We so much enjoyed our trip to the Rose Parade in 2007 that we decided to go again this year. So when we got a weather window in mid-December we hitched up the RV and headed south and west for the holidays.
2010 Pasadena Rose Parade Rally Itinerary
We headed south on I-25 through Las Vegas, NM to Las Cruces, NM where we enjoyed a dinner at LaPosta on the square in old Mesilla and spent a day visiting the Stahmann Pecan Orchard (no tours) and old town Mesilla. We bought pistachios, a tortilla warmer, roasted raspberry chipotle sauce (a great dip!), a dream catcher for the house, and potato leek soup. We had a bonus shopping day (for us)!
12/15/09 to 12/21/09
We headed on west to Tucson with a stop to wash the camper and truck at a self-service truck/car wash in Wilcox, AZ. The rig sure gets dirty traveling in the winter! It cost $4.50 and did a great job in nine minutes. We will not be a disgrace at our next RV park!
Arrived in the Tucson area and met June and Jim Mayor (travelers with us on the OAT Turkey tour) for dinner at La Fuente in Tucson. We talked for two hours and had good Mexican dinners and heard a good guitar entertainer.
Spent the rest of our Tucson time visiting our friends Peggy and Patsy; shopping at our favorite clothes store - Bealls; visiting Tubac for an enjoyable warm afternoon browsing the shops; and visiting the Farmers’ Market in Green Valley where we bought a CD of music played on a “Chapman Grand Stick Touchboard.” We were fascinated by the mechanics and technology of the instrument. It has a very nice sound.
Chapman Grand Stick Touchboard
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The weather was generally pleasant and warm (unlike our last trip when it snowed), a nice change from the wind and cold in Estes Park.
12/20/09 to 12/21/09
We packed up and headed on west to the San Diego area via Yuma, AZ, arriving at our Ramona Canyon RV resort in the early afternoon.
12/22/09 to 12/28/09 - San Diego area
Six days in the San Diego area found us doing some of the things we always do while there: visit the Zoo; go to the Wild Animal Park at least twice (including on Christmas Day); visit Old Town for a nice Mexican lunch at Casa De Reyes. We did some new things this trip: went to the San Diego Ikea store (we miss being able to shop there; supposedly one will come to Denver sometime soon); we drove to the Santa Ysabel casino for a $4.95 prime rib dinner (twice) that was delicious; we drove up (2,000 feet more elevation) to the “historic” town of Julian, which is “famous” for its apple orchards and products (it crowded with people just walking, browsing the gift shops and eating snacks).
The San Diego weather was a little rainy and a couple of the nights at the campground, which is above 2000 ft., were cold enough (27 deg. one night) to nearly freeze the water lines.
At the Wild Animal Park we took the new (since we were there last) Journey into Africa tour several times. We saw our favorites – okapi, gerenuk, lions, cheetahs, and giraffes.
Cheetah
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Cheetahs |
Okapi
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Gerenuk |
Lion
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Lions |
Curious Giraffes
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Giraffes are truly curious creatures. The Cape Buffalo is one of the meanest, most dangerous animals on the planet. The four pictures below illustrate what happens when a curious giraffe tries to greet a new Cape Buffalo. Fortunately for him, his fellow giraffes came to his rescue and clued him in about Cape Buffalo.
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Hello. What's your name? |
None of your business. Go away!
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It is really unsafe to bother that guy. He may charge you and hit you with his big horns.
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Ok. I guess I better go somewhere else. |
On Monday, 12/28 we got up early, showered, emptied the black and gray tanks, filled the fresh water tank, and had the propane tank filled. We hitched up and drove to Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, CA to join our Fantasy RV Rose Parade Rally. We were parked in the front row nicely near the food tent and with more space than the other four rows of RVs.
After we got settled and registered we took a walk around the huge parking lot, rested, and then joined the group in the tent at 5 PM for orientation and then dinner. The four princesses from the Sierra Madre float (which we will work on tomorrow) made a presentation about the float, the work, and the flowers. It was interesting. For dinner we had beef tips or grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, grilled mushrooms, eggplant and zucchini, salad, rolls, apple cobbler, and drinks. We had “Symphony” wine from Pahrump, NV which is my favorite wine. We had a nice chat with a couple from Wyoming and a couple from Monterey, CA.
