Bundled Flames

On Saturday night we bundled up and headed down to the foot of Cook St to watch the Island Equipment Owners Association’s Lighted Truck Parade. This parade is an annual thing, and Sue, Elliot, and I really enjoy it. It’s hard to tell if Amy likes it.

The lead up to the parade is hilarious because a few minutes before the trucks arrive, we start seeing lots of motorcycle police zip by with lights going. They move up in advance to block off the roads. Traffic coming down Cook gets quite confused by being forced to turn around and find a different route. Endless entertainment as more than a few drivers were lectured by the officer.

Then the trucks showed up. Wow, these guys do an amazing, amazing job of decorating their trucks. Some of them had huge trailers that were equally decked out. They do drive fairly quickly along the route, honking their horns the entire way. If you live in Victoria, and haven’t seen it, you really should make the effort next year.

This was new this year. Flames shooting out of the pipes!

There is something about this one that makes it my favorite every year.

Floats Sqeeze

And with yesterday’s Bucanneer Day’s Parade, our parade season is over. The Esquimalt parade was longer than last year, and almost as good. Way less candy than the Oak Bay Tea Party parade too. Lots of the same floats were present, but much, much closer to our viewing area. In fact, for the Spectrum band we had to lift our legs off the road so they could squeeze by. Its also a bit redneck, as evidenced by the cars revving their engines, the monster truck, and all the women pirates showing as much cleavage as possible.

Season Spot

It’s parade season again! The Oak Bay Tea Party parade was this past Saturday, and we were there to take it in. The weather was absolutely fantastic. We had some a great spot across the street from the judges. Perfect. The kids had a great time as usual, and were waving at lots of the floats.

Buccaneer Fun

For the Buccaneer Days parade we had some friends over for brunch then walked down to where we were going to watch from. My kids are certainly seasoned parade watchers.

In Esquimalt we don’t worry about safety much. When you want to see something up close, you see it up close.

Sometimes up close isn’t fun.

Party Firetrucks

A couple weekends ago we were out and watched the Oak Bay Tea Party Parade. I could not believe how much candy there was. Some kids walked away with a half full cloth grocery shopping bag.

As always my kids enjoyed seeing the firetrucks and army trucks go by.

Floats Wander

Today was the Victoria Day parade. We actually watched the entire parade which in previous years ran over 4 hours long. This year it was a little over three hours and the kids enjoyed every minute of it.

There were lots of excellent floats, lots of wonderful bands, and some leagues of people I had never heard of before. The weather was spectacular as well. A little breezy, but nice blue sky with white fluffy clouds.

With the kids snacking and taking in the action, I was able to wander a little and take some pictures. All my pics are here, but below are some highlights.

Parade Swing

Saturday morning was the Buccaneer Day’s parade here in Esquimalt. We had all sorts of fun. We started off with a pancake breakfast at our house with some friends, then we all walked down to the parade route. The parade took a while to get to us, but we weren’t dissapointed. Pirates and booty abound in this parade. Aaarrrrr!

It’s a tight fit sometimes, but they managed to get through without hurting anyone.

Gotta keep hydrated with lots of grog.

Watch out for these guys though. They are good at stealing and plundering.

Watch where you cross or you may get accosted by this vicious biker gang!

The celebrities were out in full force.
Hudson Mack:

Piano guy:

The Mascot for the Salmon Kings, Marty the Marmot?

There were some fine pirate vessels as well.

What better way to end the parade time, than a swing at the park.

Shorter Sights

Yesterday we me up with some friends to watch the Victoria Day Parade. Someone had mentioned to me that it was going to be shorter this year, but I have to say that it was still a very long parade. We didn’t stay to the end.

Below are some of my pictures, the rest are here.

My daughter enjoying the sights.