106th Huntington Beach 4th of July Parade

We start every 4th of July by heading to Downtown Huntington Beach for their Independence day parade. I had planned on posting this in a series but due to the fact I clearly have a problem with scheduling (I thought these were being posted over the last few days) we are going to do one big, long post!

The parade route is full of decorated houses,



people on fun and festive bicycles (yes he is facing backwards),



patriotic pooches and



the honoring of many military. These are some of the World War II submarine veterans.



We see beach cruisers in all shapes and sizes...



as they pedal thru the streets before and after the parade has passed.



I don't know what this is, but I want it.



You know how I love me some classic cars!



Of course, I always, always cry during certain parts. When everyone stands to honor military I start to sniffle and then when these Pearl Harbor survivors pass by I can never stop the tears.



These folks danced their way down the entire parade route! Swing, baby, swing!



But not all of us were interested in the parade. ~sigh~ You can't please everyone.



POW * MIA You are not forgotten.



We crossed over and turned around by the pier. It was overcast and lovely.



Especially lovely if you are this dog. What a way to spend the 4th, all bundled up and cuddled like a baby as you take in the ocean breeze and watch the parade go by.

We should all be so lucky.



Dinosaurs? How did they work their way into the festivities?



People will perch anywhere for a good view!



Yay! Lovely survivors marching with pride.



Lovely, errr, interesting patriotic body painting.

There are lots of characters around the parade. In fact, shortly after this we were combing thru the crowd and someone asked me if I would like to volunteer for the patriotic boobies picture book he was putting together.

See how patriotic the people are around here?!

When it gets published I'll give away autographed copies here on my blog.



I kid, I kid.

Now this is a set of twins I feel comfortable taking shots of.



You have to love the effort put into some of these houses!



I'm sorry, I'm distracted by the size of this horse, I mean...dog.



Ah yes, the houses. People spend a great deal of time decorating and planning for this day!



There are also floats in the parade. I love this one and always wonder how these girls manage to do these tricks on a moving float.



OMG I want one of these too. Miniature horses for everyone!



Excuse me sir, are you pointing that at me?



This Indian guide (or adventure guide?) is at the very end of his trek and doing quite well. Some of them looked like they were just exhausted.



At the end of the parade everyone gets back on their bikes and are able to ride thru the streets before they get opened back up. There are no less then 2 gazillion bikes out at that time.

Proceed with caution.



Many people head back to their houses for a BBQ before the fireworks in the evening.

Wouldn't you smile every time you walked down this path?



B had to work during the day so I headed back to pick him up. Then I treated him to a banana split.

What's more patriotic than banana splits? Besides, I'd been obsessing about one for over a month.

You know how I love dessert as an appetizer.

Just think, next year we'll have a little one in tow. Now that should be interesting.