Our July 4 holiday fell on a Thursday this year, so a lot of folks made a four-day weekend out of it. That left plenty of time to get together with friends and family and to enjoy the outdoors at places like the beach at Negro Bar State Park, soaking in the sun, swimming, chowing down on barbecue and other picnic fare. I can tell that a lot of people had fun celebrating Independence Day along the shores of Lake Natoma, because I stumbled upon the after party, early on Sunday morning.