Long Day from Hollywood to Pomona

Today was a very long day of driving and shooting. High volume of photos despite a stressful “glitch” here in Pomona. I have a nice big batch of photos for you to tide you over til probably Tuesday when I catch-up with life, go back to work & am able to get Sunday’s sampling of photos uploaded here.

The glitch & then we’ll get going with the photos. I pulled over in Pomona next to a nice big park around 5pm when it was cool enough to let the dogs get some running in. We came back to the van (aka “Sparkle”) & I turned the key — nothing. Not even that clickety click you normally get when something dies. Called AAA and the big truck came within 10 mins. That’s a record! Especially since Sparkle needs a flatbed with her All-Wheel-Drive. Off to Pep Boys we went. Miracle #2 — there was no waiting. Three mechanics got right on it. Sure enough, a dead battery. Honestly, I think Sparkle has had the same battery since I got her in 2006. $150 and we were on our way. I think the whole breakdown & repair took only an hour and a half.

On with the photos. Starting with Hollywood. This sign has been standing here near Griffith Park for years. I’m not sure where it came from or what the plans are. If any. The “Hotel” part of the “Californian Hotel” is tumbled over in the background. By the way, for those of you that are new to my blog — I should mention that all my photos are “clickable” (larger size by clicking — particularly useful for horizontally-oriented photos).

From Glendale. A quirky assortment of statues at “Oil Paintings Warehouse” which sells you-name-it.

From San Gabriel. The Goody’s Coffee Shop sign has been repurposed for Jeff’s Sporting Goods:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture/21657757

I swung by today to see if they had opened. Yup, on Monday. Here’s the counter which was saved from the restaurant. Actually, the counter is new — but the terrazzo foot rest and the hardware and stools were saved. It appears only the butt-touching parts of the seats were reupholstered. The counter will be used for order-taking & such. Here’s a shot of the counter/stools from when it was Goody’s:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92136363@N00/459685635/

One of the booth benches was saved and is now installed in a fitting room:

From Pasadena — an entry terrazzo floor — no longer Karl’s there:

Also Pasadena — a nifty sign — the bar still there. These metal cylinders with holes would have had bulbs inside (maybe they still do?):

A couple more signs from Pasadena. A homemade wooden sign at this lumber place. Love the funky font, no?

And “R Place”. Maybe repurposed — maybe not:

This Howard Johnson Motor Lodge (now Regency Inn) was given a makeover for the Mad Men TV show. More about that here:
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/04/mad-men-makes-a-howard-johnson-motor-lodge-pit-stop.html

It doesn’t look like they had to do that much — here’s a 2008 photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94896382@N00/2193445439/

The Lamplighter & steeple were already there:

The not-so-lucky former Howard Johnson restaurant next door:

Can we take a nature break? Not that kind. How can you not be happy looking at palm trees and clouds?

And today’s mystery tree. It seems to be infinite spring here in SoCal. Heads-up you flora experts — what is this pink flowering wonder? I’m seeing them every day right now:

On to Pomona. Land of the lightning fast tow truck drivers and mechanics. Too bad the sun was not in my favor for this one:

An unusual Alta Dena drive-thru with a Polynesian look rather than the barn style look:

It was brutally hot at this point so I made a pit-stop there for my first sugar fix in months. Back in NYC, we had FrozFruit ice cream bars — which were pretty awesome. This company appears to do the same sort of packaging & flavors. But I’ve never seen Walnut before. It was a good choice. Think maple walnut but without the maple. Creamy with little flecks of walnuts.