Tuesday, 12/29/09 – Rose Parade Rally
After breakfast in the tent, we got on the buses to go to Sierra Madre to cut roses and put them in water vials to be returned to the refrigerator truck until tomorrow when they will be stuffed into the Sierra Madre float. It is fun to feel like we are part of the parade.
Decorations ready to go on the float
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Organic materials used for decorating the float |
Organic materials used for decorating the float - many of these are put on seed-by-seed with tweezers |
Cutting rose stems and stuffing them in water filled vials
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After lunch in the tent we got on the buses and went to the Huntington Library. This year we had a docent who oriented us to the buildings and grounds and then we went into the art gallery to see the original Blue Boy and Pinkie paintings. Then we went to the library of rare historical books. My favorites are one of the two oldest Gutenberg bibles, Virgil’s Aeneid, and the original “elephant page” Audubon book of birds. A new exhibit had historical moments in science – very interesting – Newton, Galileo, Vesalias, Kepler, Watson and Crick, etc.
We had an early dinner in the tent and those going to the Crystal Cathedral Christmas pageant left for the evening. We stayed home and rested.
Wednesday, 12/30/09 – Rose Parade Rally
It is raining today – a light, misty drizzle - but we did all our scheduled activities anyway. In the morning we were driven to the Rose Bowl grounds and stood in line for 1 ½ hours to get inside the large pavilion where 10 or 12 of the commercial floats were being assembled. We walked across a catwalk and looked down on a beehive of activity. Volunteer groups – schools, scouts, teams, etc. – were cutting roses and putting them in vials like we did on Tuesday, breaking off carnation heads and sticking toothpicks in them, cutting or pulling petals off of straw flowers and daisies, putting glue or paste on a part of a float and sticking seeds on, etc. It is interesting how the floats come together. We spent 12 minutes inside and then went down to the other large pavilion and walked around several more floats and the old cars and stagecoaches that will be in the parade. The Cal-Poly University float is always a favorite and it will be again this year. Another float will honor the Tuskegee Airmen and four of them were present to sign postcards of the float. The parade theme is “A Cut Above the Rest.”
Roses in vials of water
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A beehive of activity - lots of volunteers and flowers |
More flowers |
Details!
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After lunch back in the tent (the hot dogs, hamburgers, and hot chocolate revived us), we were taken to Pasadena City College for a band-fest performance. We sat on wet metal bleacher seats in the rain but our ponchos and lots of layers underneath kept us warm and dry. We listened to the Pasadena City College Honor Band, and high school bands from Port Orchard, WA, Tennessee, Japan, Illinois, and California. The finale was by the US Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band – they were the best marching and playing. The Japanese band did a cute number to Do, Re, Me. Eight kids in black pants and white shirts pretended to be the piano keys of the scale and did a pushup when their note was played/sung. They also did a “drum show” reminiscent of the Beijing Olympics opening. Too bad it rained the whole time.
Band Fest
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Kansai Honors Green Band from Kyoto, Japan |
US Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band
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US Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band and service men and women in historical uniforms |
Thursday. 12/31/09 – Rose Parade Rally – New Year’s Eve
An easy morning – late breakfast, tour presentations we opted out of, took the truck for a gas fill up (gas here is $2.99 which isn’t bad for California!), and rested. We boarded the parking lot shuttle train to go to the races for lunch and the afternoon racing card. Lunch was a lengthy affair in the Front Runner Restaurant, where we watched the first 4 or 5 races. We studied the racing program and figured out a number of things but did not bet on the ponies. We enjoyed walking back to the paddock and saddling barn and the walking ring where the owners greet their jockeys and then we stood at the rail to watch them thunder by us. They are big and fast! It was a fun afternoon and the weather was very nice.
Statue of Seabiscuit
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In the parade ring |
Replacing the "divots" after a race on the turf track
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Seeing double |
We had a nice New Year’s Eve dinner and celebration in our rally tent. Dinner was pork, scalloped potatoes, string beans, salad, and delicious chocolate layer cake. We had free drinks all evening – more Symphony wine. The tent was decorated for the party and a Dixieland band played almost continually. They were very talented but amped up too loud! We toasted in the New Year on New York time and then ate our pickled herring and lit the second bayberry candle in our RV and were in bed by 10 PM.
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