There are certain things I looked forward to every winter vacation. Getting up early to see what Santa brought. Eating exotic goodies. Watching the Rose Parade on tv with mom. It was amazing what could be done with flowers, plants and seeds. This year I looked forward to seeing the floats in person.
Walking among the floats was like walking through rose garden sculpted by Edward Scissorhands. It was wondrous getting up close to see how each float was constructed and to smell the flowers. You can see the small pieces of wood each person on the float stood on. A few floats had the driver’s door open so you could see where the driver sat. A few floats had the engine running so you could watch the animation.
4 hours is about the amount of time needed to see all the floats with a rest break or 2. There were many places along the way with food, drinks, and porta potties.
The experience was a bit like the Universal Studios tour where you get a behind the scenes look at the magic. Crowd thinned down as the sun set. The pastel colors of the sky accented those of floats.
On the way out they gave out roses from a few of the floats. So soft with a light aroma. A last memento from a wonderful event.
Cathy of mmm-yso has been visiting the floats for years.
Tournament of Roses Post Parade
Sierra Madre Blvd. & E. Washington Blvd.
Pasadena, CA
Too bad the people in white would not let us take home more pieces of the floats. Such a spectacular day!! Beautiful photo’s throughout, love the sunset.
Thanks! Maybe if you stay later they give out more flowers…
Great post! So happy you got to see the floats up close. Most of the flowers are grown to be a certain color or size; scent is unimportant…the dry goods (coffee grounds, onion seeds, hay) do have a strong scent.
Thanks Cathy! It was great seeing the floats in person after years of reading your blog posts about them. 🙂