Parading Around Victoria

Parade Day at last!  After more hours than we want to count, the float was deemed complete around 2:30 Saturday afternoon.  That was good since we had plans to all load onto the float and drive it over to the staging area at 3:30pm. 

Erik and Mark making sure the sound system works before we leave the park.  He blasted Christmas music throughout the parade route.

Since the parade didn't officially start until 6:00pm, everyone spends the 2 1/2 hours beforehand putting the finishing touches on their floats, and then walking around looking at all the other ones. 

These two cars have every imaginable piece of crap glued onto them.  Everything - buttons, shells, silverware, musical instruments, pearls, beads, animals, lights, skulls, etc.  They usually sit inside a building downtown; it was nice to see them up close.

The Lazy Longhorn RV Park float - "Camping and Christmas Brings Families Together"

Our float had a tent, four chairs around a campfire, a Christmas tree, and lots of lights.  Tania, Pam, Linda, and I sat in the chairs around the fire.  The fire was very hot, especially since it was still 75 degrees at parade time.  Erika sat inside the tent; Gene drove the truck while Mike rode inside with him, yelling Merry Christmas over the loud speaker.  Bringing up the rear was the very popular mini-Winnebago golf cart, driven by Erik and Mark.

Note, there are no windows in this thing.  They could only see right in front of them.  This did not stop those two from driving all around the float if they had the space to do so.  The parade was televised live on TV last night.  When Erik and Mark got in front of the camera, they did about five 360s in the street, gaining laughs and cheers from everyone in the crowd.

Yes, that's a sewer hose coming out the back of the mini-Winnie.  Fortunately the guys didn't have to use it.  What you can't see is the beer up front.  Not sure what the penguin was all about, but Mark said that it saved them when the parade was over.  They rode the cart down the roads back into the park.  The penguin and Christmas lights were the only lights they had since the cart has no headlights.

Since this was our first Victoria Christmas Parade, we weren't sure what to expect.  We were pleasantly surprised.  This event is huge in this town.  This morning's paper estimated the crowd to be between 20,000 and 30,000 viewers.  It was a lot more fun than we expected.  We were worried about the waiting time before the parade started, but Tania had packed food and we also had coolers full of adult beverages.  The only bad part about being in a parade - you don't get to see the parade!  There were over 150 entries (floats, marching bands, etc.) in the parade.  Unfortunately, our float didn't win any awards.  Judging from the claps, cheers, and laughs from the crowd, the golf cart was the hit.  Erik and Mark are already deciding how to make it better for next year.