A parade in Plymouth

The idea of getting up at the crack of dawn for any purpose on a holiday weekend would normally be a laughable one for me... but if that purpose happens to be a parade, I'm there! For some reason, the Independence Day parade in Plymouth, Michigan, is at the unspeakable hour of 7:30 a.m., but that wasn't going to stop us once we got the idea of going.

I was wide awake by the end of this spectacle, I can tell you! It was great. I sort of have a thing about parades.
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This particular Fourth of July represented a little something extra for me: I arrived on July 4, 1988, and have now been a permanent resident of these United States for exactly 20 years!