Today I walked for 2 hours and walked over to Amethyst Ave. which is the original downtown area of the town of Alta Loma. When we moved to this area in 1976 we lived in the town of Alta Loma. The town to the south of us was Cucamonga, and the town to the east of us was Etiwanda. In 1977 the three towns joined together to become the City of Rancho Cucamonga. Years before we moved here the main street of Alta Loma where a lot of businesses were located was Amethyst Ave. I decided to take pictures of original buildings that have stood the test of time. Some are the original business and others have new businesses in them now. The Heritage School building on 19th St. at the top right, once housed the Alta Loma Elementary School and the Alta Loma High School way back in the 40's and 50's. Both my children attended Alta Loma Elementary where it is now located on Amethyst Ave.
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Looking south on
Amythest Ave. |
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| First Post Office of Alta Loma |
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| First Fire Station of Alta Loma |
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| Looking north on Amethyst Ave. |
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They didn't have fence around
the school when my kids
went there. |
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Kindergarden Playground
no swings - how sad is that?
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Alta Loma Elementary
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People making good use
of the trail. |
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The lower part of Amethyst Ave has new businesses now. It is also where Alta Loma Elementary (which is the oldest elementary school in Alta Loma School District) is now located. When my children attended the school there was still a bar on Amethyst that had been there for quite a few years. And there use to be a Feed Store where the Alta Loma School District offices are now. There are 5 school districts in the City of Rancho Cucamonga. When the towns joined together the school districts didn't. I work for Central School District and I work at the oldest elementary for that district, Central Elementary. I thought the yellow sign was cute. Someone had it in their front yard, maybe they had problems with people walking their dogs and letting them poop in the front yard and not cleaning up after them. I think this is a nice way of saying clean up after your dog. Very clever. While walking on the P. E. Trail there were two hawks flying over the orange grove field next to the trail. I was lucky to get a picture of one of them because as they circled they were climbing higher and higher up into the sky. I also stopped to watch some squirrels playing in the pine trees that line the playground of Alta Loma Elementary. They sure have a nice place to live, the pine trees were loaded with pine cones as you can see in one of my photos. Then I happened to see some hummingbirds on a flower bush on the playground. I tried to get a picture of them but they are way to fast. I did get a picture of a bird on the bush though. I met a lot more people on my walk today with it being a weekend. The P.E. Trail gets used a lot in the evenings and on the weekends. One thing I will say about the citizens of Rancho Cucamonga, they make use of the city's parks and trails. I hope you can see the squirrel in the tree it was taking a rest after playing with another squirrel. As you can see, I wasn't kidding when I said the trees had a lot of pine cones. I hope you can see the bird that is sitting on the flower bush. If you click on the picture it will make it bigger and you will be able to see it better. The next picture is a picture of the trail as I approach Amethyst Ave. I am walking on the dirt trail as I wanted to get closer to the pine trees to watch the squirrels and birds. The dirt path was put in for the horseback riders but if you prefer to jog/walk or bike ride on dirt as oppose to cement you can use the dirt trail. I took a picture of the yellow house because I think it is really cute. It is up for a quick sale, and it is on a huge lot. The next house is a tract that was built probably 10-15 years ago. Kim and I went through the models and oh how I wished I had the money at the time to move. I would have bought one. Because a couple of the models had a patio/garden area in the middle of the home. It would be a perfect outdoor area for our cats and they would not be able to run away or get out onto the streets. They are big homes and I liked the floor plans. These three ladies walking with umbrellas had the right idea. It was starting to get pretty warm, and I still had to walk up to 19th St, then walk 19th St over to Archibald Ave, cross Archibald, walk to Ramona Ave., then down Ramona Ave, then make a right, another right, then up my street before I would be home. I spotted this purple and white flower on 19th St. growing over the backside of someone's wall. I don't know what it is but I like the uniqueness of it. The bees liked it as well. I am really enjoying my walks, and I am discovering so many sites I don't see when driving by in my car.
