Catherine Ernst is a member of the Needham B. Broughton High School marching band that will perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade in California today. She has been blogging about the experience at share.triangle.com/broughtonband, where she has also posted pictures. Here is what she posted over the weekend. You also can see a multimedia story on the band by going to newsobserver.com and searching for "drumroll."

SATURDAY

My plane arrived yesterday about 4 p.m. California time. I was on the flight that had a layover in Denver. Luckily, everything went pretty smoothly, and we had no problems with our luggage or making our flights. We then had a two-hour drive to the hotel. By the time we got to the hotel, we were all exhausted and ready for some food. For the rest of the night, we hung out until dinner, and then we all gladly went to our rooms to get a good night's sleep. We had a big day ahead of us. Our first full day in California was a long one!

We ate breakfast at 6 a.m. and then immediately got on the buses to drive to some tents that had nine floats for the parade being decorated. The floats were absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe how detailed everything was. My favorite was a float that had tigers on it. They were gorgeous! After that, we headed to a local high school that let us use its field to practice. When we got there, the first thing we did was practice the field show for about an hour. We then marched on the track playing our parade music. When we finished, it was about 12. We then headed to L.A. for lunch and then to Hollywood Boulevard to see the walk of fame and Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

While we were there, my group had pictures taken with Batman and Capt. Jack Sparrow. We all had a lot of fun seeing all the stars on the sidewalk. It was a very fun and exciting experience. From there, we had about an hourlong drive back to the hotel, and we got back about 6 p.m. An hour later, we had dinner. Then we were required to go clean our white marching shoes and get them checked by an adult. We now have a little time to relax before going to bed.

SUNDAY

This morning we performed at Band Fest, which was all the bands that are in the parade performing their field shows. We performed right after Pasadena City College, who had on gorgeous red uniforms. As a whole. we played great. and we were all glad it was the last time we would ever perform our field show. It was a great final run-through.

After we ate lunch, we drove over to the Rose Bowl to get our picture taken. It will be a really nice picture. Then we went back to the buses and changed out of our uniforms and went shopping to look at Rose Bowl souvenirs. It was a great way to unwind.

We are now back at the hotel, and at 5:30 California time we are leaving to go to a medieval dinner.