The last week or so has been the 4th of July Parade season. The morning of the 4th I drove up to Racine WI for their annual Parade which is the 5th largest in the country. The WI Garrison has had a float in that parade for many years and they don't just make a "sissy" float. The float is constructed on a flat bed trailer and pulled by a Semi. Each year has a different Star Wars theme and this year was Lego Star Wars. The float, as always, was genius and looked great.Last time I did this parade I walked the nearly 4 miles, but members of Nar Shaddaa Base wanted to dress in Rebel Fleet Trooper this year and my RFT boots are not made for walking so we rode on the float. I guess I prefer to walk and be down near the crowd. It didn't feel the same up there on that flatbed. As always, the crowd was enthusiastic to say the least and usually erupted as "Star Wars" went by.
Then on Sunday, July 7th, we had the annual Bartlett Death March. The Bartlett Parade generally ends up to be one of the hottest days of the summer. This year it did not start out so bad but temps shot up to probably close to 90 degrees as the parade stepped off at 1:00 PM.
I wore my "Clone Wars" inspired Jedi costume that is a little cooler than my other Jedi costumes, but still hot. You have like 5 layers at your waist and then there is the long pants and tall boots so any Jedi costume is pretty warm. We did another "theme" in the Bartlett Parade, we did a "farewell to the Clone Wars" group which was Clones and Jedi. 
The Jeep was in the parade again as the "medical frigate". I gave it a good wash job and cleaning and next week we are supposed to start the project of giving the Jeep a new roof.Today is the annual summer meeting for the Resource Management Volunteers...and...for a change I am not going. I don't find anything accomplished at these meetings so rather than talk about restoration, I plan to go out and do some.
I am still waiting on the results of the x-rays I had taken on my foot and hip. The pain is there, but I do admit that the pain is lessening as the weeks go by. I tried calling the doctor about my results from my home phone, but I don't think that the phone is working right and I don't think my voice got on their voice mail. I will have to try to call next week from work.
The garden is fast becoming "Jungle World" as it does every year about mid July. I invited the family over tomorrow as a kind of last minute thing to hang out in the garden.I don't know if we will pull it off, but sometimes the last minute things work out best.
