Saturday - Raindrops Keep Falling or Is It Beads?

Beads, beads & more beads!  It was absolutely pouring outside so I took some time to sort through the beads we collected before Saturday.  We are going to keep the special ones and some of the other items thrown at us during the parades but will probably donate a large amount to the local organizations that recycle them.

Here is the alligator hat that I will wear on Tuesday for Mardi Gras.  We will make the rest of our costumes on Monday.  After putting the beads away we tried to do some internet work but could not get much at our campsite. I think the bad weather affected the signals to our computers.  We kept checking on the plans for the day as we were scheduled to go into NOLA about 4 pm for a huge parade.  So far it was still a "go" though we couldn't imagine how the weather could clear.  We decided to go to a McDonald's to use their internet and eat some lunch.  While we were there we ran into some missionaries and spent some time talking to them before they left for an appointment.  It was pouring buckets outside and we were drenched just getting back to our truck and again from our truck to the RV.  Checking the board we found that our departure had been delayed until 5:45 in anticipation that MAYBE the rain would subside.  When we got back to the RV we found that we had a leak ..... the part that we already did a partial repair to was not holding and water was seeping in.  Out came a bowl to catch the water while we unleveled the RV in hopes the water would go a different direction.  It seemed to give us a little help so Gary took out the ceiling speaker the water was dripping from to let the area dry out a little.  We will go get some more self-leveling compund to try to seal it again when we get a chance.  I hope the water does not damage things between our roof and ceiling.
We got our hiking boots (for puddles), ponchos and umbrella and headed for the bus.  Only half of our group showed up for the adventure so we combined everyone on one bus and headed into town.  Blessings do pour out, even in New Orleans as the rain stopped just as we parked the bus.  We had a short walk, through puddles, to our reserved stands where we wiped down the seats and claimed our spots.  I forgot - on our way into town we had fried chicken, chips & moon pies served to us on the bus by our wonderful Adventure Caravans staff!

So here we are outfitted for rain and waiting for the parade to reach us.

We were setting across from the court house where there was a reviewing stand and an announcer which told about the parade entries.

The first float was filled with jazz musicians - a nice way to start off the parade.

Of course, we had horses with their riders dressed in royal outfits - a regular scene in the parades.  I didn't take any pictures of the bands - they were covered in ponchos and most bands canceled because of the bad weather.  We really applauded for the ones that did show up.

This was just one of the many beautiful floats in the parade.  As you can see there are people lining the upper and lower tiers of the float and all of them were throwing things to the crowd.  We didn't get as many "throws" as we had in previous parades as we already have quite a few!  I was hoping to get one of the stuffed animals but is was a little harder trying to keep my balance on the stands while reaching up and trying to grab one as it cane flying by.  We also had to pay attention to what was flying through the air so we could protect our heads!!

The parade was a little shorter than normal due to the absence of many bands as they usually have a band in between every float but it was a grand and beautiful parade.  We headed back to the bus, some with a huge stash of beads and throws and applauded ourselves for being brave enough to go on the adventure this night.  Home to get some rest as Sunday will be a full day of parades, walking through the French Quarter, dinner at Harrah's and a huge parade in the evening.  They are predicting that we won't get home until midnight!