Hiking & Meeting

So I got my hair cut. There will be no pictures until it grows out a little. I also got lots of info on the town since I left. If you want to know about a place, you go to a barber/beauty shop that's been around for awhile. Oddly, a lot of what had been up in the air before we left - a community pool, movie theater, etc. - was still up in the air. A lot of money has been spent on artwork, apparently 1% of all tax revenue now automatically goes to art projects (like all those statues I pointed out last week). I got quite an earful, which is what I wanted, and why I let him keep chopping at my locks.

Friday night we wanted to celebrate that all the utilities seemed turned on and off, as applicable, all the moving issues seemed to have been resolved, and Michael had survived three full days at work. One of our favorite places to watch the sunset used to be from a wine bar, right by the fountain. They'd play Native American music quietly, and we would just sit there watching the shadows move across the distant mountains and hoping the effluent water from the splashing fountain didn't get in our mouths. Yeah, it wasn't like that this time around. Someone was having an engagement or pre-wedding party there and every single person had a young child - or more than one. Even when they left, more people came in with kids. The place now offers food from the pizza place next door, so apparently it's not just a quiet wine/beer bar anymore, it's an overflow for the pizza joint. When I asked about the change in clientele, I got a look and an attitude as if I was crazy for not thinking wine with whining children (whine with my wine) was a good combination. I would now recommend this place if you're a parent craving wine/craft beer and your kid is craving pizza because you now have the combo (and even a park for play nearby), but if you want a peaceful sundowner, this might not be the place to go anymore.

Sunday, was National Take A Hike Day, which meant free entrance into McDowell Mountain Park (4 miles from our apt.), so that's where we went. We expected kids on this easy hike, so were mentally prepared.

We hike a lot, but we can't help but wonder how much we pass by, clueless. Having a ranger explain things, and even having kids ask questions you're too embarrassed to ask can be fun sometimes. It was beautiful, as expected.


And we saw another tarantula! The circumstances were a little different, but I still wouldn't have touched the thing.

We did learn a lot. What we always thought was a chipmunk was actually a Harris antelope ground squirrel.  And we'd always attributed the very distinctive sound it makes to a bird. We were also surprised to learn that the park has badgers. Mean badgers. They're rare to stumble across, but if you do, they will attack, so I think we're okay not seeing them. We now know how to identify coyote poop. Michael even learned the right way to plant a saguaro (do not prop it up with planks, use sand to keep it upright).

Speaking of saguaros. Do you know how they get all twisted like this? Frost bite! Their arms will sag if the temps drop far enough. It doesn't hurt the cactus, but as it continues to grow, it can become quite a pretzel. Since cacti grow from the top, you only have to protect their "heads" from the cold by putting a little hat or styrofoam cap on.

The best part though was that all the people there were living in Fountain Hills, including Ranger Amy, and they turned out to be great contacts. I got to talking to one hiker who moved here from Hawaii. She's started a website similar to one I want to do but geared toward families. As a former IT person, she offered to help me with my site and knew someone else that could help with marketing (I am NOT doing it for free this time). They're all starting a woman's entrepreneur group and invited me to join. Now this is what I was talking about. I feel alive again - alive I tell you!