so we decided to watch the rest of The Zeroes performance and hopefully miss most of the traffic jam trying to get out. The Zeroes played ANOTHER Billy Idol song, ohh Blake was so excited and there was lots of singing and Billy Idol faces being made. They did a few more songs that we knew and we were up and dancing and singing along, then they did Take on Me by A-ha - so Tash and I ran up to the front and danced and sang along. We then decided to go as Isaac was looking pretty tired. They were singing Video Killed the Radio Star on our way out so Isaac was pretty excited as ‘he loves that song! and has since he was 5”. The traffic was still pretty bad on the way out, but we managed to get out within 15 minutes.

The Zeroes Rocking it out:

We got back to the RV after 11, but there were still fireworks going off all along the freeway on the drive back. I was pretty worried about Kizzy, but she seemed fine until she came to the door to greet us, heard the fireworks and ran to take cover. I kept checking to see if they had stopped yet. I thought they had about half hour later and took her out. Sure enough more started up and Kizzy had a quick pee and high tailed it back to the RV where she trembled and shook for about an hour. Poor baby, hates July 4th.

That’s it for me,

Sonya