Saturday, July 2, 2011

WDM, IA - Parades for Independence Day

What’s more American than a parade on the 4th of July? Oops, this parade was on the 2nd of July which is my birthday. A parade? For moi? But, just as I say that parades are quintessentially American, my friends in Belgium will tell me that they have parades in Belgium also. But, not on the 4th. That’s our day.

4thofJulyParade-4-2011-07-2-19-47.jpg


Yes, it is Independence Day weekend in West Des Moines and we thought we’d take in the parade. We parked at the end of the parade and began to walk up the route. Our goal was to walk to the end of the parade and then follow it back to our car. Meanwhile, we’d get to see it all, spend more time with the bands, our favorite part and get our daily walk in. And, the people watching is superb. We saw lots of family bar-be-ques along the way with banquet tables set up in driveways so the family can eat as they watch the parade. Others who didn’t live along the parade route just brought their food down to the curb to eat.

4thofJulyParade-28-2011-07-2-19-47.jpg


We saw lots of kids along the route with their bags at the ready for the candy being thrown and a few scrambles for the loose candy.

4thofJulyParade-16-2011-07-2-19-47.jpg



4thofJulyParade-15-2011-07-2-19-47.jpg


We saw several candidates who are running for office next year (have we already started that?) And, what is this character running for? Probably her life.

Paradeonthe4th-2-2011-07-2-19-47.jpg


But, mostly it was just a good time. And, when the street sweeper came, we knew it was the end of the parade and time to turn around to walk back to the car.

4thofJulyParade-30-2011-07-2-19-47.jpg


What we missed in the whole parade was the bands. There were no bands: there were civic organizations, churches, youth groups, businesses, politicians, baton twirlers, etc., but no bands. How can you have a parade without bands?

3 comments:

  1. I've just done a quick QA on your new blog. It seems to load more quickly. I got back to the links on your old trips. I didn't know what I should pick as comment as, so I choose user. I wasn't sure what "Follow by email" meant, so I didn't try it. This is the second time I tried to send a comment. The first time, I got to the security screen to type the "magic" word. There was a handicapped icon, so I clicked it, and my comment went away (I think). I'm trying again--but let me know how the icon works and why. I used to get paid big bucks to review and test software!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, Sherron,
    I thought I'd post a comment so I'll see what you were experiencing. Thanks for taking the time to review and comment.
    How's the weather out there - I'm sure it's much better than our 95 temps with 'oppressive humidity' in the words of the weatherpeople.
    Now, I'm closing so I can see the 'magic' word and then the handicapped icon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nancy--The new blog is great. It loaded instantaneously on my Mac...really like the photos, great color, better size. What a terrific birthday party and nothing like a 4th of July parade in Iowa!

    I did select a profile but none of the choices seemed to fit "blog reader".

    ReplyDelete