One of the neater things about living where I do is…the City of Renton. It's a small town set in a large urban area and, well, it's neat.
The whole thing is cool. It has that small town atmosphere and, yet, it has the Big City just around the corner. Best of both worlds, really. We go there for our haircuts, to visit the Comic Book Store, and just stroll around. There's a couple of diners we're going to visit, too.
But it was for the Renton River Days Parade that we went for yesterday.
And it was FUN!!
We came onto the parade route by the Veteran's Memorial. There it is, on the left and we're looking across N. 3rd St.
We're at the head of N. 3rd St., looking down towards where the parade will begin. There's my barbershop on the left, Linda's, good $10 haircuts. And just three doors down from a pretty decent Sports Bar. Hmmmmm, works for me!!
Here's another facet of this Small Town Atmosphere that I love. You see the crowds? Large but, really, not bad. Manageable.There were enough people to add to the electricity in the air but not enough to overwhelm you and make you uncomfortable.
Just right for a Dad to walk his toddler before the parade.
Plenty of good places to watch the parade. And the folks were so courteous. Seriously, it was like being in a Emily Post Training Center.
So nice!!!
It was a beautiful day. We've had a lot of them lately. Odd, really, because on July 23rd, we had, in one day, as much rain as we usually get for the entire month!! It's like let's just put all the Bad JuJu in this one day and let the folks enjoy the rest of it.
Works for me!!
And….
Here comes the parade!!
Leading off, the Renton Fire Department with a blast from the Past!!
The motorcycle cops led the way, making noise and showing off!!
Looking good!! Love the sleek design.
And there was…Sparky!!
Oh, and a lot of candy being thrown around. A lot!!
Here comes the Legion.
And, do you see it!?!
Everyone, and I mean everyone, stood and acknowledged the National Colors as they passed.
Now that's Small Town, America.
It felt good, and right.
The VFW and the American Legion were there.
Funny story, this ol' truck…in the Marines we called it a "Six-By", for the six tires it rode on.
In the Army, we called the same truck a, "Deuce and a half" because it weighed two and a half tons.
My point is that Marines and Army use the same equipment and still can't agree on a common term.
"Hmmmm, they call it a Deuce and Half? Then we shall call ours a Six-By. That'll settle their hash!!"
And a shark. Don't ask cuz I don't know why.
It was is all.
Then along came the Mayor and the City Council. No complaints about these politicos inserting themselves in here. It's expected and, really, they haven't done any of the silly stuff the Seattle City council has so they're OK with me.
And the Candy Cotton Guys. They were very persistent and prolific.
The local Mexican Restaurant, Torero's, represented.
They were actually pretty good sounding. Who'da thunk you'd find a Mexican Band up here in the Great American Northwest?
And one of my Favorites, WalMart!!
Well, a WalMart truck. Yeah, that's right. They had one of their big rigs in the parade.
On the plus side, they passed out cold bottles of water and oranges. And I snagged one of each. Thanks, WalMart!!
A local bank was serving up savings and a 56 Chevy BelAir. I think this is the one with the Red Dash from an earlier blog.
And a Mexican Ducky.
Hahaha, I don't know and I don't ask anymore.
But this Ducky was very popular with the kids.
Then came the Pirates. See the guy in front? He's loading the cannon they have and were shooting off on a fairly consistent basis. It was loud. Very loud.
The pirates were a big hit, especially with the kids.
One of our favorites was the old tractor and the two push-carts from the Renton Farmers Market.
Next up was the Renton High School IB World. As near as I can figure from what the woman shouted back at me in response to my question, "What does IB stand for?" is that this is the International Baccalaureate School.
Yeah, I'm confused, too.
And the clowns. They had a lot of clowns. All through the parade.
Then came the regular Renton High School kids. With another Classic Car leading the way.
For this entry, they got the football team out and had them put on their jerseys and walk along the route. Pretty cool, the football kids got to feel like heroes with everyone, i.e. little kids, wanting to shake their hands and be like them.
And the parade continued.
Do you recognize this car? It was at the Classic Car Show. A little chopped down Bug. Leading the way for the Hazen Drill Team.
"Smile, Ladies, and listen to the whistles!! Listen to the whistles!!"
I don't really remember who these folks were representing, but it involves mothers.
Hooah!!
As long as it's not Planned Parenthood.
And a surprisingly good Junior High Band.
With Drum Majors.
"Whew!! It's HOT out here!!"
