Retirement is rosy for a Center Township couple, who just returned from a very special trip.

Lynne Tarcha Hasychak capped off her working years by planning a trip to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., for herself and her husband, Rick, after her retirement in June as a secretary at Butler High School.

“It was on our bucket list,” she said. “We want to do things we’ve never done before, and I thought it would be cool to see the parade in person, and Rick is a huge football fan, so of course he wanted to go to the game.”

Hasychak found Al Brooks Tours online and booked a package that made their trip simple.

She said a coach bus picked them up Dec. 31 and took them to the huge complex where the Tournament of Roses Parade’s famous floats are made from live components including tons of flowers.

“It’s a big pole building, and you could just smell the roses and the flowers as soon as you walked in,” Hasychak said. “It was amazing.”

The bus then rode them past the parade setup before taking them to Hollywood to spend an hour.

“They dropped us off at the Dolby Theater, where the Academy Awards are held,” Hasychak said. “Across the street was Grauman’s Chinese Theater.”

The couple had already toured that area five years before, so they perused the shops.

The bus also took them to a Hollywood farmers market where restaurants of every type were open for lunch.

The occupants of the bus then were ferried to the Beverly Hills sign, where they could take pictures.

From there, the group walked to Rodeo Drive, where top-end shops are open for the most discriminating shoppers.

“They have guards outside those stores,” Hasychak said. “You can’t even just walk in.”

The upscale area did impress Hasychak in one way.

“That was the only place really decorated nicely for Christmas,” she said. “Anywhere else you went, you couldn’t really tell it was Christmastime.”

As for New Year’s Eve, the couple did not get any partying in.

“We went to bed early because we had to be up at 4:30 a.m. for breakfast,” Hasychak said.

After a sumptuous breakfast at the Marriott where they stayed in Pasadena, they caught the bus at 5:30 a.m. and headed for the 135th Tournament of Roses Parade, which is known as “the Granddaddy of them all.”

Hasychak was elated to attend, as she remembers watching the over-the-top parade on television as a child.

The tour package included tickets for the seats in the bleachers at the start of the parade route, as well as cushions to sit on.

“The tour buses all parked on the Colorado Bridge, and we walked the short distance to the parade,” Hasychak said.

The parade’s theme was “Celebrating a World of Music, the Universal Language,” and Grammy and Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald kicked off the show.

One strange thing that happened, Hasychak said, was seeing Heisman Trophy winner and former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow hopping off a huge float before the start of the parade.

“Rick got his picture taken with him, but he wasn’t in the parade,” Hasychak said.

Hasychak has a hard time choosing her favorite float or act in the two-hour parade, but she named a float with a bear and animals playing music that was totally covered in flowers.

“And there was a band from Japan that dance and twist around. They don’t just march,” she said. “They were amazing.”

She had learned on the tour of the parade preparation building the day before that parade organizers begin planning the next year’s parade the day after the current parade.

“It’s amazing how many flowers and how many people and hours it takes them to make these floats,” Hasychak said. “They draw them, then build, then paint, then the very last thing they do, starting New Year’s Eve, is put the flowers on it so they are fresh.”

After the parade, the Hasychaks enjoyed a boxed lunch in the tour bus on the way to Rose Bowl Stadium a mile away.

The couple watched an exciting game and joined in on the cheering and festivities on the Michigan side, where they saw the Wolverines beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 27 to 20.

“Michigan won by a touchdown in overtime,” Hasychak said. “It was a great game.”

The Michigan fans demonstrated almost as much energy as the team members, she said.

“They were just crazy,” Hasychak said, “so into the game.”

A drone light show filled the sky above Rose Bowl Stadium as the couple returned to the bus for the ride back to the hotel.

The Hasychaks stayed for two more days to do some more sightseeing.

The first day they toured SoFi Stadium, which is considered the premier NFL stadium in the U.S., she said.

“The Rams and Chargers share it,” Hasychak said. “They each have their own locker rooms.”

The couple got to throw a football around on the field in addition to touring other areas of SoFi.

They then drove to Venice Beach to see the bodybuilders and skateboarders demonstrating their skills.

“Then we went to Malibu, where a lot of celebrities live, and drove around,” Hasychak said. “Then we went to the Santa Monica Pier to check that out.”

They also toured Warner Bros. Studios and saw the sets where “Friends” and “Big Bang Theory” were filmed.

They attended a taping of “Jeopardy” the next day that will air on Jan. 16.

Hasychak explained that the stage manager apprises guests of what to expect and when to clap.

“The three contestants come out, then Ken Jennings comes out and the audience got to ask him questions,” she said.

The Hasychaks did not have a query for the “Jeopardy” champ and host.

“He seems really nice,” she said, “a cool guy.”

During their time in the Golden State, temperatures hovered in the 50s and reached the low 60s in the afternoon.

“That’s what it was like there,” Hasychak said. “It wasn’t warm.”

The couple, who attended Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 when the Steelers beat the Cardinals, also hope to visit Savannah, Ga., and will stay in Florida for the month of February.

“We like to travel,” Hasychak said.

She said the couple will never forget their trip to the Rose Bowl.

“It was a really cool experience,” Hasychak said. “I’m really glad we did it.”