Fourth of July

During our recent trip to NorCal, Matt kept reminding me to "find joy in the journey" and I'd say that part of my joy was on the Fourth of July. We headed up to my hometown, Fairfield, on Sunday night and got to spend the Fourth of July with my fam.

Mom, Bo, Jayla and I went to the annual Fairfield Fourth of July parade to watch Dad march with the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). The parade was always a wonderful tradition for my family. Dad started out in the parade when I was in high school dressing up as James Brown and then Elvis Presley and dancing around in the parade. Now he has taken to marching with the veterans. It's probably a little more fitting for him seeing as how a white James Brown just felt a little wrong.

The parade was a little light this year more than I remember but it was still great to be able to come back and be reminded of how much culture is in Fairfield. There were groups of all of shapes and sizes and everyone was just happy to celebrate the diversity.

Downtown Fairfield during the parade

Dad, on the end. I kept trying to make him laugh including yelling that his fly was down. He takes his march very seriously.

The VFW (best part about it is that they were right behind the Disabled Veterans float).

After the parade, Mom, Dad, Bo, Matt and I all decided to drive out to Suisun Valley and hit up some fruit stands. I love driving out in the country especially since a couple of vineyards/wineries have been built in the last few years. Not that I drink but they were just beautiful to look at and it really dresses up our little hometown.

We only found one little fruit stand/bakery open but we had a wonderful time driving around all packed in one car.

We got some great treats at this little bakery, which I had never noticed, including some homemade peaches and cream ice cream.

The little bakery we found

Larry's Produce, the fruit stand we were hoping would be open

One of the vineyards in Suisun

One of the new homes built at one of the newer Suisun vineyard

We ended the night with a wonderful homecooked meal and by watching the fireworks show. 

I really felt like this was a nice reminder that Fairfield was not the hick, boring town I thought it was when I moved away. It's actually quite pretty with so much diversity. Though don't get me wrong, I won't be moving back anytime soon.