Arizona Summer prep and Roses

Pool Maintenance Entertainment
End of Spring means "pool maintenance" in Arizona and we have an apartment overlooking the pool.  So, we had a front row seat for all the excitement.  Below, is a Before photo of the overgrown palm trees around the pool.  The pool was only drained after the tree trimming in order to protect the pool; to cushion the blows, I guess.

We had huge piles of palm fronds and dead bark all around the pool when the trimming started.  It took three men to keep up with the clearing, while one man climbed the huge palm trees and trimmed them.

This tree surgeon was very skilled, very brave, and very fast.  He trimmed all of these trees around the pool in less than one day; I never saw him take a lunch break.  He climbed the tallest palm first, using those shoe side cleats and his heavy metal chain belt to scoot up the trunk, small chain saw and large hand saw swinging from his work belt on the ends of ropes.  After trimming that tree, he hung a rope from the top of the tree, climbed down about 20 feet, disconnected his chain belt, and swung himself on the rope to the next closest tree.  The large clump in the middle had trees that were all close enough to swing to the next tree.  The Royal Palm below was the largest tree and it stands alone.  It was a little scary when he disconnected the rope and tried to swing his chain up around the big bump at the top.  It took 4 or 5 tries and I was figuratively wringing my hands as he did it.

 Below is the final result of all that trimming.  Notice the smaller palms in the middle and on the right side of the photo have a rather phallic look to them and only have 3 or 4 fronds at the top now.

After the tree crew cleaned up all the cuttings and left, the apartment maintenance crew put big hoses went into the pool to start sucking the water out.  The water was brownish yellow and it took that afternoon and all day the next day to drain the pool. The little jacuzzi spa on the right, though, took only a couple hours to drain, refill, and treat.  I can't wait for the opening of the pool and the chance to wear my new, very beautiful, swimsuit.  Just in time for 100-105F all week long.  It's time to take my very first dip since our move-in January 30!

Rose Farms
While the pool was out of commission, we took a drive in search of Roses.  We discovered the local rose growing Cooperative accidentally on a random drive soon after we arrived.  So, we went back to Woolf Leyton Farms, which is one of four farms that work cooperatively to grow and sell roses in the Surprise, AZ area.  They have 800 acres here in Surprise producing this two-year crop, just in this area alone.  This is one of only 3 places in the Nation that grows roses for retail sales.  Arizona rose farms provide half of all the roses sold in the United States, I'm told! The climate is so arid that I would not have thought it to be good for a crop like roses.  But, look at these plants.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get close enough for a decent "close up"; private property...

When we first drove by these fields in March, it was all green plants with no blossoms, some 1 1/2 feet tall and some about 8 inches tall - a two year crop.  We are told that the harvest is done in Spring, so we assumed that we just missed it.

But now, in May, you can see the rose blossoms.  Here they are, growing almost as far as I could see.  That, My Friends, is a LOT of roses!

In fact, everything that CAN bloom here in the Phoenix area seems to be starting to bloom right now.  The cacti are going crazy.  I can understand now how some long time residents say they see fields of flowers in the desert in Spring and Summer.  And, don't get me started on the pollen.  This is not the "health spa" environment that it was in the 1950s.  More blooming Arizona coming soon!

Goodby to Arizona

Leaving Phoenix area...  We had one last visit and meal with my brother and my Mom and Dad on Tuesday to say goodbye; always hard.

On the way to Mom and Dad's, I took these photos of one of those palm tree cell towers up close.  It is located at the local fire station.  As you can see, this is not an actual palm tree with added equipment, but wholly man-made.  In fact, it probably has an antenna for the local emergency radio, too.

Steve packed the car today.  The trunk had to be packed just right in order to get all our camping equipment in; there is a lot.  All we need to add now are our suitcases, computer equipment, and bathroom gear.  I think we have realized that we may need to bring fewer clothes and use only one suitcase, plus a small backpack for the Europe trip.

Tomorrow, we leave around 9am for Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We'll be staying at a place north of Albuquerque in order to visit Los Alamos, Bandelier Park, Espanola (especially, the road to Espanola), Camel Rock, and Santa Fe.  Once again, we will see if my childhood place looks the same.

Air conditioning emergency and stray shots of Phoenix

The last two days have been taken up by a visit with my parents and dealing with a car issue.  Once again, my Dad out did himself with a delicious chili dinner with cornbread on Thursday.  Mmmmm...  Afterwards, we chatted and fiddled around with computers.  Fun! Mom and Dad are not intimidated by computers.  They seem as curious as Steve and I are about the latest devices.  All and all, another delightful evening.

