Christmas Parade

Last night was our town's Christmas Parade. Hoffman Hospice had a big entry in which Gus and I were asked to participate. I'm not a parade person and my initial reaction was to just say no, but there was a lot of flattery involved and I found myself talked into it.

On my way to downtown where the parade was taking place I was almost involved in an accident. I was in the number one lane, another car was in the number two lane next to me (on my right), when an idiot came out of a side street directly in front of the car next to me. There were lots of horns honking, tires screeching, and I imagine some not so polite conversation going on. Fortunately there was no contact. But it didn't help my blood pressure any.

As predicted, the downtown area was a total mess. I tried to find a spot somewhere near where I thought the end of the parade was going to be. I wasn't really sure where it was going to end but by this time I was running quite a bit later than the time we were supposed to meet. And I had to walk at least six blocks to the meeting place with Gus and a folding chair through throngs of people.

Finally we got to our spot and I wasn't all too late after all. There was still a good 20 minutes or so before the parade was scheduled to start. When I saw the other four dogs I realized I had forgotten Gus's antlers and I felt bad about that.

Then it was time to get into the pickup truck we were assigned. One lady with her small Havanese rode in the front seat and the other four of us crammed into the bed of the pickup with our chairs and dogs. We had a Briard (Tiger), a shetland sheepdog, a Samoyed, and of course Gus, the Wonder Dog Golden Retriever!

Here's Gus with his new best friend, the Samoyed. (Sorry, I didn't get the others' names.)

Here's the Hoffmann float in front of us. I didn't get a good look at it but I think it involved a big bed and dancing ballerinas. It won the Sweepstakes Award! Good job!

And this is the Hoffmann transport vehicle behind us. It's a converted ambulance.

When I started taking pictures I realized not only had I forgotten Gus's antlers, but I also forgot to put a fresh battery in the camera. That meant I didn't want to leave the camera on while I fiddled with the settings. A lot of my pictures turned out like this.

Getting in line and getting under way.

Approaching the television area. It was extremely brightly lit, so that helped out with my camera woes.

Passing by the Bakersfield College Weill Institute.
From 21st Street looking north on Chester Avenue. (This is with the flash.)
(This is without the flash.)
And looking just the other way, south on Chester Avenue.

One thing I learned was that being IN a parade is a lot better than WORKING a parade! It only took us about 30 minutes from the beginning to the end, whereas working a parade takes anywhere from 3 - 4 hours or more, depending on the amount of entries.

When we got to the end of the route I was extremely pleased to see my car parked about a half block away.

I didn't stick around to see Santa. I know, I know, bah humbug.