Lots of Rose Parade Activities

Friday was a driving day: a little over 200 miles, from the foothills of the Sierras back into the hazy air of the central valley.  Here are two photos taken about 15 minutes apart.  In the valley:

After climbing the “Grapevine Hill” on Interstate 5. 

Isn't the sky color a nicer blue?

 

The road got better, and the litter alongside the road decreased somewhat as we left the valley, but the most noticeable change was the clarity of the air.  We aren’t into the LA basin yet, which has the dirty air reputation.  We have stopped for the week just outside the metro area, in a fringe suburb called Castaic.  Our tour group is made up of about 55 individuals from all over the country.  We had an initial meeting Friday night and got our updated agendas. 

 

Saturday morning was spent at a warehouse in Azusa where 5 floats are being prepared.  If you watch the Rose Parade on New Years Day, watch for NBC’s “The Voice”, the 2 football teams (Stanford and Michigan State), plus China Air and Indonesia.  All visible surfaces must be covered with natural material.  We saw people using parsley for the green of the field on the football float, pinto beans for an animal, half a hot red pepper for a plant, and halved brussel sprouts were being prepared for use somewhere.  Paige and Nancy glued shredded coconut flakes to make the yard lines on the Michigan State float. 

 

Meanwhile, Bob helped to unwrap over 30,000 red carnations whose petals will be the red color on “The Voice”.

 

 

The floats are operated by a driver in the rear, who is assisted by a spotter in the front.  There is not much room for either

 

Lots of work remains to be done before float judging takes place next week.  It’s hard to believe they’ll have everything done in time – there was so much detailed work to be done!  They’ll start working 24 hrs a day soon.