Being from Canada, I find Independence Day celebrations quite fascinating. In particular, I love seeing the fireworks. The laws for these differ from state to state, and I’ve seen some of the more open ones.
Heading to the US for the 4th of July
In 2022 we finally made it down to the US from Canada. This was our first time being out of the country since COVID began. We were to visit family we had not seen in over 4 years. For this trip, we chose to visit over the 4th of July.
A Stop in Hardin
Our trip started on July 1st which is Canada Day where I’m from. The trip would take us 17 hours to go from Alberta to Wyoming. Along the way, we would stop in a small town, on an Indian reserve in Montana, called Hardin. Hardin is a small place but they have a huge fireworks store. The store has a large and tall fireworks sign that is hard to miss. It is visible from the highway well before the turnoff. The building itself is a permanent structure and has a red pointed roof. The place is dedicated to fireworks and it was packed from floor to ceiling with all manner of explosives.
Finding that Special Firework
It was at this shop that I found some special fireworks for our participation in the 4th of July festivities. I found a corner of the store that had fireworks with plain packaging. The options were simply labelled “A”, “B”, and “C” with a short description of what each would do. The packaging was black and white which was what originally attracted me to the product. I like it when companies spend more on their content than they do on the packaging. I felt this was the option for me so I put the box labelled “A” in my basket and headed to the checkout.
The Day is Here
July 4th finally arrives and my brother and I spend the first part of the day on a motorcycle ride. We arrive back home in the early afternoon and prepared for the evening’s festivities. We clean up, grab some supper, and grab our large bag of explosives. We’re ready for our July 4th evening fun.
Destination, Glenrock
We started in the City of Casper, Wyoming which has a restrictive policy when it comes to fireworks. The area is quite dry so fireworks are not allowed within the city limits. All hope was not lost though because a mere half-hour drive to the east would take us to the town of Glenrock where they were specifically set up for all us pyromaniacs.
A Place for Eager Arsonists
For the July 4th festivities Glenrock has set up a special place for all us eager arsonists. They had taken their baseball fields and converted them into launch zones. There were multiple stations set up where families can enter the protected area and set up with everything they’ve brought. They had industrial trash bins set up for all the spent debris and an army of volunteers helping to guide, clean up, and sell almost anything you would need. There was also a large group of firefighters on location to make sure nothing started on fire. This was all available for a mere $10 per vehicle entry fee.
Oh, the Mosquitos
As we drove to the site we were curious about the station devoted to selling mosquito repellent. We questioned how bad it could really be given all the sulphur smoke and loud noises. We quickly discovered that mosquitos seem to love this environment. My sister-in-law couldn’t run back to the truck fast enough to gather change for one of these magical bug-repellent canisters. I think she would have sold an organ to make up the difference if she had been short on change. All I can say is “Thank you” to her for making that purchase. I haven’t seen mosquitos that bad in quite a long time.
Once everyone was lathered up with high levels of Deet we were ready to make things explode. We had young kids with us so we arrived at this event early. It was still light out but we had prepared for this. We had purchased some special 16-shot tubes that leave a trail of coloured smoke as they launch. This was a highlight for the kids and we even had other families approach us asking where we purchased them.
Daytime Appropriate Fireworks
We fired off a wide variety of fireworks that were well accustomed for the time of day. We saw many other families doing the same thing. A popular purchase for this early crowd was one that would shoot up into the air and explode, and then you would see a small paratrooper floating back down to the ground. Of course, these were done with the youngest kids present so the festivities would periodically be put on hold as an adult would take a small child by the hand into the field to retrieve their precious toy.
We had brought several different types of sparklers which were a hit for the younger ones. They would dance around the ball diamonds waving their sparklers around. It was like a scene straight out of the movies where you watch the young kids jump around completely engrossed in their personal stick of spitting fire.
As it got darker, the real crowds started to come. There were huge lineups with people carrying armfuls of fireworks. It was obvious that people had spent thousands of dollars on things that would literally be going up in smoke. The darker it got, the more impressive the display. Imagine being at a fireworks show where everything gets set off at once in a huge burst, and then it happens again and again for hours.
The “Artillery Shell”
We had brought a couple of the “artillery shell” style fireworks. These were the types where they are made up of a ball or cylinder and have a long fuse attached to them. You drop them into a mortar tube, light the fuse, and then run. The first of these were small balls that my son had bought. He lit one and it shot up into the air with an explosion of colour. It was quite impressive.
Time for my Special Purchase
I brought out the other ones which were the box labelled “A”. The firework was a cylinder approximately 4 inches in length and had a fuse about 12 inches long. It was about 3 times bigger than the ones my son had just fired off. We were excited to finally give these a try.
I dropped the cylinder into the mortar tube. The mortar tube itself was fibreglass and much more reinforced than the cardboard ones we had been using for some of the others. I lit the fuse and ran. The firework did not disappoint. It fired high into the air with a dim stream of flame making it easy to know where it would go off. It exploded in the air with a brilliant array of colours and boomed throughout the park. There was applause around us shortly afterward as adults and children alike were suddenly awakened to the new class of explosives in their presence. Both me and my brother’s faces light up as though we were teenagers once again. We giggle as my brother asks, “Can I try one?”.
Time to Enjoy the Show
We weren’t the only ones with this class of fireworks in the place but we were one of the first. As the evening progressed the display became more and more impressive. We were amazed at the light show going on before our eyes, and we were right in the action. It’s one thing to view fireworks from the safety provided by distance. It’s quite another to be right in the middle of things, never knowing when or where the next explosion is going to come from.
Tired and Ready to Head Back
The children were getting tired and noticeably irritable so we decided it was time to head out. We passed several vehicles filled with people and fireworks who were just arriving. It was apparent these festivities were going to go on well into the night.
As we drove away we could see the impressive display in the distance. It was quite a while before we could no longer see the show. It was an exciting night—one to remember and hopefully repeat again in the future.