Paraaaade!

This will be a blog post in two parts: before and after the Cactus Parade:

BEFORE

Remember this card?

Well, it's parade time! With any luck I can skedaddle away from the Hamilton Cycling Club event I'm running tonight to catch the last few floats. I tried to tell them that traffic would be impossible in town tonight and that we should postpone but they were adamant!

We're trying to talk the boy into joining the Dundas Works! float with a "I want to walk to school" sign but he's a *little* resistant to the idea. It seems he's a little on the shy side. We'll see how it goes.

We're off to pre-school and then the farmer's market!

AFTER

Because of this (my favourite ride ever):

The Sizzler (aka the Zipper)

The market had to move over here, behind Cafe Domestique:

Change of venue

The weather was almost autumnal and it seemed odd to be buying strawberries and peaches but we soldiered on dutifully. We also picked up the last smoked trout of the season and a couple more bottles from Flat Rock Cellars.

From there, we scurried home for a quick dinner by the light of the microwave and zipped back out. I managed to wrap up the Club event quickly (surprisingly, people were finding it difficult to drive in Dundas... um, I told you so?).

Happily, there was still plenty of parade left to see by the time I got there. Check out just a few of my blurry pictures:

This band was huge and SO LOUD! 

Awesome Model T 

I <3 the Shriner carts!

Domestique precision bike squad

As you can see, it was a hoot and I hope you had a chance to take it in. We saw tons of people we knew. The interesting part was that a lot of them we knew in different contexts (soccer, cycling, trail building, pre-school...) and they all knew each other some how! I love that about Dundas.

More than any other event through the year, the Cactus Parade is where Dundas really shines! Bring on the Festival!