Yankee Doodle Betsy...

Yankee Doodle Betsy

I originally wrote this on the 5th but forgot to post it here.

I know Im a few days late and a few dollars short on this post. I was so exhausted last night that I passed out about midnight. Thats a tad early for me. And I do mean passed out. Just think, I didnt even drink. Speaking of which, Christy and I were just talking about that. Coconut rum pina coladas. She said to bring the big ass straws and I said that we need spoons because Im eatting that like a snowcone. We can do that while eatting frozen strawberries and frozen chocolate covered bananas. He he he.

But this post has nothing to do with all that. Although it would have been nice to have done. This post is about how I spent the 4th of July. I guess we do the simple and traditional goodies. BBQ and fireworks at the camp. This year there were a few exceptions. One major one was that Mother Nature thought it was Monsoon Season. It rained. It rained again. And yet again. There was no break in it. Well except in the morning. It held off for the Annual Golf Cart Parade.

Yes, the Annual Golf Cart Parade. Bet you dont get to see this every day? Neither do we because it only happens once a year. And trust me, thats more than enough. Let me give you some back story here first. We have a camp in a huge park. Its a long walk to get anywhere so we have a golf cart to get around. Ok so we dont have one, we have three. One for Mouse, one for mom and one that stays at Mouse's old trailer for his family to use.

There are alot of campers here that use golf carts to get around. Some are really cool. There is one couple that have the most notable ones. He has one set up like M*A*S*H* and she has hers all done up like The Beatles. Mouse has his done up as the LA Dodgers. I take credit for that one as I did all the painting by hand. He he he.

Well every year for the 4th of July, there is a theme set and everyone decorates their carts. They then have a parade around the grounds. Its alot of fun and very creative. This years theme was The Flag. So you can bet that there was alot of flags used for this. Mom and Mouse took first place last year with their cart done as Fallen Heros. They towed the trailer with two flag draped coffins and all the wars were listed. It was a really nice tribute. This year, they wanted to do something even more.

Those of you that know Mouse, know that he has a twisted sense of humor. You never know when he is joking or serious. But chances are he is joking. Hes great for teasing. But this year the gig was up when he decided what he wanted for the parade. I didnt think they would do it but they did. Good thing that my mom has a great sense of humor or none of this would have happened. Ok, it would have happened but I'll be damned that I would have liked doing it.

They wanted to do the flag theme dedicated to the creator of the flag. Not too shabby of an idea if you ask me. But how will we do this? The simple way would have been to decorate the cart and have mom dress up as Betsy Ross. Sounds good huh? But then this light bulb goes off above Mouse's head. I swear that it was a 100 watter too. Glowed so bright that I had to put on my shades. I think I would havebeen better off with Willy Wonkas goggles.

So here is the deal. Its the 4th of July at 9am. We are flying down the thruway to make it to the camp at 10am. Thats when the parade was supposed to start. Cami was to ride with them and she was very excited about this. As we are going, shes constantly asking if we are there yet. Is this some kind of cruel thing that is implanted into all kids? Are we there yet? No. Soon? Almost. How soon? As soon as you shut up. Silence..... I shut up and we still arent there yet. How many more miles? Good thing I had a CD in the truck that she likes. That went on. Really loud. He he he. For the rest of the trip, I heard her singing at the top of her lungs. That was amusing enough for me.

We pulled into the camp at abut 9:55am. Ok, we have 5 minutes to find them. We drove to the campsite and they arent there. Neither are the two carts. Hmmmm.... Now why would they have two carts? What is he up to? So we drove to his site and saw the Dodgers cart there and the other old one under a tarp. But the trailer was missing. No one is there either. So we drove back around to the front. Nope. Not here either. I asked where the parade was going to begin and they said that it would start running up in the Pines area. So off we go.

I cruise up into the Pines and I still didnt see them. I saw a few people putting their carts together but not them. I looped up to where they have the hidden horseshoe pits thinking they were up in there hiding while decorating. Mouse is known to do this so that no one steals his ideas. Nope. They are not there either. Its now about 10:10. I cant miss this because I have a kid in the back that is getting really upset that she wont be able to be in the parade.

I looped back around to the site and ran into the lady that takes the pictures for the newsletter. She hasnt seen them either. Well that helps alot. But I did see the trailer that will be used for the war vets. A few of the guys were getting that all ready to go and I asked them. They said that mom and Mouse are up in the Pines. I said I was just up in there. They shrugged and started to pull the trailer out. I thought, well they are going to be in the parade. Im following them up and that way Cami will be able to find mom and the cart. Good thinking huh?

