Parade Time Again!

How fun to be in a parade! The little kids are SO excited and happy -- it is contagious :)

But let me back up and share the adventure getting to the parade! My brace cart was modified by a hospice colleague's husband so I stopped by the hospice office to pick it up on the way to Hamilton, which is the county seat and site of the Fair Parade.

We loaded the cart -- which is quite heavy -- into the back of Trusty Rusty, my old pick-up. I would have used the van but Galen needed to go to class at the university and he is scared to drive Trusty Rusty, who has a -- gasp -- clutch!!!! So, this is all Galen's fault.

Off we went, down Highway 93 towards Hamilton, when suddenly I heard a noise and looked in the rearview mirror only to see -- as if in slow motion -- my cart doing a cartwheel (appropriately enough, I suppose) out of the truck and onto the road!!!! Holy Heart Attack!!!!!!!

I pulled over in a panic and raced back to see whether my cart was reduced to toothpicks and it just so happened that the person behind me -- who saw the whole thing and luckily wasn't tailgating -- was one of the three people I know in the county (okay, I know a few more than three people but not many more).

She helped me pick up the cart and get it off the highway, where we assessed for damage. If the cart were a mountain biker, she would be proudly sporting some lovely road rash -- and a cracked bone -- but amazingly the cart seemed relatively okay!! Those Wilczek carts are VERY well made!!! (http://www.wilczekwoodworks.com/)

So, back to our story -- we got the cart in the truck and TIED IT DOWN. Who knew such a heavy thing could fly so well?! We made it -- going very slowly -- to the appointed meeting point where we further assessed for damage, but other than a couple of loose screws it seemed fine -- and who doesn't have a few of those?!

So the cart decoration committee (i.e., Sherri) got to work and soon we had ourselves a float of sorts. Loaded with the ice chests filled with Otter Pops and hitched to our mother-daughter dog team we were ready to roll.

Parades involve lots of sitting around and waiting, and then frantic activity through town where the streets are filled with horse poop, candy, and kids -- sometimes all mixed together! The sitting around part is great for visiting, and the dogs had quite a few unusual visitors.

I took this picture with my phone so not a great picture, but you can get the idea :)



Pretty soon along came the mascot for the University of Montana football team. Now, remember that Montana does not have a professional sports team and so the U of M Grizzly football team is as close to the NFL as we get, and the fans are RABID. Monte, the mascot, is therefore a celebrity but took the time to meet the girls, who were no doubt wondering if the Easter Bunny was next!







We had a great time and I will leave you with this cute shot of Cadi and a reminder that life is really just like one long parade -- mishaps, sitting around, and frantic activity -- so enjoy!