north lake avenue

looking down on altadena, and further down pasadena.

twohey's neon sign

back in the day i used to post quite a bit of neon around town.  i saw this sign and got all sentimental from back when this blog began.

has anyone ever been to twohey's?  it is located down in san marino (i think).

trio apartments

i'll take a break from the bike trip and get back to some pasadena photos for a little while - like this great perspective on the trio apartments and roy's hawaiian restaurant.

refueling on a bike trip

the great thing about human-powered vacations (riding a bike everywhere you go) is that you get to consume a large quantity of additional calories to keep your body moving.  part of those additional calories came from a couple of brewery stops - a meal at the relatively new breakwater brewing (photo above), and a visit to stone brewing company (photo below) where we saw the new bottling line filling up cases of stone ipa.

biking on old highway 101

one of the most interesting things about riding the california coast from los angeles to san diego is the interesting routes that are carved out for cyclists.  the image above is of my friend andrew riding the bike path that has been built on old highway 101 - a road that used to be the main way to drive to san diego before the 5 freeway was constructed.  this road has been unused for so long (by cars that is) that trees and plants have grown up through the pavement.

i happened to snap this photo right as the amtrak train was passing through.

riding the coast

here's another picture from our recent bike trip.  this one is of me riding down the huntington beach path in the sun instead of the rain!  i'll have a few more photos over the next few days.

skywatching at doheny state beach

our first night of the bike trip was at doheny state beach.  we survived a night of more rainfall, and woke up to this beautiful sky on the beach.

more skywatch friday can be found right here.

bike trip, 2011

i've taken a few great bike trips over the years, so when my friend andrew suggested that we spend our spring break riding our bikes, i was all ears.  you may remember andrew from my california league ballpark bicycle tour from a few years ago.  andrew suggested riding some california coast, and when we figured out how much time we had, we decided to head south, hit up some regional breweries, and ride the amtrak train back home.

we left on monday, and as you can see from the photo above, we ran in to some rainy weather.  i will post a few more photos from our journey over the next few days.

presenting the dog haus dogs

we got four different dogs at the dog haus including the little leaguer (with chili, cheese, and fritos) pictured above.  all got great reviews, as did the sweet potato fries.

the dog haus menu

day two of the dog haus gets you the interior of the restaurant including the large chalk board menu.  i love the saying - "best of the wurst" - printed on the back wall.

the dog haus

i've been wanting to check out the dog haus since i read (or i should say watched) this review a few weeks ago.   so when our friends told us that they had been and it was great, i decided to head over and see about getting myself a dog.  i've got quite a few photos, so i'll be featuring this place for a few days.

blogger picnic

you might remember back to when i posted about an upcoming blogger picnic.  well, many of us braved the rainy forecast to gather in altadena for the annual picnic gathering.  it was really great to meet a few new people, and to put some faces with some of the local blogs i've been following for quite some time.  i got to meet two of my fellow daily photobloggers - jt from los angeles, and steve from temple city. 

unfortunately i left just as the party was beginning because i missed seeing my fellow pasadena bloggers from pasadena pio, pasadena daily photo, and cafe pasadena.  sorry to miss you all!

here is who had arrived by the time i left...

skywatching saturday from the top of the staples center

i snapped off this photo from our trip to the clippers game this week.

more skywatch friday (one day late) photos from around the blogging world can be found right here.

clipper nation

during our time in los angeles county, i've been to many baseball games, a few hockey games, and even a college football game.  so i guess it was time to get to a basketball game.

one of my friends is a big sixers fan, and since they were in town playing the clippers, we decided to go.  and it was pretty fun!  i imagine it takes a special kind of person to be a clippers fan - even with rookie sensation blake griffin (who is at the free-throw line in the photo above).

happy st. patrick's day!

yes, that's right.  ladies and gentlemen, i made this beautiful shamrock-shaped loaf of irish soda bread for a recent get together.  brilliant, right?

under watchful eye of the sheep

watch out for the big ram!

p.f. chang's

this one is for my friend jon, who happens work here.

and, i apologize as i've never been to a p.f. chang's restaurant.

the kitchen with friends

for whatever reason, we end up heading back to the kitchen when we are hungry for italian food.  we went there last night to spend time with some friends, and enjoy some more of their tasty cuisine.

long time followers of the blog may remember that a similar photo was posted WAAAAAY back in 2008 (might even be the same table!).  a lot has happened in that time, but we still enjoy this restaurant.

oh, and i need to say thanks to lois' iphone for the photo.

if i still lived in canada...

