Rose Parade

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Pasadena on Monday, January 2nd 2012 in celebration of the 123rd Rose Parade. Thousands camped overnight to stake their spot along the five and a half mile parade route. No, we weren't one of those hardcore parade-goers. We actually got invited to go by a friend of Rae's co-worker and it turned out that he got us tickets in the grandstands and lives only a few blocks from the parade route which meant that we could park at his apartment and walk to our seats right before the parade started at 8am. Pasadena is about a hour and half drive from where we live so our day started at 4am. We wanted to be at the apartment by 6:30am which meant we had to leave the house by 5am.

This year's theme was "Just Imagine...". I've always seen the parade on TV so it was real treat to be able to witness the spectacle in person. It's one of those must-do activities if you live in SoCal.

The crowd waiting in anticipation of the first float

The start of the 143rd Rose Parade

Wish that tree wasn't there

Mr. Kenny G himself

This was a cool float

Apparently this guy won Dancing with the Stars or something...

Rae enjoyed these little ponies

Can you guess what their job was? Pooper scoopers!

Marching band from Lubbock, TX

One of my favorite floats

People were everywhere - even the rooftops.

Kyoto Tachibana marching band

After 2 hours, 43 floats, 21 bands, and 18 equestrian units, the parade came to an end. We had a great time and couldn't have asked for a better first experience at the Rose Parade.