Yahoo!!! Fuzzy can’t wait; it’s almost Rose Bowl time. If you’re going to the game, here’s the official FishDuck.com road and weather report.
Weather: New Year’s Day: sunny with a high of 58 degrees. For you warm-blooded folks, shorts and sunscreen are in order, there’s no shade in the Rose Bowl. For those used to winter climates, you might take along your Duck sweatshirt, just in case. In the evening, the temperature is expected to drop to 39 degrees.
Traffic: Crummy, trending to unbearable. Though most freeway traffic will be light on New Year’s Day, traffic in and around the game will be horrendous. Parking around Pasadena in the morning will be tighter than a pickle jar lid because of the Rose Bowl Parade. The parade ends at 10 am and the outgoing parade traffic meets the incoming game traffic leading to red tail lights and hot tempers. Fuzzy, small town born and bred, has found that two Prozac and a single Xanax helps to mellow out the world.
Here are some tips for getting to the game without your head exploding. Of course, if you’re on a tour, you’ll leave the driving to your bus driver, Herman. If you’re one of them, just crack open a frosty Rainier and enjoy the ride.
St. Andrew’s Church in Old Pasadena
If you have to do the driving, remember that Pasadena will be congested. If you haven’t sprung for a Rose Bowl parking pass, you’re probably out of luck. It’s too late. Fuzzy recommends that you park in the residential areas north of Old Pasadena and west of Hill Avenue and hike down to the Rose Bowl on either Washington Boulevard or East Mountain Street. Local folks on Washington offer paid parking in their driveways. Prices range from $10 to $30 depending on the distance to the Rose Bowl.
Public transportation in the Los Angeles area is spotty, but the Los Angeles County Metro Transportation Association operates a light rail service to Pasadena via the Gold Line. If you choose this option, exit the train at the Memorial Park Station and hoof two blocks north to the free shuttle at Parsons. There will be signs.
Stadium gates open at noon and the pre-game activities start at 1:30 pm. When Fuzzy and Ming attended the UCLA game, signs said they could score a beer at the Terry Donahue Pavilion, but when they tried to get in, the usher just laughed at them. Maybe the guy didn’t think their duck lips and webbed feet were appropriate. You may want to buy a cold one in the beer garden in the parking lot.
Have fun, be safe and Go Ducks!
Top Photo by Downtowngal at en.wikipedia
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Raised in the Central Oregon mill town of Prineville beneath deep blue skies and rim rock, I attended the University of Oregon and during my collegiate summers, I worked in a lumber mill and also fought range fires on the Oregon High Desert for the Bureau of Land Management. After graduating from college at the University of Oregon, I swung from being budding hippy to cop work. I’m still wondering about how that came about. I was a police officer with the Port of Portland and after leaving police work, I obtained an MFA degree in Creative Writing from Vermont College. I live in Portland, Oregon with my wife, my daughter and a spunky bichon frise named Pumpkin. I’ve had short stories publishing in two Main Street Press anthologies. Harkness is my first novel.