The Rose Parade has rolled down Colorado Blvd in Pasadena CA, the Stealth Bomber has flown over the Rose Bowl to kick off the football game (and also passed over my house). I don't think I will ever get used to seeing that plane or the rumble it creates when it flies over! All that is left is wonderful memories and sketches of the Rose Parade floats.
Judy Schroeder and I went through the procedures of making phone calls, getting permission, checking in, getting I.D. bracelets...but it was worth it! 
We spent an entire day sketching. We visited two float locations.The first building was very challenging to say the least. The floats still had a masses amount of work to be done and the scaffolding obscured most views. I sat in an area I thought would be protected and still get a view. Volunteers were working above me and I constantly got showered with little pieces of greenery. The second location was much better. Most of the scaffolding was down and we had great views of the floats. My only error was sitting where walking tours came by every 10 minutes. Most of the people thought we were there as part of the tour. One of the tour guides starting pointing us out and said "here are the resident artists" Judy has kept a list of the questions we were asked.
What are you doing? Are you in a class? Why do you do this? Are you selling your sketches? Are you designing next years float?...All in all it was fun and I don't mind the questions.The theme for this years parade Rose Parade was "Just Imagine...".I look forward to sketching the 124th Rose Parade next time it rolls into town!
Happy Sketching!
Brenda
