Hidden in Plain Sight

 I am still not running, but am able to go for long walks. I see things I hadn't noticed before.

I can't quite see the house, but I like the entryway.
An online site says this house last sold in 1971.

I had never noticed this house built in 1927,

even though the unusual garage is right on the corner.

This 1928 house is behind a large hedge, but when
I looked it up I found photos from the last time it was on the market.

I had not noticed the house next door, another one built in 1928.

It is not as well maintained, but I can imagine it had been elegant.

It reminds me a bit of a house on College Ave.,

which was built in 1930.

Yet another house I never noticed

is also built in 1928, but looks so different. It last sold in 1988.

"Lloyd L. Brehaut
Fertilizer Dealer"
I have seen this many times and always wonder what is inside.

Nice to know there is still more see.

Art museum

In 1992 the city of Claremont dedicated the train depot, which had been sitting empty for over twenty years.  The original building was a wood structure, which was replaced by the current building in 1927.

The side facing the track has the clock.

During my time in town there has been talk of the space being used by a restaurant, a bicycle store, or a coffee house.

It is currently used a transit center.  I don't know if a person could buy tickets here, but one could pick up a schedule while browsing the old pictures.

The ceiling in the main waiting area.

It was recently announced that the Claremont Museum of Art, which used to be housed in the old packing house, will be moving into the train depot.

While it is good for them to have a home and I hope it is a good location for them,
I am sorry about the loss of the public bathrooms!

Easy on the eyes

I like the little tidbits of art around town.

parking garage

train stop

train stop at Bellaterra

the floor at the train stop

inside an arch at the train stop

I took lots of pictures of buildings.

If you look carefully or click to enlarge you can see the Estelada, an unofficial Catalonia flag, hanging from many windows.  It is usually flown by people who support independence.

A Full Day

For the fifth year we are a friendship family for teachers staying in town for six weeks.  For a refresher you can read about previous years here.   Our teacher from Nicaragua had a birthday yesterday and to celebrate we took a train downtown to explore.

 We started with a walk on Olvera Street, which reminded N. of home, but on a smaller scale.

A woman was a driving an empty bus (neither thing would be seen in Nicaragua, I was told) that took us to Disney Concert Hall and The Broad.

This was definitely not like home!  The Broad was not open (always closed Monday, but most places were closed because of the national holiday), but we enjoyed walking around.

We walked through Grand Park, across this seal, and around city hall.

Lunch was in Grand Central Market and I had my first iced latte.  

The paper said it was the best in the country, but I have no basis for comparison

After lunch we took another bus around Little Tokyo, but then took a train

to USC

 and Exposition Park.

We walked around both places and took a quick peek inside the science museum, which was open.

If had known I would have planned differently.  Next time.

We were finally worn out (it probably didn't help that it was 93ºF/34ºC) so we enjoyed two air-conditioned trains back to Union Station and caught the train back to Claremont.

When you come visit we can do these things, too!

More, more, more

The local colleges have a lot of applicants and if your ride around it looks they are making room to accept more of them.

 It looks like the new dorms on the south side of CMC might be ready by the time classes start.

This project at Scripps is just starting.

The back and front of new dorms at Mudd.  If you look carefully you may be able to see bumps on the exterior.  I wonder if these are supposed to represent warts, which the students said they wanted.

It is too bad I no longer take care of kid who enjoys watching construction vehicles.

The Shan

I had been inside the new building, formally known as the R. Michael Shanahan Center for Teaching and Learning, at Harvey Mudd College for Math Field Day, a recital, and a Q&A after a campus tour, but I hadn't seen anything beyond that.  Filling time with a toddler is a perfect excuse to poke around.

At first nothing was here, then it said Quiet Zone, and now it says No Wheels.

This sign explains that the wheels transfer noise into the basement classrooms.

People are good about picking up their skateboards, unicycles,
and freeline skates and parking them outside the cafe.

We wandered upstairs and found the math department.
Even the design on the furniture looks clever.

not shown - Google Interview room

I'd like to take a class with this guy.
I read more about the profs in their newsletter,
which did a great job of promoting math at Mudd.

There is an outdoor classroom and this living roof.
If you look carefully you can see snow on the mountain in the background.

We did not stop in the Office of the President even though it is right next to the math offices, but maybe we'll go back to the admissions office one day!


p.s. Not enough for you?  Then you might enjoy this time lapse video of The Shan construction.

Escape, the ongoing saga

After our bookstore tour we walked to a Vietnamese restaurant for a casual meal and tried to decipher the art across the street.

click on image to enlarge

Down the street was an ice cream store that makes all its ice cream with pedal power.

kinetic art in store that sells

"artisan bicycle-churned organic dairy and non-dairy ice cream and frozen desserts"

Our wanderings took us past art created by Tony Sheets, a graduate of the same elementary school my children attend(ed) and son of Millard Sheets, whose art is on buildings in Claremont.

I also snapped this picture, not knowing the story at the time.

"The Hill Street entrance features terra cotta relief sculptures, designed by sculptor Donal Hord, depicting allegorical representations of Truth, Law and Justice. The Grand Avenue entrance features an integrated, terra cotta sculptural group titled Foundation of Law designed by sculptor Albert Stewart, with three figures representing the legal traditions upon which America was founded: Mosaic Law, with Moses representing Judeo-Christian heritage, Magna Carta, with a 13th century knight representing English Common Law, and Declaration of Independence, depicted by Thomas Jefferson."

Los Angeles Conservancy 

We made a point of visiting Grand Park, which is anchored by City Hall at one end and the Music Center at the other.

Next time I'll take books (or buy some at the Last Bookstore) to put in the little libraries,
which were scattered around the park.

Are you still with me?  If you have had enough I can tell you the ending - we got home safely.

We still had time to explore so we stopped in the Walt Disney Concert Hall gift shop, the Grand Avenue MoCA.

in the MoCA gift shop
"for planting, not eating"

So much more to see!  Quirky playgrounds, construction with only the façade of the building left, Angel's Flight, and the LAPD headquarters caught our eye.

We made a quick stop in Grand Central Market, but did not buy $10/pound whole beef tongue.

And to keep up with a European tradition of photographing maintenance covers, I snapped a few photos on the way to the Metro.

I hope the creator of this advertisement didn't get in trouble for
incorrectly guessing the make-up of the World Cup team.

The website included Clint Dempsey.

We waited by the fish tank for our train. 

Home, sweet home.