Earth Day Dallas 2011
Once again the smart car has gotten me out into the world. I was wavering about going until the day before this event, but with the combination of the smart car and Earth Day events–two things I believe in–how could I resist? Luckily, I only had a couple of “must do” things on my plate for the weekend, so I was able to take a few hours out for this fun day. (Well, it ended up being seven hours, but who’s keeping track?)
We were asked to meet at Riverchon Park in Dallas at 10 AM where we’d all gather. At 11 AM we’d trail together through some downtown streets to the Dallas Arts District where Earth Day was happening. So I figured people would be gathering between 10 and 11, right? I planned to arrive around 10:15 or so since I didn’t know the park and wanted to be sure I could find the group. Well, I arrived earlier than my plan, at 10:06, but I was still the last one there! In the pictures, you’ll see BeBop as the last car, behind the other yellow car.
We had 17 cars, and true to plan, we left at 11 and made the usual spectacle of ourselves (honking included) on the streets. We were the object of many smiles and waves, and hurriedly grabbed cell phone pictures! Since I was last in line, I was a little anxious about being left behind at a light or something and getting lost, but we really stayed pretty well together, all arriving in a group. Sorry no pictures of the drive, but I was a little busy, ya know?
Once we parked, someone in our group looked up and pointed out the man on the pole. So OK, we knew we were in the arts district!
The Earth Day organizers had arranged for us to park inside the barricades, so we lined up our cars in front of the Dallas Art Museum. Tim set up the tents so we’d have shade to sit in and a place to put up the signs advertising our club. All 17 of the cars in a row there generated some good interest, so we felt like we were contributing to the event. And we were made volunteers, which meant we got bright yellow “Volunteer” T-shirts and meal vouchers. Nice. All we had to do was behave ourselves and pick up any trash we saw. No problem!
In the pictures, you’ll see one of a local celebrity. As Vicki and I were walking the booths, we saw him a golf cart, but when he reached the smart cars, he evidently was interested in the cars and sat in one (Ali’s). Fun. (Need a hint? I “Dream of Jeanie” and “Dallas”?)
Other than that, the pictures are pretty self-explanatory. As usual, I was taking them so I wasn’t in any of them. Just before leaving, I had a fleeting thought to ask someone to take one, but then forgot. Oh well. I was there, honest! 😉
