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Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009It's just before 8:00 am on a beautiful, sunny Thursday morning and we've got a third row seat to be best parade there is, the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Darla and I had long wanted to attend the Tournament of Roses Parade but the timing had never been right – until this year. Christmas fell on a Thursday. This meant we could be at home for Christmas and still have 10 days to travel before school started again on January 5. Oh – and I had the week off. How could we not go?
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009When we arrived in Pasadena it was about 2:00 pm on New Year's Eve. Every foot of the parade route was already lined with people. Some brought big screen TV's with them; others brought portable outdoor fireplaces. We saw couches, recliners, and mattresses along the edge of the street. It was impressive -- and intimidating. We had a lot of questions.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009As more and more people crowded the parade route on New Year's morning, the Goodyear blimp circled overhead along with several planes skywriting New Year's greetings and promotional messages for TV programming.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009I had done some research before arriving. I knew that we could park overnight in one of several parking lots close to the parade route. It was expensive but convenient. Not only was it a place to sleep but it was a place to leave our vehicle during the parade. Still...after seeing the chaos and the number of people who were already crowding the parade route to stake out their spots we came close to just foregoing the whole experience and heading home. I had no desire to spend the next 18 hours standing around, holding our spot, while we waited for the parade to start. In the end, Darla decided she wanted to give it a go. We would pay to stay overnight; no one would spend any time staking out a spot until around 6:00 am the next morning. Then we would see what, if anything, was available.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009The next morning it was Darla who was out the door before 6:00 am. She was going to look for three spots and call us when and if she found something. My job was to get Lewis up and be there before the parade showed up a few hours later. (The parade started at 8:00 am but we were about halfway down the route so it would take a while to get to us.)
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009I was the one most stressed out about the uncertainty of this situation. Getting up at the crack of dawn to make my way through a massive crowd of parade goers in the hope of finding a decent spot that the thousands of other folks who arrived earlier had somehow missed seemed like a fool's errand. Darla was more optimistic. "We'll find something."
Well, find something she did. She had only walked about 25 feet down Colorado when she encountered a table with no one sitting at it. There were people six rows deep everywhere else but no one was behind the table. Everyone assumed it was someone else's way of saving these spots. It turned out that it was a table some Hare Krishnas had set up to put literature on. Then they left and never came back. Darla set up our chairs behind it and, voila, we had great seats and a table to set our stuff on. What were the chances...
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Not a bad vantage point. I wondered whether the owners of these RV's were employees of the businesses behind them or maybe friends of the property owner. Maybe they paid to be there too. We were parked several blocks from the parade route.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009When we had to choose in which lot we would park our camper, we had no idea how to choose. We ended up choosing the one closest to the ticket office. It turned out OK – considering where we ended up sitting I can't complain about anything – but were we to do it again we would choose the lot closest to the beginning of the parade route.
There are a number of advantages to being near the beginning of the route: It is a nicer section of the street; when floats break down it tends to happen farther along the route; at the beginning of the route, the band members and other participants who are walking are fresh; and, most important, it is within walking distance of where the floats line up the night before. If you are staying overnight, you can take an evening stroll and check them out ahead of time.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009It took about an hour for the parade to reach us but the wait was not boring. There was a lot going on. My favorite thing was watching the silly string fights that broke out in the streets.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009More important than being at the beginning of the route is being on the correct side of the street. The east side, the side with the sun at your back, is the side you want to be on. Staring into the morning sun while trying to enjoy backlit floats is not cool.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009These cyclists were not part of the parade. They were riding the parade route ahead of it. I wondered what they would do should one of them fall off or get knocked over. Seems like they would need to climb up on something else, a step stool for example, to remount their cycle. Maybe there's an easy trick to getting back on.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Another word about seating: If you know you are going to the parade ahead of time, you can buy tickets and secure a reserved spot on one of the temporary bleachers set up along the parade route. The best seats, near the beginning of the route, go quickly – as in months before the parade starts. The bleacher seats that are still available on New Year's Eve will not be good seats. (And when I say "seat" I mean "bench". Unlike the camping chairs we used, these seats have no backs.)
