Big 10 Football Tour

What you might not notice if you're actually awake in time to witness the Rose Parade is that this isn't just another parade where you setup your lawn chair on the side of the street and get to sit wherever you want. 

To get a glimpse of this parade, you either need to camp out alongside the street for a few consecutive days or pay anywhere from $50-$100 for grandstand seats. 

Before I get further into the parade, my first question is: WHY?  I mean seriously, the parade occurs on New Year's Day at 8 AM!  Seriously, can't we send a petition to the parade organizers and say, "By the way, New Year's EVE is the day before the parade - people can't get as jazzed up on the parade with 3 hours of sleep!"

As we rolled into Pasadena, we sat in about 30 minutes of traffic.  The truck in the photo below pulled up beside us and blame it on the night before, but we thought there was a large chunk of meat tied down in the back of this pickup truck.  It turned out to be some sort of blanket. Honest mistake!

We were fortunate enough however to be invited to a "parade party" at a local business in Pasadena, where we both get both street-level views and views from above the crowds.

The party had a mix of both Oho State and Oregon fans, but everyone's attention was not on bickering allegience, but rather all of the delicious food and the parade taking place below.

The parade itself was a mix of floats and marching bands from many local businesses and communities.  What's tough to understand from the photos is that many of these floats are created from thousands of flowers.  The local florists must make a killing during the week of the Rose Bowl.

Below you'll see some interesting floats, including the one sponsored by the Anaheim Angels with current players waving to fans and one that showed many of the architecture in Shanghai, China.

The good news - no reports of bee stings during the parade!

There were a few particularly memorable moments of the parade to me. 

The first was when Jerad Fogle from Subway went by on the float and I asked myself, "How is this guy still relevant?"  I miss the fun mascots like Grimmace (McDonalds), Jack (Jack in the Box), and the Noid (Domino's).

Next was when the Oregon and Ohio State marching bands passed by.  This was a friendly reminder of why I was here and what was coming up next. 

The float of the day however was the "Hot Doggin - Going for the Gold" float presented by Natural Balance Pet Foods.  This float had a large dog at the front and at hut in the back.  A real, live dog woud appear at the front of the hut and ride a mini snowboard down the ice trail in the middle of the float to the bottom and would then take the "ski lift" back up to the top.  It was absolutely amazing how tame these dogs remained as they slid down the ice trail to the bottom. 

Lastly, the true celebrities of the parade were the "pooper scoopers."  A group of 2 or 3 people would woulld all of the horses in white outfits and scoop up their droppings during the parade.  Every time the crowd witnessed them in the act of scooping, they would get an ovation like none other!

Eventually the parade came to a close and the protesters had to keep their cheap thrill by walking at the end of the parade with their signage.  I guess the local law enforcement felt sorry for them because they just let them continue to march on.  Most of the kids ignored them however as they weren't throwing any Tootsie Rolls out with their propaganda. 

Unfortunately, many of the parade-goers left their messes behind, but we all know well that Los Angeles has a tax-free workforce that will clean these streets in no time!