Up and at it at 4 am to catch the bus at 6 am. We were very grateful to be driven into the parade area. Talk about congestion. The sidewalks were 10 deep with people who had slept there several nights to save their place. Some had even had a campfire in the gutters of the street. We had to walk a couple of blocks to our grandstand. This parade route is about 5 miles long and I think we were at mile 4. The parade started at 8 a.m. and the first float arrived at our location at 9:15. I think we could have stayed in bed longer....
Here are the Jacobs and the Logans in the bleachers with about 3 layers of clothing. It was cold at the beginning but warmed up quickly. The bench in front of us didn't stay empty long.
Here you can see Colorado Street and some of the crowds.
I took a lot of pictures but will only show you the better ones. Don't forget to click on it if you want to see it larger to get the details.
Italian float
The rose in the middle of this float opened and closed.
The Year of the Rat
The Sweepstakes winner.. the Rain Bird float.
Check out the tail on the white peacock.
Kaiser Permanente float, Hawaiian theme. The dolphins moved up and down.
The palm trees have orchids trailing down from the fronds.
Here are the Jacobs and the Logans in the bleachers with about 3 layers of clothing. It was cold at the beginning but warmed up quickly. The bench in front of us didn't stay empty long.
Here you can see Colorado Street and some of the crowds.
I took a lot of pictures but will only show you the better ones. Don't forget to click on it if you want to see it larger to get the details. 
Italian float
The rose in the middle of this float opened and closed.
The Year of the Rat
The Sweepstakes winner.. the Rain Bird float.
Check out the tail on the white peacock.
Kaiser Permanente float, Hawaiian theme. The dolphins moved up and down.
The palm trees have orchids trailing down from the fronds.
This guy must be 60 feet tall. In order to get under the overpasses they have to lower the whole body down.
This float depicted the olympics in China
The clusters at the back of the Beijing float represent fireworks.
Some of the SKP people worked on the LA Dodger float. They cut blue straw flowers to apply to the blue areas.
McDonald's float with cancer fighters and survivors on it.
The Egyptian float
The Lutheran Hour float with the manger scene.
Of course our favorite horses pulling the St. Louis float. 
It depicted the Lewis & Clark journey west.
Lion's Club float
Valentine's Day
The middle tube rotated around as it travelled.
The Mexican float. Be sure to look at the man by the orange skirt. That is Raoul Rodriguez who designs most of the Fiesta floats (the prize winners) and he is carrying his blue parrot.
3 comments:
What a fabulous trip you had! Your photos are wonderful. I love the Rose Parade. I am always glued to the tv to watch it.
Safe travels.
Hugs
Myrna & Bob - Love the pictures of the Jan 1 2008 Rose Parade. I would like to use two of them, #100-1971 and #100-1972, the Kaiser Permanente float. My wife works for Kaiser and we worked on that float. I have a story to tell about that build and the pictures would help. It will be on my blog at PaulJWillett.com. I'll give you full credit for the photos, of course.
Please let me know if it's OK to use your two photos. Thanks!
Paul Willett
Myrna & Bob - I used two of your pictures for a blog post of mine at PaulJWillett.com (see it at http://wp.me/p3tdUw-lt ). If there's any kind of issue with using your photos, please let me know and I'll fix it. Thanks!
Paul Willett
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