EXOTERIC - Information Worth Sharing: ex·o·ter·ic
-adj
1. Not confined to an inner circle of disciples or initiates.
2. Comprehensible to or suited to the public; popular.
3. Of or relating to the outside; external.

I've lived in Southern California all of my life. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade has been on my list of local things to experience for a long time. This year we finally got a chance to go and see the parade. We headed up to my in-laws house New Year's Eve and spent the night. They live about 30 minutes away from Pasadena. My sister-in-law, Lisa works as a registrar at the Norton Simon Museum, which is right on the corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard. She was able to get us free tickets and VIP parking at the museum. We sat in the front row right across from the KTLA TV broadcast booth. If you are going to watch the parade, this is the way to do it!

We arrived at around 7am and really didn't get stuck in too much traffic on the way in. Our VIP parking pass got us through a couple of road blocks quickly. The streets were packed with people before the parade started. It took multiple passes by the police on motorcycles to clear out the parade route. The parade officially started at 8am, but the first 15 minutes is an opening show that takes place just around the corner from where we were located. Once the parade started it is a steady stream of equestrians, marching bands and floats. I took lots of pictures. About an hour into the parade the B-2 Bomber made a flyover.

After the parade ended, it took us about an hour to fight our way through the traffic back on to the freeway. We headed back to my in-laws house and watched USC beat Penn State in the Rose Bowl game. Go Trojans! A great way to start off 2009.