Azusa

Some fond memories of Azusa--the park behind the city hall.  I remember driving with Dad in his '62 blue VW bug as we'd drive on Foothill in Irwindale past the Azusa sign, and he would recite Jack Benny's phrase "everything from A to Z in the USA."  Apparently it comes from an old Jack Benny joke.  I don't know what that joke was.

I thought that this leafless tree with the split trunk was interesting.  It is set toward the back of Veteran's Freedom Park behind Azusa City Hall.  Did you know that the phrase "everything from A to Z in the USA" comes from an old Jack Benny joke?

There were 2 sets of railroad tracks running through Azusa.  One was built for the Santa Fe Railway and the other was built for the Pacific Railway of Pacific, Gas, and Electric fame.  Here is a picture of a Santa Fe crash in the 1920's.  At the southern most tracks, after church at St. Frances of Rome, Dad would drive the back road near the railroad tracks.  I remember one particular morning when he stopped to pick up a copy of the LA Herald Examiner.  My brothers and sister were in the car and the song "Georgy Girl" by the Seekers was playing.  I loved that song, for it reminded me of the playfulness of my sisters.

The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad?

A bust of Andrew Carnegie at the Azusa Library with his name.

My brothers and I used to climb those stairs when Dad would let us roam the park.

This is a shot of Mt. Baldy from the southern tip of Encanto Park on the eastern-most rim of Duarte.  There is a wilderness park in a canyon over in Azusa called El Encanto Park.  There used to be a decent restaurant over there.  I'd only been there a few times through the years.  I enjoyed the deep-fried shrimp plates.  This helps with a little Duarte history.

Another shot of Encanto Park on Duarte's eastside.

I liked this shot from Huntington's old Pacific Railroad bridge that connects the Encanto Parkway with the San Gabriel River bike trail.  The tree standing tall and alone in the middle of the river reminds me of Willa Cather.  It was on her Nebraska plains that she grew so affectionate with trees that she called them friends because of their scarcity.

Van Tassel Canyon.

The train bridge looking west from the east side of it.

The San Gabriel River bike trail, looking south toward Huntington Drive.