Everybody Loves A Parade!

Okay, so it was a dicey start to the day. The mercury measured 31 as I loaded the Riv with extra blankets and gloves and sweatshirts. I'd agreed to meet a fellow Kiwanian at the supermarket to collect a plastic urn of hot water for cocoa, and I was running late. The Riv started up in the garage with a cloud of steam, and over to Kroger we drove...and that's about as far as we got for a while.

The blessings of carburated engines include the wonders of vapor-lock, and sure enough, on the one day I had pledged her service, I couldn't get her going again to save my life. After about 6 or 7 cranks, the battery decided it wasn't strong enough to play ball much any more, so I had to call in the cavalry. There's a Goodyear shop in the strip mall, and they were kind enough to send a jump box and a tech over to the edge of the parking lot, where we gave the starter some extra juice and held the throttle open to get her started....Whew!




Once at the parade staging area, we attached balloons, streamers, and banners, and told stories of old cars until the parade kicked off. We were positioned right at the tail end, just ahead of the City of Johns Creek's award-winning float and the hook-and-ladder truck with Santa Claus perched in the trailer's steering seat. Staffed with a few Key Clubbers from Northview HS and a handful of Johns Creek Kiwanians, we were off to the sounds of "Who Let the Dogs Out?!" courtesy of the Shriner's clown van just ahead of us.


It's also hard to see from these pictures, but the wiper arm I'd looked so hard for was painted and attached this week, and is mostly hidden from view by the wiper fascia I reinstalled on the night before the parade. Oddly enough, the new driver's-side blade sits just a smidge higher up on the windshield than the passenger-side blade, but I'm not complaining. At least I'll be able to see if I ever get caught in the rain.