![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Hitting-the-road.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nCora and I are hooked up and ready to roll!<\/p>\n
Our first stop is Cincinnati and Cora and I get to enjoy Ron and DC’s fabulous hospitality. Oddly enough, I didn’t get any photos of the three of us together during this visit, so I will share some shots of the four-legged residents of their house.<\/p>\n There’s Dodger,<\/p>\n Floyd,<\/p>\n Mojo,<\/p>\n and Molly.<\/p>\n My visit to Cincinnati coincided with the beginning of the first game of 2019, on March 28. They also had the 100th Findlay Market Opening Day Parade the same day.<\/p>\n Now, baseball isn’t my cup of tea, but I’m always up for a new experience. DC had arranged a place for us to hang out while watching the parade.<\/p>\n We took up our spots in Revolution Rotisserie<\/a> and waited for the parade. We didn’t have to wait too long.<\/p>\n The color guard lead the way.<\/p>\n Then there was a “float.” At least, it looked like a float.<\/p>\n Actually, it was a trailer hauling a machine that shot off fireworks! I think the last time I saw daytime fireworks as part of a procession was at Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain in 1976.<\/p>\n Kids came equipped with bags to catch loot being thrown. \u00a0Incidentally, Rozzi Fireworks didn’t throw any firecrackers to the kids.<\/p>\n The Chief of Police was there. Or, at least his car was there. (I just say that because the only Chief of Police I know to identify is Commissioner Reagan.)<\/p>\n But that’s New York City…back to Cincinnati!<\/p>\n Next came the firefighters.<\/p>\n I wonder what the maximum capacity is for a firetruck?<\/p>\n A guy decorated his bicycle and joined in the parade.<\/p>\n You might have to look really hard to find the marching band in this photo. After all, they are wearing camouflage.<\/p>\n Findlay Market is making an appearance, celebrating their 100th Anniversary of sponsoring the parade, AND the Red Socks 150th anniversary.<\/p>\n The poor kids are still waiting hopefully for the first treat to be thrown.<\/p>\n The Traffic Unit of the Sheriff’s Department rolled on by.<\/p>\n Followed by the pipers.<\/p>\n The Drum Major\u00a0was really strutting his stuff! Incidentally, that staff he is carrying is called a mace.<\/p>\n Not being from Cincinnati or a baseball aficionado, I had to look up this Reds mascot. Here we have Gapper riding a three-wheeled motorcycle on a two-wheeled trailer.<\/p>\n Apparently, they have four mascots. In addition to Gapper, there is Rosie Red, Red Legs and Mr. Red.<\/p>\n Old-timey cars belong in parades – especially if they are convertibles\u00a0and they are\u00a0Red Socks red!<\/p>\n The Air Force brought out one of their smallest planes to join in the fun.<\/p>\n Ah! More mascots!<\/p>\n I guess cars don’t have to be particularly old to join in the fun – just as long as they have the appropriate color scheme.<\/p>\n This deadly looking vehicle is Redzilla. I was guessing that is was a super-powered t-shirt cannon. I was right! The Reds\u00a0describe it as “the first-ever triple-barrel, cart mounted souvenir launcher.”\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Too bad they aren’t launching any trinkets those poor kids can put in their bags.<\/p>\n If it has wheels or can march, it seems to belong in this parade. This group has both!<\/p>\n Here come the marching pompon girls.<\/p>\n Now, this is something I’ve never seen in a parade before – a marching inflatable. This inflated Air Force eagle had a handler who helped him navigate and steer clear of obstacles.<\/p>\n He’d stop every now and then and people would gather around for photos ops.<\/p>\n Sometimes a hug would suffice.<\/p>\n Where have all the marching bands gone? The sound track of this portion of the parade was provided by a sound system with speakers on the back. I guess this is the melding of tradition and technology – or perhaps the result of defunding the arts in schools.<\/p>\n Not being from Cincinnati nor a baseball devotee, I had to look up these names. The look like real live Cincinnati Reds team members – pitchers Anthony DeSclafani and Sonny Gray.<\/p>\n I thought I should head back into the bar to see what was happening there. It was playing on the TVs inside, so there was no need to fight the crowds on the street.<\/p>\n Hey! The horses are coming! I’d better get back out there and check them out.<\/p>\n No horses yet, but an interesting assemblage of wheels and dogs were passing.<\/p>\n An artifact from the World Trade Center rolled by.<\/p>\n A marcher carried a poster with facts along side the truck hauling the float.<\/p>\n A steamboat with its remote control handler chugged down the street.<\/p>\n A tricycle rider pulled a string\u00a0of trailers proclaiming MLB 150.<\/p>\n Followed by “GO REDS.”<\/p>\n The SWAT team took part, too. At least, I think they were there to participate in the celebration. I don’t think they were their in their official capacity. I know sports fans can get rowdy, but this crowd seemed pretty calm.<\/p>\n When the trash truck rumbled by, we decided that it we had seen enough parade for one day. I wonder how much longer it would be passing by? Could it be that they just made a big loop – a Mobius strip<\/a> of a parade?<\/p>\n Ehh…probably not.<\/p>\n In any event, we went back to the house. Or maybe out to dinner.<\/p>\n After a good night’s sleep, Cora and I were on our way again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I begin where I left off on my last trip. Cora and I are hooked up and ready to roll! Our first stop is Cincinnati and Cora and I get to enjoy Ron and DC’s fabulous hospitality. Oddly enough, I didn’t get any photos of the three of us together during this visit, so I … Continue reading It’s Spring 2019! Time to Roll!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16090"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16153,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16090\/revisions\/16153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n