Isn’t it fun when you finally get to take that special trip you have been dreaming about for years?

That is what just happened to my husband and I. We went to the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. For well over 50 years we have watched it on TV and said every year it would be fun to go. So this was the year.

But we didn’t just “go to the parade”. I booked a tour with a fabulous company called City Escape Vacations. They have been taking people on this tour for over 35 years and they do it the best. Here is my story:

On Dec. 30th, we checked into the Westin Hotel at LAX airport. This is the headquarter hotel for City Escape. Before this we had received a large packet with total details of what the tour would include. Almost moment by moment steps so there were no surprises (only to those who didn’t read their docs!!). There were over 500 people booked with this company and each person had many choices of what to do for the 2 days. This first night was a buffet dinner at the hotel with Bo Adams, the president of City Escapes, explaining all the details. He accompanied us the whole time.

Dec. 31st we started with a 4:15 AM wake up call. This early start was to miss the hordes of tourists who would come later. And it was well worth it. We had breakfast and then onto motor coaches to view the float pavilions.

Want to know more?

Read all of our blog posts about the Rose Bowl/Rose Parade.