Tournament of Roses

One our first stops in Pasadena was to see the floats being decorated. Up close you can really see the detail and amount of work it takes to decorate them entirely out of plant material.

Behind Peter and Kayla you can see floats being worked on. 

The complimentary rose at the end of looking at the floats is a nice parting gift.

That night (December 30), Stanford held a pep rally at the Santa Monica Pier. We met up with some friends before the rally, and Mary was able to stop in for a quick hello.

After the pep rally, the LSJUMB played a concert. They dressed in "rally," which is code for "crazy get-ups." Mary's choice for the evening were her Wisconsin (as in "University of") game bibs.

The next day the four of us enjoyed some gorgeous weather in the Olvera Street area of Los Angeles, as well as Little Tokyo. We had a super delicious Mexican lunch on Olvera Street, which is the original Los Angeles. One of the things we learned during our visit is that the original name for Los Angeles is El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.  (Yes, I am being completely serious.)

That night we picked up Mary at her hotel in Universal City and went to a nearby Japanese restaurant for a New Year's Eve dinner. We had a fun night of being together and eating some yummy sushi.

It was bright and early, but the Rose Parade was fantastic. I probably said it last year but I'll say it again - it's one of those things that you have to see to believe. It's pretty on TV, but it's so much better in person. Of course, the highlight for us was the Stanford Band. If you didn't catch it on TV, here's a link to a short video clip showing the footage from three different telecasts. 

We needed warm clothing for the parade, but once the sun came out it was back to t-shirts for pre-game tailgating!

It was a great game, but the result wasn't what Stanford fans hoped for. Still, we had a fantastic time cheering for the Cardinal, and mostly cheering for our favorite band, the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band. As always there were cheers and jeers in the media for the band; this little piece is one of my favorite cheers.

I think my favorite part of the day was the post-game concert. After the game ended the band waited patiently for the festivities on the field to finish up and die down. And then they assembled on a little corner of the field and played a festive concert. This little performance represents what I love about this band, which is about celebrating the moment.

We followed the band out to their buses and gave a big hug to our favorite player. (That's her in the Shane Skove eye black.) After marching in the five and a half mile parade and playing all day at the game, they were all tired, but still energized by such a fantastic experience as they'd had the past three days. We gave Mary a big hug and said so long.

We all had a good night's sleep and then we still had a few hours before we had to be at the airport. So Brad drove us over to Venice Beach and we walked around and enjoyed a superbly gorgeous day before heading east to much colder weather. It was a perfect way to end our stay.

But wait, there's more! Mary stayed on in Los Angeles as one of her band friends lives there. His parents were nice enough to host her and two other band friends. I know these kids enjoyed having a couple of laid back days. They drove back to school yesterday and classes start again tomorrow. So it's back to the books (and back to the band - it's basketball season afterall!), but after a wonderful and certainly memorable time in Pasadena.