While the rest of the country is recovering from their New Year’s Eve party, in Pasadena, California, the new year gets started early.
Rose Parade
The Tournament of Roses Rose Parade kicks off at 8 a.m. on 1 January, and if you’re not already awake, the sound of the U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit plane going overhead will take care of that.
We are fortunate to live within walking distance of the parade route. On New Years Day 2022 we headed down at about 9 a.m. It was a beautiful sunny day and, thanks to the pandemic, the streets were not that crowded.
It’s a lot of fun to see the intricate floats, the horseback riders, and the precisely-in-step marching bands. We stayed a while but were home in time for coffee and to watch the replay of the parade on TV. We put our feet up before we headed out to the next activity: the Rose Bowl football game.
Rose Bowl Football Game
This year we were lucky enough to secure the opportunity to buy tickets to the 108th Rose Bowl Football Game in the Pasadena resident’s lottery.
We were joined by some friends and the four of us walked to the game, which was played between the Utah Utes and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
After much rigmarole to get into the stadium (vax card, metal detector, ticket check), then getting caught in a crush of people between the line for the hot dog stand and the line for the bathrooms, and then getting totally confused about where our seats were, we finally got settled for the game.
The fans from each team were mixed together so it didn’t matter that we didn’t have a team. The pre-game marching bands were excellent, the stealth bomber flew impressively low over the stadium before kick-off, and the game was a lot of fun. It was really REALLY loud.
New Years Resolutions
What else can you do in Pasadena in January? Start your new year’s resolutions!
Somehow, it’s always been raining in the week between Christmas and New Year in Pasadena, but then the rain stops and becomes crisp and clear with the mountains coated in snow: the perfect weather for a bike ride. The San Gabriel River Trail, a short drive from Pasadena, is a nice easy ride for 2 January.
Hope your 2022 got off to a good start!
Perpetually Expat 
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