
I have the good fortune of having a relative who lives right at the end of the Rose Parade route. This allows my family to have good seats and a warm bed the night before. My wife used to camp out to get good seats, now that we have this good fortune I want to share it with you, the LAist readers in the form of this photo essay. The end of a 5.5 mile parade can lead to some interesting visuals. The last 100 feet separate the veterans from the first timers. I want to personally thank the USC Band and LAUSD Band for performing right until the end. All the people had gotten off Illinois float before it got to us, that was a first. This year had some spectacular floats and just perfect weather. This was toped off with a dynamic sunset sky as a backdrop for the floats in the viewing area. As expected a protest of the Chinese Olympic float happened but it was peaceful.
Enjoy the Photography.






























Awesome essay, but no photo of that spectacular Day of the Dead float? Or did I miss it. That was the best float ever!
Looks like the mayor jumped ship too. He was riding the S.S. Los Angeles and he waved to me. He is a fine looking man, too bad I share the name of his ex-wife, he'd never go for that.
Wow, what a perfect sky - and great job on the cropping!
I especially like the stag's ass - no, OK, the lion. And the baseball pleayer looks like a real person.
And there are no whirling, moving, colorful spinning objects to make me too woozy to watch the real parade.
Amazing pictures, thanks for sharing Brad!
Great photo essay. I never knew what the floats looked like up close.
i love that shot
Really awesome stuff. I love them all, but especially the car and the baseball player, which is just awe-inspiring. Also, in my mind, the World Literacy Day float is running along with Stairway to Heaven blasting from the speakers.