Whew, the past few days were filled with activity. I had a lot of fun attending the Rose Parade. It was a a little bit for fun and a little bit for work, which is why I was busy blogging and tweeting live from the parade. But in the end, I had a great time and it was well worth going. If you ever have the opportunity to plan a visit to the Rose Parade, do it at least once. It is a fun experience. We got to the parade route around 6:00 AM so we could get to our seats. Some people had started camping out as early as noon the prior day to secure a prime space on the sidewalk along the parade route. As I was attending for my company I was fortunate to have tickets to the viewing stands, so I as long as I arrived before they close off streets, I didn't have to get there much earlier. I wore layers of clothes to keep warm- it was only in the mid-forties at that pre-dawn hour. If you ever go, be sure to eat before you head over, and bring a thermos of hot cawfee or a bottle of water. Its virtually impossible to find anything once you are on the parade route. Once the parade began it was magic! There was excitement in the crowd, estimated at a million plus people along the entire route. 
above: Watching dawn break at the parade route in Pasadena
above: The Natural Balance Pet Food float- certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Biggest Parade Float in history! It was massive,
above: the Natural Balance float approaches, in the front are Dick Van Patten and his son Jimmy Van Patten.
above: a close up of the Van Patten's. Jimmy is holding the new bulldog puppy, named "Sully" in honor of Captain Chesley Sullenberger who landed that airplane in the Hudson River last year and saved all those peoples lives.
above: Tillman prepares to go down the slope on his snowboard. The top of the ski slope was 16' high.
above: Tillman in action, snowboarding down on the float!
above: Another great shot of Tillman in action as the crowd cheered on. Snowboarding bulldogs were the hit of the parade! In fact there has been so much interest, Natural Balance actually now has Tillman Dog treats, and a plush dog toy of both Tillman and Rose (see below):
above: I bought the toys for my nieces who loved playing with them! Tillman even has a Fan Shop on my company's website. (sorry for sounding commercial there)
Here are the rest of my parade photos. Click on them to BIGGIFY for easier viewing
above: All American Cowgirl Chicks
above: City of Burbank float
above: Cal Poli University float
above: City of Cerritos float
above: I don't know how he did it, but this guy "lassoed" his rope around his horse the entire time.
above: the Kaiser Permanente float had lots of over-sized fruits and veggies
above: this Scissor Wizard float featured an origami dragon
Marching Bands Galore:
above: our Mighty Marines Marching band
above: the Mexico float
above: Rain Bird float featured Jack Hanna
above: the Rose Bowl (football) float
above: the Shanghai China float featured Jackie Chan
I hope you enjoyed my photos. Happy New Year to you. -Rick Rockhill
14 comments:
I loved the floats! Rose was so cute in her tutu going down the slide... made me giggle like a child...
Lois- she really was a cutie-pie, and was clearly having a lot of fun too.
I loved every float (I always do) and it is so nice to see your photos of them. What I want to know is how did the dogs get to the top of the slide after going down? Did they walk in the belly of the float?
kenju- nope- there was a doggy chairlift that brought them back up. Look at the two little mini dog houses along the side, they went back up the slope so the dogs could keep going!
It looks like you had a GREAT Time, Rick...! It is wonderful to see all these pictures. Thanks for that.
That skateboarding dog gets me every time. So cute! Thank you for sharing all of the beautiful pictures-we're so lucky to have you to share them with us.
My partner has a Tillman Jones, she will love seeing this post. HNY
Thanks for the photos. We were in transit and didn't get to watch the parade at all.
I just LOVE the bands. So exciting that you were actually there! The Natural Balance float was WONDERFUL!!
certainly a lot more colorful than all the snow we are seeing here. thanks for sharing all the great shots!
Great photos, Rick! Thanks for sharing.
Happy New Year, Rick! The photos were fun.
I was following your FB updates and loved your descriptions. Thanks for posting the pics!
Isn't it fun? We used to live right off the parade route. People would park their Winnebagos on the street, and it was like a big multi-day party. One thing people don't realize... that in real life, some of the floats are wonderfully fragrant!
Isn't it fun? We used to live right off the parade route. People would park their Winnebagos on the street, and it was like a big multi-day party. One thing people don't realize... that in real life, some of the floats are wonderfully fragrant!
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