Parade day ... exciting, thrilling ... thank you, Milwaukee



Miller Park (home of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball tean), and the parade gathering point.

On Saturday (August 31) we had some cloud cover which would be great for the parade. I was packing with Birdie so I could hold the flags. We got there pretty early, about 8:30, but there were loads of bikes there already. And then the stream started, and it became a river of bikes flowing in, pipes a-roaring. There's nothing like the sound of Harleys in the air, our music. And what a wonderful sound it was. There is nothing like it; nobody can duplicate it; they can only imitate it.

The roar of the engines became deafening, as more and more arrived.



The Gold Helmet Police Drill Team rode by, but I only got a photo of a few of them.



Another group of police bikes.  Yahoo. 



Some of the vintage bikes arrived.



I was told there were 7,000 bikes in the parade. Cops from various areas came in as large groups with their lights a-spinning. There were two Old Glory bikes flying dozens of flags each. Vintage bikes came in in groups; trike groups showed up. There was everything you could possibly imagine in every color known to man or woman coming to participate in the parade. And hundreds of flags, starting with the best one … the U.S. of A.

I loved seeing the flags and patches from the different countries.

There were bikes flying HOG flags, and country flags from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Holland, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, and those are only some of what I saw. I don't know how many countries were represented, but know they were numerous. What a sight, and how thrilling to be a part of it … again. I'd forgotten how exciting a humongous parade can be.

The bikes just kept coming and coming and coming. 

I love my flag and the USA, so had to have my photo with one of the Old Glory bikes.  Love it or leave.  I'm sure you'd be treated better in some other country.  HAHAHAHAHA!!!  Not!!!!!

A cheesehead bike.  Pretty cool paint.



This one's for Jim Franklin and Picard.



The Shriners were also there en masse.





Another cop shot.  They all ride so well together.

Even the weather cooperated with some cloud cover so we didn't fry in the heat waiting. The atmosphere was high, with the sights, the sounds, everything adding to the fun and anticipation of the parade. The Brazilians had a party going on. They were dressed in different groups of colors, red, green, yellow, orange and blue; they had music and they made a human arch with their hands and folks would come through video taping as they came. It was a blast, and people were laughing and giggling, acting like little kids. Yep, sure doesn't take much to amuse Harley riders. And lucky us. We were parked next to the guy with the cigar.

The arch was a huge hit.

Face painting rocks.

The parking lot overflowed with bikes, all kinds ... old, new, decked out, ratted out.

Looking behind us, the bikes were coming.



Looking ahead, the bikes were going, lined up pretty well.

Then it was time; mount up; start your engines. We were ready, and off we went. The parade was one of the best times. There must have been thousands of people lined up along the streets, waving, holding up signs welcoming us home, loving us, trying to slap hands, and even one who handed us a bottle of water. It was awe-inspiring to participate. I waved so much my hand and arm hurt, and my smile was wearing thin. But I put on my big girl panties, sucked it up, licked my lips and kept on smiling and waving, too. These people were there to see us and deserved to be recognized for being there and thanked.

There was even a flag flying of Harley and the Davidsons.

A wonderful parade, lots of bikes, lots of spectators.

Bikes were all over, in every parking lot, street corner.  The parking lot staff did an excellent job of getting the parade participants parked in an easy and timely manner.

Just another country participant.  So many.  And so great to see them all.

The parade ended at the Summerfest grounds. We parked and wandered in to check out what might be happening. It would be an early day for us since Bob and Judy were coming by to pick up things folks wanted taken back to Anchorage. Thank you, Bob and Judy. We love you.

The Summerfest grounds have a beautiful setting.

We went to the Women's Experience and I found the people who were teaching folks to pick up dropped bikes. The instructor told me how and then I did it. Maybe it was a Sportster, but it actually was quite easy. Interestingly, there was no one around while I was chatting with her, but the second I was down trying to pick up the bike, there was a crowd gathered. Sure seemed like there were a lot of men there.

I need a lot more practice before I would try this on my own, though.  And not on my Ultra.

From there we rode the sky tram to the other end because it saved us quite a long walk. Plus it's cool because you can see the entire grounds and where everything is. Although it was our last time there, so did it really matter? No. But it was still fun.

Fun to ride, gets you out of the heat for a while and you don't have to walk from one end to the other.

 

We ran into Will and Vickie from San Diego and watched part of the police motorcycle riding competition. Wow!!! They're awesome. There were three women participants, and just watching these guys is thrilling. One guy dropped his bike and had it picked up the same way I'd done it, but way quicker, in maybe three seconds, I kid you not. I could have watched lots longer, but we had things to do and places to be.

And just when you think you're too overheated and about to drop, there's always the water you can step into.  These are pretty neat and you can get cooled off in no time.  I saw my first one several years ago on a trip with Hobbs to Dollywood.

This guy made this, a beer dispenser.  He was on the news one night showing how it worked.

A couple of random snippets heard as we were leaving: “They stole five bikes from the parking lot; I need to get a revolver; and Well, we tried.” I should have been listening more.

I've been to the 90^th, the 100^th, the 105^th and now the 110^th. I believe there were more bikes than ever before. That means the celebrations just keep getting better. I sure do think so. The folks put on an excellent party, but it's time to move on.

We raced back to the hotel and Bob and Judy showed up just after we did. We got everything to them (five of us sending things back with them in their truck and trailer … thank you, again) and then we had a great, although short, visit. We'll see them again soon.

Captain Cupcake and Sprinkles to the rescue with their truck and trailer.

Just in case, Robin gave Cupcake a package of cupcakes to get him back to his brother's house.  We didn't want him running short.

Packaging for the trailer.

Then we had time for laundry, dinner and a bit of packing before catching some shut eye.

Tomorrow we'll be back on the bikes. All I can say is that if the motorcycle therapy isn't working 100 percent, there's always the Harley shopping therapy. We've done it. Between them it can fix all that is wrong.