When I was in high school (many, many years ago) my two best friends and I would spend New Years Eve camped out on Colorado Boulevard. It would get pretty cold and there was a lot of noise with the number of people and the cars driving up and down the street. Needless to say we didn't sleep much, but we did have good seats for the parade. Even if we were almost too tired to watch.
I have fond memories of those times. You can buy bleacher seats, but when you're a teenager staying up all night on the street seems like more fun, plus it's free. We even had the opportunity one year to help decorate a float. I haven't seen a Rose Parade since those high school days. Since we were going to be in California at New Years I decided it would be fun to at least see the floats.
We decided to go to the after viewing which goes from the afternoon of Jan 1st and all day the 2nd & 3rd. It only costs $10 dollars per person and you really get an up close view of the floats.
Look at all the masses of beautiful flowers
If we ever do this again we will go earlier in the day. We went the afternoon of the 2nd and it was very crowded. I later read it is better first thing in the morning. But in spite of that we enjoyed seeing all the wonderful floats. Here are a few of the photos I took.
Every inch of a float must be covered with some form of organic material. Besides flowers they use seeds, grasses, bark, spices, etc.
Look at this bee hive, they used peanuts to represent bees.
When you're a Downton Abbey fan how could I not have my picture taken in front of this float.
These are just a few of the photos I took. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Pasadena this is something you should definitely put on your bucket list.
A thought to ponder: "When it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain there would be no rainbow."
Gilbert K. Chesterson
Participating in: Share Your Cup, Grand Social, Share the Joy, Seasons, Our World Tuesday
What would we do without lovely roses. Thank you for sharing on SYC! Jo
ReplyDeleteGosh, really gorgeous! I love the peanut bees and all of the beautiful flowers! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
I grew up not far from Pasadena so we frequently went to the parade when I was a child. And then of course my high school days were spent camping out on the parade route each New Year's. Those were crazy, but fun days.
ReplyDeleteThanks for evoking some old memories and for Sharing Your Cup!
Wow! What beautiful photography on this post. I have a friend that lives near there and I am always so envious of the beautiful pictures she posts also. What a great time.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to see so much colour during this gloomy winter over here. I've not heard of this and parade but looks amazing. thanks for linking up to #sharethejoy
ReplyDeleteHaving lived for 3 decades in Southern Calif.(now in North. CA) your life looks like that of a Californian:):) even your looks:)
ReplyDeleteAh, the Rose parade, I knew people who worked on the floats - they start in Sept.! Beautiful and sumptuous captures!
Many thanks for being a part of SEASONS and am happy to have met a Californian! Hope to "see" you back next week:)
I would love to see this parade in person but man you got some gorgeous photos of it.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Southern California (Compton) then lived in Long Beach, Torrance, Cerritos, and Pomona. After more than fifty years in the southland we moved north to Powell River, BC. Like you we return to visit and attend USC sports events. Other than that, we are much happier in our new remote home. - Margy
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