Bill Cull Trail View

This was the runner up photo for tomorrow's Theme Day.

This part of the trail, visible at the far left, works its way up above the canyon and offers some beautiful views.

Merengue Bakery And Cafe With Lights

I posted a photo of this restaurant in daylight back just before it opened.  With the nice light setup, it seemed like a good time to re-visit after dark.

Busy Sky

Heading Back

One more that shows well the amount of hail on the ground.

Winter Wonderland

Sunday night's hail storm left a very nice surprise in Monrovia Canyon on Monday morning.  There was so much hail left on the ground it looked like it had snowed.  A truly unique gift.

For more photo's of the hail storm in the canyon, see my other photoblog at http://www.cameracarrier.com/.

Street Light

The Stairway

Christy's Donuts

It's early on a rainy Saturday morning.  Time for some coffee and a donut.

Sun Breaks Through

Tongva History

Julia Bogany, Cultural Affairs Liaison for the Tongva Tribal Council (seated at the end of the table), was the guest speaker at the last Monrovia Canyon Park Volunteer Meeting. She talked about the history of the Tongva people; the size of the area they covered; the local trees, plants and animals they used and how they were used and even brought a table full of examples to pass around. A very interesting meeting.

Top Of The World

Revisiting a hike from back in 2005 that included reaching three peaks in one day - Monrovia Peak to Rankin Peak to Clamshell Peak.  You can see three fellow hikers on the trail up ahead.

A New Day, A New Beginning

Congratulations Mr. President.

View From "The Gap"

"The Gap" is a section of the Ben Overturff trail above Monrovia Canyon Park.
At the far right are the taller buildings of Los Angeles (see Pasadena Adjacent's sunset photo for another view).
Catalina Island Rancho Palos Verdes (Home of Tash) is at the far left of the photo poking up through the smog/fog?
Just above and right of center is Santa Anita Racetrack and the Westfield Mall in Arcadia

Daybreak

Looking east on Foothill Blvd. just as the sun begins to light the sky.

Craftsman Challenge

My entry in the Craftsman Challenge issued by Laurie at Glimpses Of South Pasadena.  The challenge - take a good photo of a Craftsman home.  It's not as easy as it sounds. With trees, shrubs, dark colors and deep  shadows, the homes resist being photographed.

Due to the quality of the images so far, I knew I had to pick a beautiful house.  Large porches are popular, so it had to have that.  The porch swing was something I wanted to see.

The Wishing Well

The Wishing Well is one of Monrovia's newest businesses and is located in the heart of Old Town at 519 S. Myrtle Ave.  This is their 2nd store, the first is in Whittier CA, selling "Unique clothes and toys for girls and boys".

Visit their website at TheWishingWellShop.com.
More photo's (including interior) can be found at the LivingInMonrovia.com blog.

Here's another photo for all the window shoppers out there:

Click for a larger version

White Alders

Midwinter Heat Wave

The Santa Ana winds have cleared the air, turned up the heat and taken most of the moisture out of the air.  All in all, a beautiful couple of days.

This was taken a couple of minutes after noon.  I'm sure the temperature went up a little after this. 

Big Oak At Monrovia High School

License this image.

This was taken before daybreak on an overcast morning. The bright light behind the tree trunk defined the tree and cast an interesting glow into the cloudy sky. A lit sign behind me, with a long exposure, was enough to bring out some detail in the front of the tree.

Over The Top Of A Waterfall

Standing on top of one of the check dams in Monrovia Canyon Park looking straight down as the water flows over the top.

Stream Textures

More than just textures.  This one has a little bit of everything: light, shadow, reflections and fallen leaves from what passes as winter here in southern California.

Mervyn's Has Left The Building

The security gates have been pulled closed, the doors are locked and the last person out shut off the lights.

Will Kohl's be the store that moves in to this location in the Huntington Oaks shopping center?

A Hazy Day

The weather's been so nice lately, I guess it was time for a change. The morning started out foggy, then the afternoon turned to a dreary yellowish haze. Reminds me of the '70's.

Trying to take a photo of the yellow air didn't turn out so well so I went with plan "B". The sun shining on the asphalt does a good job of conveying the color in the sky.

Football In Live 3D At The Krikorian Theatre

If you're a football fan, this is big.  If you're a technology geek, this is big.  If you love football and technology, this is a dream come true.

Tonight (Thursday Jan. 8th) the Krikorian Theatre in Monrovia is showing the BCS National Championship Game in live digital 3D.  The Monrovia theatre is one of only three theatres in the Los Angeles market to do so.

Go if you love football.  Go if you love new technology.  Go if you want to be a part of history.

The game is Oklahoma vs. Florida.  Kickoff at 5 pm.  Tickets are $20.00 each and are available at the theatre on Myrtle Ave. in Old Town Monrovia and at the Krikorian Theatres website at http://www.kptmovies.com/.

More info:
Krikorian To Make Sports Entertainment History - Beacon Media News

A Bugs Eye View

For a little different perspective, I set the camera on the ground - on a dry spot - for this one looking upstream in Monrovia Canyon.

Mayflower School Parking Lot

Cafe Massilia

Cafe Massilia is one of the newer restaurants in town and features "authentic classic Provencal French cuisine".  It is located at 110 E. Lemon Ave. in Old Town and the website can be found at CafeMassilia.com.

Library Update 01/03/2009

Looks pretty much enclosed at this point. Shouldn't be much longer now.

Simon Rents

And the big neon sign on Huntington Drive.

Hot Rods

Happy New Year 2009 / Theme Day

Happy New Year!

While 2008 had a lot of highlights, it also left a lot of room for improvement. Here's hoping that 2009 is a great year in all the ways that are most important to you!

Not only is today New Years Day but it is also the first City Daily Photo Theme Day of the year. The theme this month is: Best photo of the year 2008.

This was a tough one for me. What criteria could I use to choose the photo? Most viewed? Most commented? In the end I just went through the images and picked one that's a favorite. To see what the other City Daily Photobloggers around the world have chosen as their Best of 2008, click the link below:

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants