New Orleans Part 3: Mardi Gras: Krewe d'Eris parade

"The Krewe of Eris are not notably hygienic, dear reader; many of them are transient. Not all were dirty, not all were homeless, and not all of them would like to smash the church and state, but a fair number might be said to fit into those overlapping categories."

This is what we had waiting for us when we walked into the Parade starting area of the Krewe d'Eris. I didn't realise that we were going to actually walk in the parade until after we got dressed up in some of our Host's costumes and walked to the parade route. The Krewe d'Eris is, as Atillio calls it, a "Dirty Kid" parade. That just means all the cool and really creative kids in New Orleans put on extravagant costumes and make small bike-powered floats to entertain the town. We had a blast walking the twisting 4-mile route among the cacophonous bands and costumed freaks (I say that endearingly of course!)

Enjoy:

Jim's costume

The next day at the Ranch, a chicken gets a ride from a visiting dog...

...and we say goodbye to our gracious hosts as they head off to the Purple Party.

Thus ends our first Mardi Gras and New Orleans adventure. We headed out of town on Lundi Gras, the day before Mardi Gras proper. I feel like we got a good idea of the Mardi Gras spirit. Maybe next year we will stay until Mardi Gras day. We made it to the texas border and began our second leg of our southern tour.