Kicking Off the 248th Birthday of the U.S.A.-- Part 1: A Parade

SATURDAY, JUNE 29

This morning, I drove over to Fox Lake, Illinois, for their annual 4th of July parade.  As Chevy Chase sang inn the movie "Vacation,'  "I love a parade."  And this one did not disappoint. Two things that I particularly like about the Fox Lake parade is ease of getting to it and park and the fact they have a first-class sound system at the judges table/mc spot.

And, unlike my village of Spring Grove, they don't close down every road within a five mile radius two hours before the parade.  That has kept me from seeing a lot of our parades.

This year's grand marshal is Chris Johnson, chairman and CEO of the Chicagoland Classic Cinema Corporation which has about 17 theatres and over a hundred screens.  They have a nice one in Fox Lake that I go to quite often.  The seats are all recliners and prices are $8 and less in Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Of course, we had the usual politicians out in force with elections coming up.  Plus, lots of local businesses and even the Grant Township High School Marching Band participated as did a lot of their athletes.  By far, my favorite part of any parade is the marching band.

Lots of candy was given out to the tykes of course.

Also, it is easy get to the parade parking and getting out of there.

A Parade.  An Annual Tradition for Me.  --Road4th

Tastin' & Fiestin'-- Part 4: A Parade and a Storm

SUNDAY, JULY 23

Out on the FB (Front Porch) for breakfast, coffee and the Chicago Tribune.  Then listened to and recorded Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots program on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  Since the drummers of the Yardbirds and Young Rascals have birthdays coming up, he featured the music of those two bands.  They are two of my favorites from the sixties.

We went to McHenry for the Fiesta Days parade, one of the biggest parades in Illinois.  We had quite a walk after parking as the parade also draws a real lot of people.  It was a hot and muggy day, with threat of rain.

We went to the PLAV, Polish Legion of American Veterans, and waited for the parade to begin and slaked our thirst.  Liz decided to stay in the cool PLAV, but I walked the half block down to Veterans Park and watched it.  They even had the McHenry High School Marching Band.  Bands are my favorite part of any parade.

About 20 minutes into the parade, we started getting occasional raindrops which increased in intensity so I went back to the PLAV, arriving just as a downpour began.  This turned into a hail storm.  Sure glad I came back when I did.  It let up and I went back outside and the parade surprisingly was still going.  I watched a little until it started to rain again.  I did this about two more times.

We drove to Half-Times in Johnsburg, where they were having a grand opening party for their new addition.  Hard to beat the $1 draft pints and $4 beef sandwiches with fries.  Last stop was at Sunnyside.

At least I Stayed Dry.  --RoadDog

Northwestern-Iowa Football Game-- Part 4: Backing the Team

One thing I enjoyed is that they have somehow miked the Northwestern Band so it is easy to hear now that they are on our side of the field down at the south end.  Bob's season tickets are towards the north end.  They used to be across the field from us and easy to hear.  It is always better to hear a band than canned music.

Like college and high school students in most games I've been to lately,students remain standing the whole game, something I don't like.  Hey, I paid for a seat and would like to use it.

As i said, there were lots of Iowa Hawkeye fans in the stadium and Bob's tickets are near the visitors section.  We were fairly well surrounded, especially right in front of us.  The Iowa fans always stand on third down, but remain seated fairly well after that.

Third and Ten!!  --RoadDog

Memorial Day 2007

Yesterday, we went to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for the annual Memorial Day parade. We always wait for it at the Main Street Inn, home to some of the best-you-ever-had Bloody Marys for $3. They'd cost about $9 in Lake Geneva. Ray, the bartender is probably one of the best in the business and mixes them all from scratch, something that takes at least twelve steps including mixing. We must have seen him make at least 75 of them in the forty minutes we were there.

We meet and talk with a whole bunch of friends every year. Talked with Rich who owns Shadow Ranch where the huge Country Thunder Festival is held every summer. He also owns a huge hosta nursery in town. Also talked with the Coz Man, Cruz, and Linn.

Of course, my favorite part of any parade are the marching bands. We had four of them. Three were elementary schools (one had two groups), and the excellent Wilmot High School marching band who had just performed the day before at the Indy 500 and made it back for the parade.

One politician was tooling up and down in one of those weird-looking Segways. He was hilarious, and one time was in reverse and "conducting" one of the marching bands. Too bad he's in Wisconsin. I'd probably vote for him.

Of course, there were lots of cheers as the American Legion color guard marched by.

The Route 66 News Blog ran a lengthy list of all the service people who had been killed in Iraq who lived in Route 66 towns. It was very sad to see and very long.

Mighty Proud of Our Valiant People in the Service. --RoadDog