The Rose Parade Arrives

---

The last day of the year we visited the making of the Rose Parade floats in the “float building barns”. Actually there's only one large building and many large tents that hold the floats and by the time we arrived they were putting the final touches on and rolling the floats onto the street. Several of one of the floats' participants were creating the small water vials that are afixed to stemmed flowers. They explained that they'd originally come to install the roses on the float but discovered the preliminary work still needed to be accomplished and so they were doing so. There are many food and other vendors spread out on the grounds which turn out to be the Rose Bowl's parking lots. I learned that everything not permanently built will have to be torn down by midnight so the cars can roll in to park for the game the next day. That afternoon we drove down the parade route to see where we're going to sit and see the people gathering, with their warmth ensuring belongings. It looked like a homeless gathering. That evening we gathered for a wonderful dinner at the Cask'n Cleaver Restaurant before hitting the hay early for a 5 AM bus boarding.

The great day we traveled to Orange Boulevard by bus and parked (sardine style) right behind our reserved bleacher seating. Bundled against the cold with layered clothing, we slowly moved through the crowded sidewalks to our seats and awaited the start of the Gala Parade. Right on time the police cars cleared the pedestrians and the bands and floats made their way down the 5 ½ mile course. The bright sun highlighted the moving floral displays and most of the bands played for us. Prior to our buffet lunch we delayered clothing for comfort and then visited the parked floats in a local park before returning home to walk the dogs. Several of our fellow travelers were commiserating about visiting the parade years ago when seeing the pre-parade and post-parade floats were free (now $15/10) and you could come to the parade a couple of hours in advance and get a good view. Of course that was a half a century ago when I was first on the West Coast.

Wednesday was a relaxation day as local SMART RV Club members hosted us to a potluck brunch at our RV park. It was fun to share stories and learn of their activities in Southern California while we enjoyed their delicious food.

---