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123rd Rose Parade turned out to be a perfect bouquet
Shelby Dunlap, center, and other Oregon Ducks cheerleaders practice lifts in the early morning hours before stepping off along the Rose Parade route.
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Would-be parade watchers catch a few final moments of sleep shortly before the Rose Parade begins on Monday morning.
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Rose Princess Stephanie Grace Hynes leads a procession to royalty float from the Tournament of Roses headquarters on Monday morning.
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An eagle crowned one Rose Parade float parked on Orange Grove shortly before the parade began on Monday.
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A composite image shows the director of the Oregon Ducks Marching Band and a drummer from the Wisconsin Badgers Marching Band.
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Lorie Judson, a Rose Parade.volunteer from Pasadena, directs traffic on Del Mar Boulevard Monday morning.
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The Rose Parade Royal Court takes their positions on the float that will carry them down Colorado Boulevard.
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Members of the Royal Swedish Navy Cadet Band line up in parade formation as they prepare to step off on the Rose Parade route.
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A Rose Parade volunteer leads a float along Orange Grove in front of the Tournament of Roses headquarters on Monday morning,
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Families warm themselves by the fire as they wait for the Rose Parade to start on Monday morning.
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An Occupy Rose Parade dressed as Mitt Romney walked down Colorado boulevard on Monday morning.
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A large contingent of LA County Sherriff's deputies in tactical gear kept watch over the Occupy Rose Parade march as it rounded the corner from Orange Grove onto Colorado Boulevard.
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Occupy Rose Parade activist prepared an oversized constitution to care along the Rose Parade route. The prop is filled with scores of signatures from Occupy protesters.
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Take almost one-and-a-quarter centuries of tradition. Mix in large amounts of flowers, seeds and leaves to taste, and add a dash of dissent. Combine with an 80-degree January day and serve to a full house. That’s the recipe for today’s near-flawless Tournament of Roses Parade.
During the 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade, 21 marching bands, 43 floats and 26 equestrian units marched along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena today.
The extra-warm weather offered unusual comfort to the tens of thousands of spectators who lined up five and six deep along the 5 1/2 mile course. Many of them had spent the night to secure prime spectator sidewalk space.
21-year-old Mackenzie Fochs, a University of Wisconsin senior, flew out with three friends to see her Badgers square off in the Rose Bowl against the University of Oregon Ducks.
“I’m here to see the Badgers win hopefully against Oregon. I’m anticipating a very interesting game. And I’m also here to see the Rose Parade," she said.
Fochs added that she is currently a Horticulture major, "so it kind of relates to my major. It’s a good reason for coming here."
Only a couple of parade floats needed towing this year.
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Afterward the official event, approximately 4,000 Occupy activists marched along the route without incident.
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