Rose Parade Floats

Today, we decided to go look at the Rose Parade Floats. In all my years here in SoCal, I have never been to the parade live or gone to see the floats on display the week after. David and I figured there would be a crowd, but figured it would not be too bad. Who wants to see a bunch of glued on flowers anyways, except for us.

Boy howdy were we wrong. IT WAS PACKED!! I normally do not mind crowds, but today even I was annoyed. Not only did we have to pay to park a mile away from where they were but we had to pay to get in and then it was wall-to-wall people. We were shoulder to should most of the time and all moved together like a herd of cattle.

I was able to take some picture while moving and a few times I found an open pocket near a float and shoved Bella in it for a photo opp. Mental note for next year - do not wait until 2:30pm and instead be there when the gates open. I've been told, not only is it cooler, there are also less people.

Now, with all that said; it was still amazing. The details on the floats are outstanding. My favorite was the bugle playing soldier guy (not sure what to call him). He was so tall and the colors were so vibrant; pictures and TV do not do this float justice. I also really like the Ten Commandments float with the Arc of the Covenant. I am now determined to take advantage of the Family Day that is offered to Kaiser Permanente employees, which allows us to come down and volunteer to help with the float. I think Bella will be big enough next year and would really enjoy it! Going to see the floats on display will now be a yearly thing. Maybe next year I can convince David to go see the parade live, maybe even camp out....I won't be holding my breath for that one! lol