We’ve been to fireworks shows before. We’ve done Fort Vancouver and Tom McCall Waterfront Park. We’ve been around the block. But this year was something special.

This is part of our 100 Things in 2017 challenge. Here’s the full list. Click on the photos for a closer look!

A few months ago we got invited to a fourth-of-July party at Lucy’s friend Ruby’s house. We tentatively accepted, and then started hearing murmurs about how great this party always is. Some people arranged their summer travel around it.

As we pulled into the property we noticed a few piles of boxes out on the lawn. I thought, “whoa, that’s a lot of fireworks.” Then we got to partying; hamburgers and sodas and face paint and friends. But the clues kept on mounting about the fireworks show.

Then it turned dark. And the music started playing. And Ruby’s dad came out, brandishing arm-mounted rocket launchers, and lit up the sky. It’s a moment I won’t soon forget.

Yeah. It turns out he’s been doing this for more than ten years, and he must have some special permit or something, because the show he put on was big. He had professional gear to light them off, he had mortars pointed in all directions, and it must have lasted for 30 minutes. We drove home shellshocked.

We hope we get invited back. We’ll arrange our summer travel around it.