Stampede Parade 2011...

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Headed dt yesterday at 5:45... AM... got up at 4... AM!..  Work peep Cass and I headed down together... it was my first Stampede Parade...

...my iphone self portraiture is severely lacking... sorry Cass!..

We went to get shots of the float that our company designed... and fabricated... and that I PM'd...

We got there early an got a second row sidewalk seat... some people had stayed downtown all night to get a front row... the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were going to be opening the parade...

...for the fist two hours we were dt we just watched morning commuters heading to work...  ...we were close to a street corner so I got to get a few shots as people were stopped at the lights... ...click on the shot above and check out the bling on that chicks phone... amazing...

Then there was this cowboy... total mountain man cowboy... his truck look like it had been sprayed with something... some sort of dirt film... see the scraper marks and writing on his window... thats not frost!..

...of course cowboy boots everywhere!..

...and hats...

...unfortunately for the people who had spent the night on the sidewalk waiting to see the Royals they drove by faster than the fighter jets flew overhead to open the parade!.. 

...AND you could hardly see them!.. probably for safety reasons... I think everyone expected to see them in a horse drawn carriage... or chuck wagon... they could have at least used a pope mobile!..

...I got a few shots of the bands and parade participants... lots of horses... those photos all seem to start to look the same after the first few shots...

...this old guy who squeezed his little stool into the front row of the sidewalk was very impatient for the start of the parade... he would get up every few minutes and peer down the street!.. we were very close to the beginning of the parade route...

...this WOWED the crowd... it stopped and let out a big MOO!.. its horns were huge... he did a dainty circle and then continued on!.. The rider must have had to use a 10ft ladder to get up on top of that thing!..

...cowboys like vintage cars...

...and Locs!?.

Here she is!.. what a little beauty!  She won second place in the municipality entry category...

...side view...

After we took our shots we hightailed it up and out of downtown... the C Train back to Chinook Station where we had parked was PACKED... it's a good thing that we left early or I wound't have made it back to work...

A BIG thank you to Diane... who we met at the Parade... she gave us her seats so that we could get shots of the float!.. and she also took this shot of us!..  Thanks Diane!..

Yikes... thank eff I have an appointment to get my hair did next Saturday!.. look at them bangs!.. yikes!.. 

Now for some chill out weekend time... I can't believe its 1pm now and I'm still in my comfy clothes... I've been editing photos... emailing... chatting with friends... started the towels in the wash... packed up and turned on the dishwasher... ate some toast and had two cups of peppermint tea with honey... and mixed up a batch of that and tossed it in the fridge for iced tea later... fingers crossed that works out!.. 

What are you getting up to this weekend!?.

xo

Lacey