"Want to go to the Rose Bowl parade?" my mother asked earlier last year.
"Heck yeah!" was my response. My husband, who grew up in Southern California, and my sons went "meh."
So I left them at home and Mom and I went to the parade.
She signed us up for a trip with Cartan Tours.
So yes, I was one of those goofy old people on a tour bus, but it really was nice be chauffeured around Southern California and not have to deal with the traffic and trying to figure out where to go. As long as you were on your tour bus on time, they handled the rest.
Our trip started with a tour of Fiesta Floats in one of those towns near Pasadena. It was hard to tell exactly where we were in SoCal - it all seemed like one huge suburb to me.
The float companies build most of the floats for the parade, then volunteers come to cover every inch of float surface with natural materials - roses, of course, other flowers, berries, coconut fiber, seeds, beans, and more. We saw the float that ferries the Rose Bowl royalty, the Dole pineapple float, floats for Miracle Gro and the TV show The Bachelor, and the float that would transport the family of Marshal Louis Zamporini.
One weird thing was that in a warehouse full of flowers, none of them smelled at all, even the carnations. Theses are hothouse babies bred just for their looks, I suppose. They did look gorgeous.
After oohing, aahing and buying some souvenirs, we went to the Santa Monica pier, where it was cold and windy. But the seafood was tasty.
That night we ate at Don the Beachcomber. I felt I was reliving my 1970s childhood.
The good thing about travelling with a bunch of 70-somethings? I felt quite youthful!
We had more tours on Wednesday, then a dinner at our hotel. Our New Year's Day alarm clock went off at 4 a.m. for a 5 a.m. departure on the bus. Fortunately, breakfast sandwiches and coffee were provided. We were joining 750,000 people along the parade route.
Our bleacher seats were chilly at 7 a.m., but hey, we were at the Rose Bowl parade! It started promptly at 8 a.m. with a flyover by a Stealth bomber. The parade was fantastic. I loved all of the floats and the bands. Everyone seemed ridiculously happy to be there, and some proud grandparents of band members performing in the parade were on our tour, as well.
It emptied out at 10 a.m., then came some small home-made floats protesting fracking, capitalism, and corporations in general.
"You don't see these on TV!" my mom said. I laughed.
The next day, we flew home. It was a fun trip, and one I'll always remember sharing with my mom.
