I Love a Parade

Hey all! Thanksgiving was lovely. All went well at the ex's. We had a delicious dinner, I drank lots of vodka and I was very nice. We got there a little after 3 and left around 7:30 so it was just about the right amount of time. Had to get home to watch Ugly Betty and Grey's. I thought Betty was really sweet last night. For all the hype, I thought Grey's was a little dissapointing. So, after filling my gut all day with food and booze, I wasn't sure I would be able to crawl out of bed and go to Portland's Macy's Holiday Parade, but I was wide awake at 8:15 and ready to hit it. Luckily, I didn't listen to the weatherman as I was heading out the door. He said it would be spotty rain, but it was pouring. Steady, Downpour, Nasty. So, I did my best to get some fun shots, but it's always tricky holding the umbrella, trying not to shake and getting a good shot before your subject streaks by. But, here we go:

This PT Cruiser club was fun! They all had inflatables on the roof.

I felt bad for the bands. They were getting soaked! Of course, I used to march in the Christmas City of the North parade in Duluth, Minnesota when I was in high school. Some years your lips would start to freeze to your horn. No joke.

This was the first year our parade was sponsored by Macys. They recently bought out our local chain of department stores, Meier and Frank. As this was the first time I was able to go to the parade, I can't tell you if it was better or not. The one thing about parades in Portland is that they don't keep them together very well. There are a lot of times when there are 3-5 block gaps in between the action.

This was my favorite float - they had mostly just small balloon-like things, but this one was nice. It had snow flying around it and everything.

Penguin Attack! Run!!! Run!!!

Apparently, this penguin had too much vodka, too.

Rudolph actually has a drinking problem, thus the red nose. Hopefully Santa can talk him into Betty Ford.

Oh my Gosh! Here He Comes!

The Man of the Hour! I missed him the first time around and had to run a few blocks up to get a good shot of the Jolly 'ol elf. Well, that's it for now. The tree lighting is coming up at 5:30. TJ is home from retail-hell now, so he's going to take a nap and I'll bring you the highlights from that later!