The Rose Bowl Parade ~ Dream Fulfilled

December 31, 2009 & January 1, 2010

The drive to Pasadena was a little bit scary the way our crack GPS took us through the mountains, but saw the largest wind farm we've ever seen....literally thousands.

This part of the trip is a really big deal for me.  I have never missed watching the Rose Bowl Parade on TV ever!  Made reservations in July for Tor and our car to stay in an office parking lot a couple of blocks of Colorado Boulevard.  (Sharpe Seating (sharpeseating.com) handles all the tickets for everything connected with the Rose Bowl. ) There are obviously no hook-ups, but we can be good for a few days without them.  This "dry camping" does not come inexpensively, though.  Permit cost $206 (I thought an odd number!) for the night.  Really thought it was going to be a nightmare, but was actually quite civilized.  Note: if you ever do this, don't pay any attention to the instructions that you can't get into the lot until 5pm...we called and they told us to just come...arrived about 1p.m on the 31st and we were not the first ones there.

Wandered  Old Pasadena during the afternoon....people were on the street with all their gear prepared to spend the night...no interest in that...we'll take our chances in the morning.  Exhausted and excited we pick up Japanese take-out for dinner and have totally zonked by 9:30...Happy New Year!

We opted not to get grandstand seats, we wanted to be up close so we are on Colorado Boulevard by 6:30 the next morning. It is very easy to set up chairs with one or two rows of "overnighters" in front of you....however at midnight, they have been allowed to move onto the street, so we are in great shape!  The street is not that wide, so you are really right on top of the floats...love it!

My high school, Marian Catholic, in Chicago Heights, Ill. is marching in the parade....they've won lots of state and national championships and played a couple of years ago in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. We scour to find something to make a sign....people near us who slept on a thick piece of styroforam offer it up and Rick gets a magic marker from the animal humane tent.

The band director sees the sign immediately and tells all the kids to look...they love it...I love it...great fun!

The parade lasts over 3 hours and it's just one mesmerizing moment after another.  After it's over we walk to the famed corner where all the networks are positioned and cannot believe within a half hour of the end, things are coming down.

Beginning at 1pm, they open a display area several miles from the parade route for a real up close look at all the floats.  We'll rest our feet, that have already done over 10,000 steps, a bit, then go over there.