January 15, 2020
I know it's a bit late for the greeting, but we in the southland take New Year's day very seriously. You've probably heard of the little parade they have in Pasadena and the football contest there as well, but we think of bombers, blimps and bowls(not the herb kind, but that's legal here too). No matter how wild our New Year's Eve festivities might have been, at about 8am on New Years Day we are greeted by the sound of a low flying jet courtesy of the United States Air Force. I've made a point of getting up before 8am and photographing this flying wing as it makes it's final turn to line up for it's flight over the crowds assembled to watch the bands and the flowers of the Rose Parade. What I never realized until this year is that there are 2 B-2 bombers in the sky above Glendale New Year's morning. They also fly a backup bomber in case something goes wrong with the primary plane. After the bomber's flight over Colorado Blvd., they(remember there are two of them) fly over the high desert and the San Gabriel mountains to await the flight over the Rose Bowl.
For the past several years, I've photographed the bombers as they flew over Glendale, but this year I decided to fire up the Prius and drive/hike up to a ridge overlooking the Rose Bowl(it's about a mile from where I took some of the sunset pictures my last submission) to catch the return of the B-2 as it flew over the Rose Bowl. About 10 minutes prior the game time, you could see the two planes flying over the San Gabriels. At game time, one of the bombers began to descend into the Arroyo Seco canyon to make it's path over the Rose Bowl.
Read MoreFor the past several years, I've photographed the bombers as they flew over Glendale, but this year I decided to fire up the Prius and drive/hike up to a ridge overlooking the Rose Bowl(it's about a mile from where I took some of the sunset pictures my last submission) to catch the return of the B-2 as it flew over the Rose Bowl. About 10 minutes prior the game time, you could see the two planes flying over the San Gabriels. At game time, one of the bombers began to descend into the Arroyo Seco canyon to make it's path over the Rose Bowl.