Today, after lazing around the suite until obscenely late, we went out to grab something to eat and explore, but found that our car air conditioning wouldn't come on.  Yes, that is a problem when it's 107 degrees outside. [At least we don't have unhealthy wildfire smoke filling air like the Pacific North West.]  This season seems to be like deep winter in the Midwest.  You don't send your kids out to play alone in these temperatures.  Here they can drop from heat exhaustion and in Minnesota they can drop from the freezing temps.  I look forward to enjoying the more temperate weather of fall and winter here in Arizona.

Fortunately, the car air conditioning healed itself and, if the AC holds through the weekend, we will be able to get it checked at 8 am sharp in Glendale, AZ on Monday.

Needless to say, it was an irritating few hours.  But, AC, food, drink, and going straight "home" fixed it all for now.

However, I DID take a few photos along the way.  Opening the window for a clear shot didn't seem such a big deal anymore. 😈  You have to look close in the last two photos to see the rusted metal yard sculptures, of antelope and a giraffe, I think.  The car took off as I started to take the photos so there were no adjustments allowed.

The view over the trailer park.

Metal animal sculpture on the left side.

Metal animal sculpture sighting on the left side of the yard.  Notice the typical  gravel yard.

Tomorrow, we bring carry out dinner over to Mom and Dad's.  It will be another enjoyable evening of conversation, playing with our electronics, and maybe a TV mystery.  Who knows?  I'm going to miss them so much when we leave.  But, we may be heading out for Los Alamos next Thursday.  We'll see.

Endless LA and wasteland with surprise General George Patton Museum & gas station

By Friday morning, I was desperate for my beloved Barq's Root Beer.  California has let me down on the root beer front on several occasions and, so far, I have only found it at the odd Subway restaurant and at Denny's.

So, we started today at Denny's and, oddly enough ended it at a Denny's farther down the road.  There is undoubtedly symmetry there.  In between, we passed through the California where the old cowboy movies were filmed - golden grass with a few trees here and there, madronas and many that we couldn't name - interesting rock formations and groupings of vegetation, horse and cattle country co-existing with vineyards and orchards.  We started to see many of the LA area names that appear in films: Pasadena, Cucamonga, San Bernadino.  [I found a great online map of all the sites where The Big Lewbowski was filmed for those who would love a Big Lebowski tour.  Just know that some of these places are private residences now.]  And, I found my birthplace on a map, finally.  Huntington Park is right next door to Inglewood.  I just didn't know where to look before, assuming it was over near Huntington Beach - what a maroon?.

My parents lived in LA proper; next door to a well-known old cowboy actor (his name was Uncle Bill, but Mom could never remember his last name), one of the character actors who seemed to be in the background of every cowboy movie in the 40s and 50s  He and Mom would have coffee and play pinocle almost every day before I was born.  When the time came, though, the nearest hospital was over the municipal line into Huntington Park.  Fact - I am a California girl and appear to have been born with a craving for caffeine.  Coincidence? I wonder.

If you haven't visited this part of the world, you would be surprised how many oil pumps you see in some areas.  Miles and miles of them; some not working, some rusty and worn, some very close together.  I was so slack-jawed that I did not get one photograph, but I will on the way back.

The end of our day took us through the Southern California Mars-like terrain - rocks, piles, and hills - an endless looking wasteland.  Now and then, there were dead or dying scrubby little trees and plants that made me think of the Zombie apocalypse for some reason.  There were surprises, though: the huge wind farms with white windmills for miles and the sudden appearance of a very large palm tree farm, and the biggest surprise - the General George Patton Museum sitting out in the middle of nowhere next to a gas station, with a dirt yard full of tanks and military equipment surrounded by steel fencing and nothing else for miles and miles.

These windmills went on for miles.

Palm tree starts for as far as you can see.

General George Patton, one of Steve's idols.

Tonight is spent in a much nicer motel, very close to Denny's where we sat in air conditioning (outside it was 108 F) and savored an ice cold soft drink before coming back to see if our room was less like an oven after turning on the AC.  Dinner, however, was at the appropriately named Sizzler Restaurant where the AC had broken down and they were trying to compensate with 4 big, free-standing room air conditioners, which really didn't do the job.  I inquired: the AC had been down for a whole month and the kitchen staff, slaving over the steak grill, had NO AC in 113 degree weather.  Criminal!

Sunset in Blythe, CA.  It hit 113 that day.

Tomorrow, Phoenix at last, where it's a cool 104 degrees.  We are arriving early by a couple of days and will be staying with my parents for that short period until we can move to our reserved BnB rooms on Monday, July 17.  It will be SO nice to stay in one place for a few weeks and explore the area without having to lug all our stuff around or wonder where we will sleep tonight.  I'm SO ready.