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.

R&R in Indio

December 26~31

Our last few days in heaven were spent totally on resort vacationing...a lot of golf, long walks, a little shopping in Palm Springs (big disappointment) and in Palm Desert (El Paseo Street, the only real place we found for nice things, is a few blocks long of great boutiques and a Saks complex). We had a delightful lunch with friends in Rancho Mirage who moved from VA a few years ago, found a small, but terrific Sunday morning Farmer's Market in Old Town La Quinta and had a wonderfully relaxing time.

It's hard to get over the beauty of this place.  Motorcoach Country Club is everything one could ask for in an RV resort...golf, pools, tennis courts, a lovely restaurant, water, mountains and wonderful surroundings.

And some wonderful accidental sights!

The only thing that could drag me out of here is the prospect of going to the Rose Bowl Parade...one thing that has been on my life list for as long as I can remember!  We spend our last night in Indio sitting by the fire, sad that we are leaving, but filled with excitement with the prospect of leaving for Pasadena.

Christmas in the Desert

December 24~25

We really felt Christmas was going to be very hard without our kids and while we missed them so much, we really did end up having a nice day.  Went to Christmas Eve Mass at a lovely church in La Quinta, St. Francis Asissi...mobbed, but very, very joyful.  Just couldn't do the fondue that we have done for umpteen years for dinner, but made a Bouef Bourguignon the day before.  Making that in Tor has some issues, mainly when I sear or saute something on high heat, it usually sets the smoke alarms off!  So, I started it in the outdoor kitchen, which I have vowed since we've been here, that I will never live without again!

Christmas morning we saw snow!  Okay, far away on the mountain tops we saw snow....it's was a brillant, sunny day in the mid-60's, palm trees swaying...really miss Kelly, Chip and Ian and miss them opening our gifts to them.  Anyway, we did just fine with our little faux tabletop tree which we found great ornaments for and a wreath for the door and our stockings hung with care!

We had to keep it down this year as we have very little room to put anything else.  Gave Rick a Sunday golf bag so we can throw in a few clubs and walk a few practice holes.  Rick gave me a gorgeous Indian turquoise and silver necklace slide I coveted in Tubac, AZ. We exchanged many games of the board and video variety...my personal favorite is the Wii Iron Chef America that Rick found.  And he also bought "us" a new home entertainment center with surround sound for Tor since he's never liked the way the DVD player worked.

We sat outside by the fire and then brunched on a recipe I had filed away for a Smoked Turkey, Apple, Cheddar Egg Casserole....it was great....we topped off the meal with mimosas made with the oranges we picked  in Tucson.....too tasty!

We had dinner reservations at  Le Vallauris, (levallauris.com) which had scored near perfect ratings in Zagat's,  in Palm Springs.  It's a very pretty spot...the outdoor patio where everyone was eating has walls topped with glass that rise about 12 feet...there's no ceiling, but the room is almost covered by the branches of a half a dozen ficus trees that must be 20 feet tall with trunks the size of an oak tree....never seen them that large.  Since the temperature plummets as soon as the sun goes down, the room is also liberally covered with outdoor heaters.

The food is good, but, to me, doesn't merit the raves.  Our appetizers are the best part and then it seems to go slowly downhill from there.  My foie gras ravioli is perfect,  Rick's ahi tuna tartare is good and large enough for an entire meal.  Both entrees are fine, his a filet, mine a lamb tenderloin, but don't leave us rhapsodizing.  Dessert is a very bland trio of creme brulee for Rick, and an uninspired presentation of mixed berries for me.  What we disliked most about the experience though, was we were seated next to a table of  very thick-necked men who everyone was hovering over...consequently our service was terrible.

Splendiferous is the name given to the extravagant Christmas decorations on Minerva Road in Cathedral City.  The residents of about a three block long section have banded together to create quite a show.  It was a lovely way to cap off Christmas Day.

Merry  Christmas to all from the desert.