We went down to Ouray (pronounced "you're ray" more or less) on the Fourth of July for the parade, and it lived up to it's reputation. Ouray is a small town nestled in a box canyon with towering mountains on three sides. It's called the Switzerland of America and the comparison is not out of place. We got to see a Bactrian camel, the camel with two humps. Dromedary camels have only one, as we all know.
There were people on stilts, the boy scouts, political parties, businesses, anybody that could come up with the entrance fee. It was one of the few parades where you could just roll along the route with the assistance of gravity alone. There are few flat spots in Ouray.
A novel feature that separated it from any other parade I've ever seen; there were water cannons. This tractor pulled a 200 gallon water tank and the kid on the squirted the folks watching the parade. Not every float was armed with a water tank, but lots were. And the bystanders also came armed. Some with buckets of water to throw on those in the parade, some with tanks and hoses, some with water cannons. Full fledged water fights broke out amongst those on the floats and those in the crowd. Like I say, something new for me.
Both the Republican and Democratic parties had floats and carried candidate's signs. We made a few snide remarks amongst ourselves as the Republicans walked by. There was some good natured cheering by some, and some folks didn't cheer. The fellow above, as well as a few others, lustily booed as the Democrats strolled by while many others cheered. Cheer if you want, or don't cheer, but it's not okay to boo, asshole.
The parade ended and we went up the road to the zip line where Madeline and Dan were brave enough to take a ride. Below, she's decked out in helmet and harness ready to zip.
Check out how she did by clicking on the video below.
We went down to Ouray (pronounced "you're ray" more or less) on the Fourth of July for the parade, and it lived up to it's reputation. Ouray is a small town nestled in a box canyon with towering mountains on three sides. It's called the Switzerland of America and the comparison is not out of place. We got to see a Bactrian camel, the camel with two humps. Dromedary camels have only one, as we all know. 
There were people on stilts, the boy scouts, political parties, businesses, anybody that could come up with the entrance fee. It was one of the few parades where you could just roll along the route with the assistance of gravity alone. There are few flat spots in Ouray.
A novel feature that separated it from any other parade I've ever seen; there were water cannons. This tractor pulled a 200 gallon water tank and the kid on the squirted the folks watching the parade. Not every float was armed with a water tank, but lots were. And the bystanders also came armed. Some with buckets of water to throw on those in the parade, some with tanks and hoses, some with water cannons. Full fledged water fights broke out amongst those on the floats and those in the crowd. Like I say, something new for me.
Both the Republican and Democratic parties had floats and carried candidate's signs. We made a few snide remarks amongst ourselves as the Republicans walked by. There was some good natured cheering by some, and some folks didn't cheer. The fellow above, as well as a few others, lustily booed as the Democrats strolled by while many others cheered. Cheer if you want, or don't cheer, but it's not okay to boo, asshole.
The parade ended and we went up the road to the zip line where Madeline and Dan were brave enough to take a ride. Below, she's decked out in helmet and harness ready to zip.
Check out how she did by clicking on the video below.