7/4/12 - Happy birthday, America.

Being the 4th of July, it was obviously a bit more eventful than the previous day of loafing. I got up, showered, and slathered myself with sunscreen, then headed down to Redondo, my favorite LA area beach. Traffic was a breeze, but parking was a little less so. I managed to find an unrestricted spot though, so score! It was a bit overcast,

 but by the time Becky was ready to go, the sun was shining.

 It ended up being a gorgeous day, although a tad windy. We went to the beach a few blocks down, where some pals had staked  out a volley ball net and a nice patch of sand. Becky went to go grab some of her other friends, and they came back with bikes! We were hungry, so we rode down the Strand to Hermosa. It was crazy! Once we got to the Redondo Pier, all of a sudden there were tons of people, but it was when we got to Hermosa that it was really going off. I'm telling you, it was kiddie amateur hour over there. Huge house parties, people everywhere, drunk teenagers in patriotic bikinis, a girl with her phone number painted on her stomach. Nuts! We had to walk our bikes from Herondo on. I wish I'd taken pictures. We ate and had a couple watermelon mint caiproskas at Silvio's, waited in a ridiculously long line for the bathroom, and then I'd had enough of the crowds. I rode back to Redondo, this time taking the street, so it took me about third of the time.

I got back to the beach party to find that my friend Mark had gone to the hospital. Seems he stepped on a sting ray. Bummer. That didn't dissuade me from going in the water myself. It was actually pretty warm and calm. It felt great to swim in the ocean. I so rarely do it.

Around this point we all headed up to Jeremy's to cook some meat outdoors - you know, in the time honored tradition of our forefathers. I don't remember eating that much, but I must have because I felt like my belly was three times its usual size. Once it got dark, we went down to the beach to watch the fireworks. Redondo is amazing because you can actually see the fireworks from Malibu to Palos Verdes, so we saw 2 shows up close, and a bunch more off in the distance. I headed back to Becky's, and we hung out and chatted for a little while. She and her friend ordered a pizza, but by the time it came, I was securely installed in dream land.