Mar 28, 2011 - Friends/Family Warming Up

During the last week in March and the first week in April, friends and family from Seattle came to Arizona to "dry out" and "warm up." I am happy to say that the AZ weather was basically great for meeting those ends. Jan and Pete Colburn-Barrett were the first to visit. Anne and I have known Jan since we were in the 5th grade. We all attended high school together, and then college. In short, we go back a long ways.....Pete is the newcomer, having met us at the U of Washington in the late 1960ies. They are good friends of longstanding. The...

Mar 26, 2011 - Tempe: Dragon Boat Racing

Given that a motorcycle rally was being held in normally quiet Fountain Hills today, we decided it might be a good to seek amusement elsewhere. So we ended up at the Dragon Boat Races in nearby Tempe. What's Dragon Boat Racing, you ask??? Here's some background. A Dragon Boat is a 20-person craft, sort of like a very long canoe. A few differences, however, include a colorful dragon head attached to the bow; an equally colorful dragon tail hanging off the stern; 20 robust people all equipped with weird looking square paddles, paddling like...

Mar 19, 2011 - Dixie Mine Petroglyphs

Today we did a 6-mile hike into the McDowell Mountains, which ring the southwestern side of Fountain Hills. This was a Ranger led hike, offered by the McDowell Regional Park. Our destination was the Dixie Mine and its surrounding petroglyphs. Ranger Amy was our leader and about 20 hikers comprised the group. It was a sunny morning and the walk out to the mine was up-and-down, but beautiful. Fortunately, a light breeze was blowing, keeping us cool. Amy provided interesting information about plant life, the mine's history, and the Hohokam...

Mar 17, 2011 - St. Patrick's Day

Fountain Hills has a long tradition of celebrating St. Patrick's Day. This year was no exception, although, due to budgetary problems at the City level (what's new?), things were scaled back some. Sure enough, we still had the fountain shooting kelly-green water every hour; a craft fair on the plaza; live Irish music in the park; bag pipers strolling the streets, etc., etc. But in past years, a replica of the Loch Ness Monster use to surface and then paddle around Fountain Lake. Apparently, "Locky" went south due to budget cuts.....and this...

Mar 14, 2011 - The Verde River

Part of the reason that Fountain Hills can have a "celebration of water in the desert," and partially why Scottsdale can be so green, is the Verde River. I am not certain where it begins, but the Verde runs through the Chino Valley in northwestern Arizona; then diagonally down and across the state south of Sedona and Cottonwood; and finally merges with the Salt River south and east of Fountain Hills. Given its importance to central AZ, we thought we should take an up-close and personal look at the Verde. So we packed a picnic lunch and...

Mar 10, 2011 - A Day in the Life.....

We find it to be an easy life here on the edge of the Sonoran Desert. We get up about 8:00. Have fresh grapefruit (locally grown) and coffee in the morning sun on our back patio. About 10:00 we head for Fountain Park, which is a block from our condo. We walk twice around the fountain, which provides 3+ miles of exercise. Then it's home and Miss Daisy's time to hit the Fountain Hills dog park. There is a really nice dog park here, with separate fenced areas for big versus small dogs. There are chairs and shade for owners, wading pools for...

Mar 4, 2011 - The Apache Trail

The Apache Trail is a road running from just outside of Mesa into the Tonto National Forest, terminating at the Roosevelt Dam. Much of the trail was first established by the Apache Indians, who used the rugged terrain and canyons for hideouts and encampments. In 1903, funds were issued for creation of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River, and the current highway was constructed. The road runs for 45 miles, the last 22 of which are unpaved, gravel, rough, and (in many places) only one-lane wide. The Trail starts near the believed...

Feb 27, 2011 - Arizona Snow: Payson

So who says Arizona never turns white? We had a cold night here, with a storm off the Pacific passing through, and AZ got a little snow. Actually, the ski area at Flagstaff received 44 inches, which even by Park City standards constitutes "a dump." People in North Scottsdale woke up to about 1 inch and Fountain Hills just had rain, mixed with a little hail. The Superstition Mountains that we look out on from the condo were a little white, so on our morning walk around the fountain, Anne took a few pictures. Disc/Frisbee Golf is popular here...

Feb 24, 2011 - The Bush Highway

Now that the condo is furnished, we've started to take a few road trips, exploring more of central Arizona. As I have written earlier, Fountain Hills is ringed by mountains, the highest and most dramatic of which are the Superstitions (which approach 8000 feet). They are located in the Tonto National Forest, which remains undeveloped and quite wild. Our first road trip was along the Bush Highway (named, I hope, NOT for George W, but for the common southwestern plant, Brittle Bush) and into Tonto NF . The highway starts just a few miles...

Feb 18, 2011 - The Goodwill Condo

Our first two weeks back in Arizona have been spent furnishing a small condo we've rented in Fountain Hills. The thought of four months in the RV was a little too much for both of us, so we looked around for alternate housing. We found a ground floor unit about a block from the big fountain in Fountain Hills. We've rented for about the same amount as we would have paid monthly for an RV space. As you can see, it is Santa Fe style and our unit has both front and back patios. This has enabled us to fence a small area off the back patio for...

Dec 5, 2010 - Christmas in the Desert

One of the strangest things about our trip has been experiencing the Holidays in the desert. The temperatures have been in the 70ies and low 80ies for our entire time here, and everyone is in shorts and t-shirts. Yet Christmas carols are sung, plastic Christmas trees are decorated, mistletoe is tacked up, etc......so weird to me! Last night we attended a Community Holiday Party, ending with the arrival of Santa Claus by helicopter and the lighting of displays on the Avenue of the Fountains. Although the temperature at sunset was 78 degrees,...

Dec 1, 2010 - Sculpture Everywhere

We spent the day viewing and photographing the 80++ sculptures that Fountain Hills has on display throughout the community. They are everywhere! Parks, sidewalks, abutting town offices....even outside of the shopping malls! There is a strong artistic presence here, based in both the visual and the performing arts. It gives the city a very nice ambiance.