For the 4th of July, we visited PJ in the morning, then walked across the GW Bridge to NJ, for a picnic at a Revolutionary War site. Above is a shot of Reagan on the GW Bridge, standing beneath the “largest free-flying American flag in the world; 90 feet (27 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) wide, the flag weighs 450 pounds (200 kg),” according to Wikipedia. The shot above doesn’t really allow for proper reference.

The shot below is looking back at NYC from the historic Ft. Lee battery.

Here is a shot of the flag after dark, from the Manhattan side. The shot below gives a better idea of how large the flag actually is.

And finally,  another one of these shots. This time, with the towers lit up for the holiday.

One of the great things about going to Newport for the weekend, is that it was very convenient to visit Piper on the way to and from RI. When we hung out with her today, Reagan dressed PJ all up in some patriotic colored garb. She was being super cute. We talked to the nurse for a bit, when we first arrived, and were pleased to discover that Piper did 3 hours on trache collar today. Oddly enough, Reagan and I were discussing that exact topic during our drive. We both thought that it was high time that Piper was back on a trache collar schedule. Beyond that, Piper was in a swimmingly great mood, despite the fact that we woke her up when we arrived. She generally doesn’t deal with that very well. I guess that she missed us as much as we missed her (or so I like to think).

^—some patriotic goofing off.

^—being as cute as possible.

More photos here.

We are pretty amped to have two road trips back to back. The firm is closed Friday, in observation of the day that Jesus first set off fireworks. Sorry for the sacrelig’. It was something funny that Reagan once overheard a Long Islander saying, and we have joked about it ever since. Anyway, we are off to Newport, RI for the weekend. We shall be spending Independence Day with our good friends the Truscotts. The weather forecast currently calls for patchy rain. But, we can always hope. I took the photo above, right before we got on the road last weekend, and that was pretty much the only time that we saw rain the whole weekend. Fingers crossed, we will have more of the same luck. I’m guessing that the blogging will be pretty sparse between now and Monday. So, have a happy and safe 4th of July.

I seriously can’t believe that it is July 2009. I guess part of it is likely due to the fact that May and June were just one large rainy blob. This year, NYC missed the June rainfall record by 1/4 of an inch. Now, get ready for a bunch of randomness.

Today is also Canada Day. Isn’t it funny that Canada Day shares the same month as USA’s Independence Day? Also, the Declaration of Independence was actually finalized and executed on the 7th of July, not the 4th (according to historical facts compiled by David McCullough).

Last random blurb, for today: In GQ, this month (the one with Sascha Baron Cohen on the cover), there is this awesome article about NASA. The last I heard about NASA, Dubya wanted to go to the moon again, and eventually to Mars. Then I heard about Obama drastically cutting NASA funding, and I assumed that nothing was to come of the future lunar or martian trips. Welllll, I was wrong.

Did you realize that the shuttle flights are set to be phased out next year, and for the next 5 years after, Americans will be carted into space by the Russians? I had no idea. I also learned that The guy who got us to the moon under Kennedy, was the same guy who developed the Nazi v-2 Rocket in WWII (which helped the Nazis pulverize residential London). What!!??

As far as the future plans for lunar, and eventually martian landing go, things are in full swing. The rocket that will carry the astronauts is called the Constellation. The logo for the ship has been commissioned to the guy who did the design for the Star Trek the Next Generation logo (no joke).

This whole article made me wish that I would have studied harder in school, and wish that I didn’t have such an aversion to math. If you have a nerdy bone in your body, I strongly suggest that you check out this article.