Fortunately, the parade route was probably under a mile long.
Cuz, it was H*O*T out there!!
Which makes the next picture all the more stranger to explain...
This drill team stopped in front of us to do a skit and at the end, this little girl did a really good flip and splits. On the street. ON THE STREET.
Remember, I said it was hot that day? And she did this ON the street.
She's dedicated is all I can say.
I really like this picture.
See that little guy, way out in front? Leading the pack on his Hot Wheels?
Just truckin' along and leading the pack.
And some more clowns, juggling clowns to be exact.
Working the crowd.
Everyone loves a clown. Except for those who are pathologically afraid of them.
But not these folks.
More yellow on the way. Best of show, actually.
And they had these cool Duck Hats on.
Seriously, I would have paid for one of these. Especially on The Rubber Ducky Derby Day.
So I stopped and asked three different people from this group…"Hi, where'd you get those hats?"
And three times I got a variation of, "I don't know."
Seriously? Idiots. I just really wanted one of those Duck Hats.
: )
Then this band came along. Those bubble machines worked very well.
Oh, and the music wasn't bad, either. Surprisingly, another quality band of the Ol' Small Town variety.
With bubbles. Lots and lots of bubbles.
I bet this was fun for those kids. Riding in an oil drum all painted up and pulled by a small John Deere Tractor.
And MORE Pirates!!
Not as noisy as the first batch.
But they did have a Pirate Shark running around.
AND, a Pirate Dawg.
Careful, he's armed!!
And a drum corps. Again, really good.
You know, if they did away with iPads, Phones, Macs, etc., we could still entertain ourselves with all the home-grown talent it seems every town has.
SELFIE TIME!!
Love the little Selfie Pole. A picture of Carol and I and the parade.
The parade was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Both Carol and I faded out before the parade did and so we made our way back towards the Mini.
And we passed the end of the parade where everyone ends up after the fun. Here are the Pirates letting their hair down after a hard day of Pirating.
We parked over by the Dollar Tree. (Love the Dollar Tree) and so we had to go through Liberty Park to get to where we were parked.
And, so, we had to walk through all the booths and food stalls and art vendors to get back to the Mini. We had to.
Kids love to make noise…just for the sake of making noise.
So this contraption was a HUGE hit. And noisy.
Renton really did it right. They had service groups and companies and what not representing with tents and give-aways and information. It was fun and entertaining.
The only bummer…no frozen bananas.
None.
Bummer.
Plenty of art thingies and other foods. And loads of fun.
After a quick trip to the Dollar Store, (Love the Dollar Store) we realized we were a wee bit hungry.
There's this little Pizza Shop near the Dollar Store (Love the Dollar Store) that I've passed for over six and a half years. Today they had a kid out by the street waving a Pizza Dudes Sign.
OK, a slice of pizza AND a drink were just $3. And the slices were as big as the letters on his sign…which were big, take my word for it.
So we headed to...
And it was true!! Big slices AND a drink for just $3.
Mind you, that one slice was one-quarter of this pizza. In fact, that's what Carol had, the top one here. The cheese pizza.
I had a pepperoni. It was good.
Mmmmmmm…
Walking back through the quaint Renton neighborhood. Love the old neighborhoods. Each house is different, a different character to it. Like this 50s rancher (?)
This was a beauty. Sorry for the fuzziness. Stupid camera.
And, a detail from the same house. Still a stupid camera.
And each house has an established yard. Sometimes with a little extra twist.
Like this one with the six + foot high sunflowers.
Sunflowers kick butt.
Detail of a sunflower.
And the fun didn't end there!!
Oh, no, it was off to the Wiley Post Park, the small park near Lake Washington at the end of the Renton Airfield.
A little shade where you can watch the planes take off and land and the wind come across the lake. Oh, and the Osprey's. Carol saw one dive into the water and come up with a fish for dinner.
Got a shot of a water lily.
And, of course, we had to take time for another selfie. With the Lake in the background.
And I got to watch another seaplane land in the Lake. I love it!! He just comes in and lands in between all the boats and stuff on the Lake.
And, you're welcome. I had about six shots of this amazing phenomena but only put one in this blog.
Hey, watch what you're saying!! I can get all the other ones and put them in here, too.
So we had a good day with a lot of fun stuff going on.
Love the small town. The whole thing. Love the parade and the community spirit. Love the friendliness and the good will.
Love it.
Hooah!!
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