It was amazing to see how much The ACES (the school where I taught) has grown since I've been gone. It was like old times seeing Paul, Nancy (and her two adorable twins), and the rest of the ACES crew. I miss those guys! Carol and Erik are doing quite well and are now living out in Miami, AZ in what seems to be a sanctuary for dogs, cats, birds (canaries, finches, cockatiels), and chickens; although they do provide a bunch of free eggs and are a great garbage disposal, I must say that I'm not a fan of chickens. I also had a great evening over at Mike and Jen's place and meeting their two little ones... and was highly impressed with his 3-year old boy's communication and vocabulary. It blew me away when he used the word "otherwise" correctly in a sentence.
I suppose I picked the worst possible time to visit Phoenix, where the high temperature ranged from 101 to 111 while I was here. But it certainly could be worse -- I remember when I moved here back in '97 in the middle of the summer. I spent all day hauling my stuff from the moving truck into my apartment in 116 degree heat. That was brutal!
Driving through the Superstition Mountains and the Apache Trail:
Tortilla Flat, a tiny old west town that has bar/restaurant, country store, post office, a museum.... and has a population of 6.
The Apache Trail is a 40 mile stretch of road through the Superstition Mountains, 23 miles that is unpaved. The name is true, as the Apache developed this trail as a path through the mountains.
This is about 2 hours east of the Valley (away from city lights)... and many times, I used to drive out here in the middle of the night to star gaze and listen to the coyotes. You truly feel as if you're in the middle of nowhere, since not many cars drive the unpaved stretch of road. I recall one night, where I spent about 5 hours relaxing in the back of my truck and not one car passed.
The fruit of the prickly pear cactus. People out here often make jams and candy out of it. It's quite good!
The Roosevelt Dam. At the time it was built (early 1900's), it was the largest dam of it's type. It's no Hoover Dam, but it is quite impressive.
Miami, AZ:
Out near the copper mines in Miami, they are cleaning up much of the land and soil. They use an interesting technique to help revitalize the damaged soil on those hills... they fence off cows in little rectangular areas... the cows eat hay and the manure enriches the soil. When that grassy area is doing well, they move the cows to another rectangular area of the hill.
The Valley:
The view from South Mountain looking down on downtown Phoenix.
From South Mountain, looking towards Camelback Mountain. I used to live just to the left of Camelback... near where it looks like the head of a camel lying down.
From Camelback, looking at the little Papago Mountains.
The new stadium for the Arizona Cardinals. Very impressive... but it looks like it's about ready to take off into outer space.
My favorite restaurant while living here. Guy Fieri's show, "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" did a feature on this place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkg6sKz7FnY
If you were a fan of the cartoon Family Circus, you might know this place. Bill Keane used to live in Scottsdale... and featured the Sugar Bowl in his cartoon whenever the family went to get ice cream.
Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University.
ASU's Gammage Auditorium, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
No comments:
Post a Comment