December 9th - Party and Christmas Golf Cart Parade

Yesterday the activities for residents began with a gift exchange party at the pavilion followed by the annual Golf Cart Christmas Parade. At the party we had snacks then everyone who brought a gift had a chance to pick a gift from the table of gifts up front. If you didn't like what you picked after you unwrapped it in front of everyone, you could steal from someone who went before you. After a couple of steals Kelly and I ended up with a flour sifter and measuring cup set and a set of kitchen towels and oven mitts. Here is a picture of the group as the prizes being picked.

After the party there was a break before the golf carts lined up. We participated in the parade for the first time. We are using a golf cart that belongs to a friend here at the park until they arrive after the first of the year. We really weren't prepared to be in the parade so a neighbor, John, gave us garland to decorate the cart. You can use Christmas lights on the cart with the help of an inverter. I just happened to have a 300-watt inverter I picked up at a garage sale last year. We didn't have Christmas lights to decorate the cart but we did have chili pepper lights that we use at the camp site, so we used those on the cart. We also have a little camper that my sister, Renee, gave us several years ago that lights up. We duct taped it to the roof. Here is a picture of the cart decorated and ready to roll.

Of course, things don't always go as planned for me. I had been using this golf cart for a couple of days and I needed to charge the batteries before the long ride around the park, particularly with the inverter pulling volts for the lights on the long ride through the park. I plugged in the cart to charge it and nothing happened. The charger did not come on. It will not come on if the batteries are fully charged but they clearly weren't. They were down almost half. I rode over to the next street and asked our resident mechanic, John, (a retired Boeing mechanic) if I was doing something wrong with the charger. I went to him because he had gotten the cart out of storage, charged the batteries, and gave it to us to use. He had it all working a couple of days ago. He put his voltage meter on the batteries at various places, checked the charger plug, etc. It clearly indicated the batteries needed charging. We were at a loss. He then went back and reached to pull the charger out of its cubby hole. He only pulled it out an inch and it came on. Clearly something is bad or loose in the charger. Anyway, it worked so I scuttled back to our site and plugged it in to charge it for the parade. 

In years past we took pictures of the carts as they drove by. Being in the parade you can't do that so here are a few pictures of everyone lined up and waiting for it to get dark to head out.

The parade was fun. Our friend, Celina, who came over from another park, rode on the back with us. Kelly had her Bose speaker blasting Christmas songs and we waved and wished "Merry Christmas" to all of those watching the parade. 

Unfortunately, our chili pepper lights are not LEDs so they draw a lot of current. We had three sets of lights on the cart and after a short time period of time the little inverter couldn't handle the load and would trip off. I then had to reach back and turn it off for a few seconds and then back on. I suppose everybody just thought we had "flashing" lights. We weren't really prepared ahead of time for being in the parade, but it worked out.