Dreams Come True

Watching the Rose Parade has been part of my January 1 routine for as long as I can remember.  It was a big deal growing up in Ohio to see the sunshine and flowers of southern California in mid-winter.  I never dreamed I would have the opportunity to see it in person.

Much to our delight, Gwen and Paul made all of the arrangements for us to see both the parade and the post parade viewing of the floats.  Nothing that I can present here can come close to capturing how wonderful it was.  I think that is why I have been so reluctant to post anything (it is now almost March as I am writing this), because anything here would not do it justice.  However, before too many of the details fade completely from memory, here are some of the highlights of the day.

We had reserved tickets in the grandstand set up on the Pasadena City College campus.

The parade started at 8 am, but it was not expected to reach our location until 8:52.  Needless to say, nearby parking would have been nearly impossible, so getting to our seats was a multi-step process of driving, then using the Los Angeles metro system.  This may have been torturous for Paul and Gwen, but I thought it was great fun.

The four of us piled into Gwen's car and we left at o-dark hundred (about 4:00 am, I think).  We arrived at the Universal City Metro Station (the next to last metro station on the red line and the closest to Santa Barbara that had a large parking lot) at about 6:30.  We parked the car, bought our metro passes, then made our way to the trains for a ride on the red line to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

It was truly impressive how well the authorities had extra signage, barriers, and lots of extra helpers to herd the mobs towards the gold line and Pasadena.  We made our way to the platform, along with the surging mob.  The amount of security on the platforms was truly impressive.  It included an array of people from different local and federal agencies plus dogs.  We squeezed our way into the next available train (and the operative word was "squeezed") on the gold line and made our way to the Allen station, the next to last stop in Pasadena.

Once out of the station, we walked south on Allen for about 0.5 miles to Colorado Boulevard, then 0.4 miles west to our grandstand location.   We saw the jet flyover...the beginning of the parade at 8 am...just before we made it to Colorado Boulevard.

We found our seats without a problem...and what great seats they were!  They were the last row of the grandstand. 

From our seats on the top row of the grandstand.  Notice the many rv's in the gas station across the street...a common occurrence up and down Colorado Boulevard.

One of the pleasant surprises of the day was the overall atmosphere of the event.  It was a gigantic block party.  Everyone was having fun.  We were amongst many Michigan State fans (and a few Stanford fans), but it was more than that.  There was such a joyous, happy feeling among almost everyone.  I could not help but smile and feel part of the celebration.  Many of the folks at street level, who presumably had been there all night, were having great fun interacting with people meandering up and down the street prior to the arrival of the parade.


The parade was superb, even with the long delay due to the breakdown of the Cal Tech float.  During the delay, band members held impromptu mini-performances while the Harlem Globe Trotters signed autographs and played with kids from the stands.

Following the parade, we found a spot on the Pasadena City College campus to eat our sack lunches.  Paul kept giving me updates on the UNT-UNLV bowl game back in Dallas.  I had an impromptu mini-celebration when the final score went to 36-14 for the Meangreen.

We then made our way to the corner of Hill and Colorado on the northwest corner of the Pasadena City College campus to line up for the buses going to the post parade showcase of floats.

The floats were parked at the end of the parade route along Sierra Madre Boulevard and Washington Boulevard.

Some of the crowd behind the City of Los Angeles float "Endless Entertainement"

We spent almost a full four hours at the post parade. It was a lot of fun, although I was overdressed for the warm temperatures.  We made the full circuit of the floats, starting at the north end, moving south, west, and then finally to the east exit. 

Seeing them up close and personal was really interesting.  The crowds were heavy, but not impossible.

Western Asset Management Co. float, "So Close, Yet Safari Away"

We obviously had a long way to go before home and the sun was going down quickly, so we headed out.  We made our way on foot down Sierra Madre Villa Ave.  It was a walk of about 0.8 mile to Foot Hill Boulevard, where Paul had already identified several possible places to eat with his phone.  We ate at a wonderful upscale burger place (Hook Burger, I think) that was essentially across the street from the Sierra MadreVilla metro station.

Rejuvenated after the long afternoon on our feet, we made the short walk to the metro station for the trip back downtown to Union Station.  This time we came in on another level, which gave us an opporunity to see the beautiful waiting room.  It looked like something out of a movie.  Who knew?

Waiting room in LA's Union Station, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Union_Passenger_Terminal

From there it was an uneventful trip back to the car via the red line, then on to Santa Barbara.

As I said in the beginning, nothing could capture how wonderful a day this was with my three favorite people in the world.  However, maybe this will help.  BTW, I recommend full screen and set to high def using the settings (revolving gear) on the lower right (after the video starts).

Be kind.  This is my first attempt at anything like this and I know it is not perfect.  Moreover, it was not something I had in mind ahead of time.  If I had, I would have taken additional pictures that chronicled the day.  Any day with my family is a great day, but hopefully this will help show how this was a particularly special day where one of my "dreams came true".