There are other good spots along the route. These are places where each float stops and does its thing. Reservations can be made online but I would suggest calling first to get the scoop. The least expensive seats are not necessarily the best value. In fact, I suggest using them as a guide to where you may not want to be during the parade.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009These police motorcyclists had the job of clearing the parade route of people. They would drive up Colorado for a distance, then turn around in an elaborate procession and head back the other way before repeating the process. In doing so, they slowly moved down the street giving folks plenty of time to get out of the way and into their seats.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009The parade kicked off with a flyover by this B2 stealth bomber. If memory serves, it had flown all the way from a base in Missouri. It was truly awesome.
I've seen flyovers before but this thing was in a class by itself. The roar shook the ground as it passed overhead and when it turned to fly away it transformed into a small black sliver that looked like anything but an airplane. I've seen pictures of these before – better ones than this grab shot I got – but it's not the same as having one fly right over the top of you. This was my favorite parade moment. It is also the reason we ended up attending the Oregon International Air Show eight months later.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009This Acura was the official vehicle of the 2009 Tournament of Roses. It was followed by the first float, Honda's annual entry into the parade.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Honda always fields a good float and it often breaks new technical ground.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Jack Hanna was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Jeep on this float. He looked like he was enjoying himself.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009These band members were still fresh when they got to us. On this New Year's Day it was better to be one of the first bands down the parade route. It was clear and cool when the parade started. By 10:00 am it was clear and warm in the sun. We had all shed our coats and hats and were still toasty in our short sleeves.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Guess which one of us took a liking to these red flags...
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009This float had a pool of water in the middle of it. A group of divers took turns diving in as the crowd cheered them on.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009The Hawaii contingent seemed to be a crowd favorite. They all came across as very friendly and happy to be there.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Darla grabbed this shot of Lewis and I as the USC Marching Band approached us in the background. USC would beat Penn State 38-24 in the Rose Bowl later in the day. It was USC's fourth straight appearance and third victory. Their only loss? The 2006 BCS Championship game vs. Texas. Hook 'em!
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009There were lots of folks riding horses in the parade. These purebred Spanish Andalusians were my favorite.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009This was my favorite marching band. They didn't just play; they performed. As a result, they were beat by the time they got to us. They stopped for a few minutes and just rested.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Lewis had lost a little interest in the parade by this point – at least until this float came into view. What could be better than a train with steam coming out of its stack?! Nothing, if you ask The Boy.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009This one's for you, Dad.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009"Tim, take a picture. Did you get this one? Tim! Take a picture. It's The Wizard of Oz!"
This was Darla's favorite float.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009I liked this one. True, it is no Wizard of Oz but Leonardo da Vinci did do some nice work...
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009This group of folks trailed the parade. I respect what they were trying to do although I wonder how effective this approach is. I watched for reactions – hostile or supportive. I didn't see either. The mix of law and gospel in bold black and yellow was pretty much ignored.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Returning to our camper, we discovered that the parking lot was completely full of charter buses waiting for their passengers to return. We weren't going to be driving anywhere for a while. This seemed like a good time to shoot off some silly string and walk back to the Jack in the Box that had been across the road from us during the parade for a bite of lunch.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009In the time it took us to walk a few blocks to our camper and back, the crowd had vanished. The bleachers were empty; the camping chairs were all gone. All that was left was a bunch of trash and the occasional broken sofa or abandoned mattress. It was a striking transformation.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Just a week or so before our departure, a heavy shelf collapsed at Lewis' daycare. It landed directly on Lewis' pinky, ripping the nail off and popping the end of his finger open like a sausage. His pinky was feeling better now but he was still talking about the trauma of watching the emergency room doctor stitch the tip of his finger closed.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Nattily dressed men in white could be found all along the parade route making sure things went smoothly.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009Driving down the parade route toward the interstate, there were only banners and trash. All the people were gone. Even the traffic was gone. Time to head home.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena, CA - January 1, 2009previous image set: Alabama Hills, California
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