Pack a Bag! Your next Trip is Planned

My Dad is pretty much the best vacation planner ever and he has rocked out a guest blog that basically plans your next vacation for you! If you love Parades, DIY, and anything Amazing then go ahead and get the luggage out & frequent flyer miles ready, because this trip is by far a favorite from our bucket list.  Take it away Dad!

In December, 2015 my daughter and I flew to LA to be a part of the 2016 Rose Bowl Parade and Float Building.  Many have been surprised how involved we could be -  soooo….. I thought I would share some tips about making the trip so others can do what we did – it was tons of fun, educational, and a great trip!

​Airport – we flew into the Ontario, CA airport.  Easy to navigate and airfare was a bit cheaper on Southwest than the other LA airports.  We stayed six days!
Hotels – Ontario area – located in a good place to get to all the things we wanted to do.  Also, had good restaurants around and Ontario Mills Mall for shopping.

Float Building – we volunteered for the Lutheran Hour float.  The organization is Petal Pushers and there were about 10 floats in the one warehouse.  Ask to be given different tasks throughout your shift to give you an idea of everything involved.  Be sure to see the Flower Room!  
​Here is a link to learn about how to volunteer:  https://www.lhm.org/volunteer/petalpusher.asp

​Bands – If you love bands like we do you will want to go to Band Fest – three shows – each show with a different group of bands.  Go to 1, 2 or all 3 – you will love the energy of each band!  Get there a bit early so you get a good seat.  Info:  https://www.tournamentofroses.com/events/bandfest
Parade – We ordered seats in the bleachers and we liked how it helped us capture great pictures from a distance – we would do this again – we recommend about middle ways up so you can capture pictures of the very large floats.  Here is current link to order tickets: https://www.tournamentofroses.com/events/roseparade

Getting to the parade – we studied this out and did a trial run – I recommend you leave your hotel by 5 AM (there was little traffic) Take I-10 to Route 57 to I-210 and go to the Sierra Madre Metro Gold Line train station – free parking which is a big savings over parking in Pasadena – purchase an unlimited ride ticket (they were $8 per person) and take the metro to the station nearest your seats.  Info: https://media.metro.net/riding_metro/bus_overview/images/804.pdf
The Game:  Since we were not sports fans and Illinois was not in the game we did not go.  But there were many that were.  It makes for a long day but if you love football then you will want to research that out.  

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Other things to do in LA – we took a Sunday morning tour of LA – great time to do it because no one else is out.  We also went to the Nixon and Reagan Libraries.  We managed to get in a couple of restaurants from Top Chef contestants and go to Venice Beach and enjoy a beautiful afternoon.  ​

Well that is about it on tips that we learned.  If you make the trip we hope you find this info helpful and your time to be as great as ours!    -Craig