WE DID THE PARADE TODAY, AT LEAST WE TRIED.......!!!!

We got up about 2:30am, had to feed the 6 donkeys going to the parade and fix breakfast for Doug to feed the others.  We left them in the pens overnight, so we wouldn't have to round them up.  Needless to say, last night by 9:30pm they figured out they were being abused and started complaining.  Thru out the night they would let us know they weren't happy.  Actually the 6 going to the parade got a breakfast of hay pellets, which they really enjoyed, and Doug fed the others when it got daylight and then let them out, so that made them happy.  

Everyone loaded easy and off we went, with 2 pick-ups and 2 stock trailers with 3 donkeys in each one.  About 4 miles up the road the alternator went out on Lynn's pick-up and quit.  John took Lynn home to pick-up their other pick-up, unhooked the stock trailer, hooked up to the new pick-up and off we went.  Georgette and Dave live in Tucson and went out to the "gathering" area to figure out a good place to park 2 rigs, so they could tell us where to go.  

Got there and they'd picked a spot on a side road, but we looked around and found what looked like a perfect spot so we moved.  

As you get older your values change and things you use to not pay much attention to, become more important.  Couldn't get much closer..........LOL

We got there about 3 hours before the parade was to start and the time really passed quickly, what with getting our outfits on and getting the donkeys ready.

There were about 120 entries in the parade, so we didn't all start the parade at 9am.  They had us lined up on 4 side streets, with about 30 entries on each street to funnel into the parade route.  They really had it pretty organized, once we got moving.

 Justin, me, BlackJack and John waiting for the action to start

We had plans for BlackJack leading, Turbo and Leddy in the 2nd row with their pack saddles on.  Third row was suppose to be Justin, Quilla and Leo with his pack saddle.  Leo prefers to follow Turbo, so we made sure he could.  By the time we got to the starting line, we had no lines and pretty soon Leo was outdistancing BlackJack.  Pretty soon everyone except little Justin was ahead of BJ and I.

BlackJack has always like to just mosy, very rarely do you see him move any faster than a slow walk.  Today was no exception.  LOL

Georgette with Quilla.  Georgette does competition shooting in costume as a hobby and furnished all the clothes for Linda and I.  She has a lot of old timey clothes that are really fun to play with.

 

About half way thru the parade, John's hip started bothering him, and said he didn't think he'd make it.  They had turn outs, where you could slip out of the parade if needed, so he took the next turn out.  Unfortunately the others followed him and I thought they knew where they were going, so I went with them.  One of the marshalls asked if we were quitting, I said no, turned around and headed back to the parade.  I figured the others would turn around except for John, but they didn't.  There was a breakdown in communications between them and some of the marshalls.  I might as well went with them, about 2 blocks down the street, BlackJack decided he had it, and started behaving like a donkey......!!  Wouldn't move......of course by this time we're too far from the turnout to back track, so I just stayed by the road.  Had dozens of kids come up to pet BlackJack, which he loved.  Earlier he had been trying to get to the people along the parade route. he's a big ham and likes to work the crowd.

Georgette's husband Dave, with Leddy his parade partner

As the parade was winding down, I backtracked back to the turn out road which  went right to where we were parked.  Got there and Lynn had gone out on foot looking for me. 

Lynn and Justin before the parade started

He finally came back after going almost to the airport looking for me.  He was wearing John's boots that make John's feet hurt.  Now Lynn has big blisters on his feet.  They all love the way the boots look, but for some reason they are really hard on feet.  In fact Dave that was in the parade with us, gave them to John originally, because they hurt his feet.  John's had them stretched, insoles you name it and they still are a challenge.  

It was fun, not near as hectic as I expected it to be.  We might try it again next year, John can come but I think BlackJack will stay home.  LOL He does OK on the short parades, like the one in Tombstone next month.  But this one was almost 4 miles long and he decided that was too long I guess.

Linda and Leddy ready to "parade"

Got home, they all came out of the trailers like they'd been in prison.  Lynn and Linda picked up their pickup on the side of the road and we've all been sitting around like zombies, impatiently waiting for bed time.  LOL

Our next adventure will be this Saturday, John and I will take the race car out to the asphalt track for practice.  Glad tomorrow is Friday, I'd say it will be a day of rest, but I doubt it.......!! :-)