Well it worked and we found them. Up in the Pines area. Duh. I went left to the pits. If I had gone right, I would have seen them. We pulled up and I nearly lost my bladder. I couldnt help it. What an awesome float. They had two trailers set up. One being towed by the other. The first one obviously being towed by the cart. The cart was all decorated nice with some flags and the cutest ballons. They were heart shaped and clear in the front with the flag printed in the back. Inside was a teddy bear. When you shook them, white feathers flew around like a snow globe. But some feathers caught the bears nose and we couldnt get them off. Oops. But all it all, it was cute. So he had a mustache that looked like Uncle Sam. Yeah, we will go with that excuse.

Now the back trailer is a tiny one. A little longer than a standard shopping cart. So Mouse rigged this up with Clyde. Oh, you havent met Clyde. Clyde is half a man. Literally. He is the top half of a mannequin. He has a head and a full chest but thats all. No arms. But he also has a scowl on his face. Mom gave him some color last week. She painted his hair brown and his eyes blue. Now he looks like a pissed of half a Ken doll. Just life sized. Mouse said that all he needs is Barbie. Yeah that might change things. *rolls eyes* Hes still only half a man. What good would that do? Not like he is anatomically correct. What could Barbie possibly do?

Well anywho, they had him all dressed in Army clothing. He was strapped to a chair with a board. At the ends of the board were two bicycle tires. This was to look like a wheelchair. Brilliant idea. He was all draped in flags to hide the screws. So here we have the injured war hero. We could have used him last year.

But the best is yet to come. Now we have the big trailer. This was all draped in flags and on one side in the back we have Uncle Sam. On the other side we have a large wooden bald eagle. The standard symbols of the USA. Not too bad. But in the middle of all these flags and platforms was something that nearly threw me for a loop. There sat a rocking chair. And in the rocking chair was my mom. All draped in crocheted blankets and wearing a bonnet. Hahahahahaha. You have got to be kidding me. On her lap was a flag and she had her glasses down on her nose. She was pretending to be sewing the flag while rocking back and forth in her chair. Oh this is too much. Now Im thinking, how in the hell will she be going up and down the hills in the park while rocking in this chair in the back of a trailer? Im highly amused.

So shes sitting there laughing and having a great time. I told her to watch for the pot holes. Yeah, there are alot of them too. She said she was ok because she was sitting on a cushion. If I didnt know these two better, I would have thought of a future Darwin. But Mouse was smart and anchored the rocking chair in so that mom doesnt fall out. Yeah, that makes me feel a little better. Not.

So everyone is lining up and she asks me to get her smokes out of the cart for her. I handed her the pack and told her to put them between her legs so that she knows where they are. She light one up and finishes it before everyone else got there. Its now 10:30 and Ms. Ross is ready to ride. Mouse and Cami get in the front of the cart and turn on the music. They are playing Toby Keith. I jumped in the truck and headed back to the campsite so that I may use the bathroom before they reach the Green Area.

Im there waiting and waiting. Finally I hear the music and get into position to take some pictures. The first cart comes around the bend and its the lady that has the trailer down the hill behind us. She stops and waits for everyone to catch up and also asks me where Cami was. I told her that shes on the cart with Mouse. So she looks at me and throws candy at me to give to her. Ummmm.... It all lands on the ground all over. They are the chocolate coins so they are wrapped. How funny is that? I could have walked over and taken them from her. Hahahaha.

So then up comes the rest of the carts and in the middle of them is the Vet trailer with Uncle Ray. Hes a WW2 Vet. One of the best guys you will ever meet. He is really close to us. So he waved for a few pictures. Then a couple more carts and I see Mouse coming up the hill. Cami is waving and having a great time. I took some pictures and then they go past so I can take some of mom too. She yells out to me that they hit a bump and her pack of smokes went flying. So I told her she should have had a better grip one them. She laughed because they were in between her legs.

So the parade passes and I hopped back in the truck to make it up to the Rec Hall before they did so I could watch the judging. I ended up following them up there. I parked and they went around the park one more time. So a bunch of us waited til they came back through. When they did, they all parked in a row for the judges. Mom come running up to me to find some smokes. I found hers down in the back part of the trailer but I couldnt reach them without ripping the flags off. I guess she will just have to wait.

The judges made their rounds and then started the announcements of who was the winner. When they called 16 Green, Cami screamed and ran up to get the trophy. So once again, they won. Now last year, when they took the props out, they burned all the wood and we had one hell of a fire. Not sure how many of you remember that post. We ended up melting moms windchimes. This year, however, there wasnt much for props but all the flags.

And we aint burning them.