The National Cherry Blossom parade in Washington, DC encompasses just about everything good about spring in the Nation's Capital:  festivities, lots of happy people, gorgeous scenery, monuments providing a beautiful setting, stunning cherry blossoms, boundless activity and joyful excitement.

When a dear friend asked me to go to the parade with her, I was game!  We loaded bicycles on her little lime green volkswagen beetle and drove into the city.  Once there, we rode through the bustling city until we reached our destination:  the Cherry Blossom Parade.  It was crowded, very crowded!  Thousands of people were already lined up along the parade route.  We were early, yet we were late:  all the good spots were already taken.  But as we were intent on photographing the event, we struggled through the crowd and finally found a very small space directly along the street.  

While watching the parade most of my senses were in high gear:  hearing, smelling and seeing were battling each other and begging my attention.  In a good way!  The following images represent how I experienced the parade:  motion, blur, organized chaos, joy and excitement.

Halfway through the parade we took our bikes for a quick ride to the Cherry Blossom Tidal Basin and found a rest stop along the water among my very favorite trees:  the weeping willows.  Beautiful motion and liveliness there too but of a different nature!

Finally we were back at the little lime green volkswagen beetle and loaded the bikes back up.  It was a great lively Saturday morning! 

For a more traditional coverage of a parade look here:  http://marleenvandenneste.smugmug.com/Editorial/Saint-Patricks-Day-Parade/47305014_253dD6