Reflections Of The Past

First Day Of School

Burned Southwest Grinding Building Being Rebuilt

Good to see the former Southwest Grinding building at 1120 S. Shamrock Avenue being rebuilt.  The building burned in a huge fire last September.  A quick search revealed no info on what business might be moving in once the building is completed.

Mariachi Divas - Summer Concert In The Park

From Sunday, August 19th.  They performed at the first Cinco De Mayo Festival here in town and have come back for the summer concert series.  A very talented group of musicians and singers.  Check 'em out next time you're in Disney California Adventure.  Mariachi Divas website.

Note: The last concert in this summer series is this Sunday (8/26) at 7:00 pm featuring Top 40 music by The Basics.

Monrovia Honors Olympian Kim Rhode

Monrovia held a celebration last night honoring Olympian and Monrovia resident Kim Rhode on her record setting achievements at the Olympic Games.

Kim is the only American to win medals for an individual event in five consecutive Olympics.

She won gold in 1996 (Atlanta), bronze in 2000 (Sydney), gold in 2004 (Athens), silver in 2008 (Beijing) and gold in 2012 (London).

Kim Rhode

Kim Rhode speaking to the crowd in Monrovia's Library Park.

A closeup look at her Olympic medals.

Olympian Kim Rhode To Be Honored Tonight at Monrovia Library Park

Multi-Gold Medalist (along with silver and bronze) and Monrovia resident Kim Rhode will be honored at Monrovia Library Park tonight in a ceremony to be held at 6:30pm.  According to the city website, she will also be available for autographs and photos at the event.

Monrovia Library Park is located at 321 S. Myrtle Avenue.

Action On Film Festival At Monrovia Krikorian Theatre

The Action On Film Festival is going on now through August 25th at the Krikorian Theatre on Myrtle Avenue in Old Town Monrovia.

More info and schedule on the Action on Film website and Monrovia Patch.

Monrovia High School As The Sun Sets

One more of the newly painted high school.  This time facing west into the sunset.  I took this one just because I wanted a shot with that amazing tree in front.

An interesting bit of information I came across while working on these photos:
The school buildings cost more to paint this year - $628,000 (bid and contract award pdf)
than they did to build in 1928 - $600,000 (Monrovia Patch).

Two Lights At Monrovia High School

The front (grand) entrance of the freshly painted Monrovia High School.

Monrovia High School - Fresh Paint

The scaffolding is down, the buildings are brighter and stand out much more than they did before.  Looks great and ready for the new school year.

Sunday Road Trip - Devil's Punchbowl

For this road trip, I headed north to the other side of our local mountains to the Devil's Punchbowl.  Devil's Punchbowl is part of the L.A. County Park system and is located in Pearblossom, California.

Some information on the park and what makes it unique can be found on the park website: http://www.devils-punchbowl.com/

Here we are arriving at the entrance to the park.

Just off the parking lot, the first building you come to is the nature center.  The nature center has maps, info and Rangers or Volunteer Naturalists available to answer all your questions.

Directly across from the nature center is the picnic area.

There are three trails of varying lengths and difficulty.  I took the middle of the three, the 1 mile loop trail.  The loop trail goes down 300' into Punchbowl Canyon, then back up again.

The next four photos were taken along the Loop Trail and give you a pretty good idea of what the scenery looks like.  The rocks remind me of Vasquez Rocks, which is about an hour's drive from here.

The details:


Devil's Punchbowl Natural Area
28000 Devils Punchbowl Rd.
Pearblossom, CA  93553
Phone: (661) 944-2743

Website: http://www.devils-punchbowl.com/

Mileage from Monrovia: If you take the Angeles Forest Highway - 64 miles.
If you take the 210 west to the 14 north - 86 miles.

Travel time: Even though the mileage varies quite a bit, the travel time for the two options is pretty much the same.

Fees: Entry and parking are free.  Donations are cool.

Hours: Closed Mondays.  Open Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 5pm.

Formerly Dogwoods

Lots of work still being done on this building.