...i'd probably be helping to hang the buckets this weekend.

buckets that will collect sap, which will eventually be boiled down to maple syrup.  a friend sent me this picture of mom and dad hard at work hanging the buckets for this year's harvest (and to let me know what "fun" i was missing).  additionally, i'm not sure what dad is doing with a small chainsaw in his hands...

sending out our prayers

it is exciting when pasadena is featured in the news. 

but when the reason is because caltech scientists are talking about the aftermath of one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history, there is reason to calm that excitement.

our thoughts and prayers are with the nation of japan, and all who were touched by this week's huge earthquake. 

old town pasadena at dusk

more skywatch friday from around the blog-o-sphere can be found right here.

family meal at the seafood grill

we had family in town this week and they were hungry for some seafood.  so we grabbed this coupon and headed back to the seafood grill in old town.

the baby isn't quite old enough for fresh fish or sushi, but the rest of us had a great meal.

back to back cathedral pictures?

yesterday i featured a photo of a los angeles cathedral.  today you get to see a glimpse at orange county's crystal cathedral - an incredible structure in its own right (regardless of their current financial situation).

cathedral of our lady of the angels

los angeles is home to one of the most interesting modern cathedrals in the country.  this image was taken by simply pointing my camera toward the ceiling in one particular corner of that sacred space.

colorado blvd (four years ago)

this was the first picture of pasadena that i ever took.  just over four years ago we flew from virginia to california so that we could have a nice california vacation and for me to check out fuller seminary (although at the time, i wasn't seriously considering it as an option).

we left behind cold winter weather, and arrived to sunny so-cal - much like what we've been experiencing lately.

we ended up falling in love with fuller seminary and with this city, and decided on the flight home that we might actually be crazy enough to load up our things and move all the way across the country.  we ended up making a decision that would change our lives, and we sure are happy we did that.

sidewalking

this sidewalk has glass embedded in the pavement.  i'm sure there is a reason - in fact i feel like petrea over at pasadena daily photo has mentioned this before.  regardless, this is a pretty interesting feature of our walkable city.

revisited #2

one of the first images i ever posted on this blog was this photo of two different grapefruit from the same bag (click the link).  i'm sort of embarrased that i thought two grapefruit were worthy of their own photo - but maybe i was still a bit in the dark about life in california...

as part of my recent decision to revisit some of my earlier photos, i thought i'd revisit the concept - and guess what - it is still pretty boring.

sigh.

snow-peaked mountains and storm clouds

this one was taken during last weekend's storm.

more skywatch friday photos can be found right here (as usual).

breakfast at tonny's

this little hole in the wall has been a favorite breakfast destination for us and many of our friends.  excellent huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos, and other wonderful mexican dishes.

if you are looking for a place to grab a bite to eat "north of the 210", check out tonny's.

umami burger

i'm a little behind on this one.  umami burger has been around for a little while with a few locations.  they've been rated extremely well by the press - both locally and nationally.  just do a google search.  you'll learn plenty about this la-based burger destination.

and i gotta say, it lived up to the hype.  sure, the prices were high - but i've grown to expect that in los angeles county.  there are other great places around - a few of my favorites: lucky devil's, father's office, oinkster, and even chains like tommy's, in-n-out, and fatburger - but umami's flavor is really special, and stands out in a crowded burger town.  the unique toppings were delicious, the patty was incredibly juicy, and the homemade buns were the icing on the cake.

march theme day: your favorite part of town

this may seem like an odd choice for the theme of "your favorite part of town". 

but the more i thought about it, the more i realized that i'm too much of an adventurer to pick just one thing.  i like to explore new things.  just as an example, it is rare that i go back to a restaurant when there are other options i haven't tried.

so when it all boiled down, the one place in pasadena that i love the most is my home.  and my home is wonderful because of the two people i share it with - my wife and baby girl.

i snapped this photo of them playing the piano together, and i gotta say, i love it.  other city daily photo bloggers have attempted this theme in their own unique ways.

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