Local Yocals Meet National News

Yesterday we headed down to "old town" Buckeye for Heritage Days - a local celebration at the old Eastman Cotton Gin grounds. The town is fundraising and working on getting grants to build Heritage Park, the site of a soon-to-be historical destination focused on education and historical preservation. It was fun to finally just be a local for the day.

Here's the most memorable and first-time experience of it all: an actual tractor pull!! I have never been to one and have never seen so many tractors - probably in total - in my entire life in the Garden State.

Also check out The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer report on Buckeye - the town (from which Verrado is somewhat far-removed but which Shawn and I kind of dig) actually made national television! It's an interesting look forward on the west valley becoming it's own sustainable city vs. a bedroom community for commuters to Phoenix.

Non-Tourist Tourist Outing #2

I haven't updated in a while because there hasn't been much happening - job searching and dog parks aren't the most exciting topics.  Things are definitely progressing there, but today I decided it was time for a mini road-trip to remind us why we are here and surprised Shawn with an afternoon outing to one of our county parks with has a large lake I had read about.

   

Lake Pleasant was gorgeous - less than an hour away on back roads and a total escape. The pictures really don't show the true beauty.  Saguaro cactus and mountains everywhere, several different spots for off-roading, camping, boating, a couple of marinas - everything we could possibly want. We even saw wild burros for the first time. It's hard to believe that it is in our county and part of our "local" parks department - this was no small pond, but big enough for "real" boats with lots of bays which made the sailor in me very happy.

   

It's all happening...

Yesterday we decided to head over to the zoo and get our membership. It's a pretty and relaxing place with a lot going on throughout the year, but it was so strange to be at a true zoo so close to home.  We didn't take any pictures yesterday, but I got these shots of their new baby orangutan last November.

Funny side story - when we got back to the Jeep there was a business card on the windshield from an Assistant Fire Chief in Somerset County, NJ saying what a small world it was. He had seen Shawn's NJ fire plates and it turns out he also has a business in Hillsborough. Shawn left a message for him (the shop was closed for the week) saying it was even smaller - he had been an Assistant Chief in the area as well - and that we had just relocated.

Mayberry/Settling In (??)

I can't believe I haven't posted all week, but it has been absolutely crazy here. I can't stand shopping to begin with, and we've had to do just that almost every day since we arrived. I think we're done for now, and at this point it's just more unpacking, more waiting for furniture, and job searching. We picked up our dog Mija on Monday night, and she is settling in well despite so much change and the fact that our house is not even close to being normal yet.  The cats are handling things well for the most part - just a little hiding and Mija still trying to follow them around on occasion.

The town is just as beautiful as we remembered it, and it really does have a Mayberry/Pleasantville feel to it as much as we joke. It is definitely small-town America - everyone is so nice, the shops are great, and we're finding our way around the neighboring towns with the bigger stores when we need them. There are beautiful hiking trails, walking paths, desert landscape, and amazing sunrises and sunsets. The house is great and being able to walk to town is a bonus.  Once things calm down and we're actually settled, it will be perfect.

Saturday, October 4th - Part 2

After meeting Tom and getting rid of some Black Widow spiders on our patio we took off for the nearest mall so that I could get to the Apple Store (I'm pretty sure someone at the Gallup Days Inn West is enjoying my power adapter). So far we haven't found a nearby indoor shopping mall yet, but from what we hear construction is underway on one in our area. We headed up to Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale passing the new stadium on the way, did find the Apple Store, looked around for more furniture, and headed home. We hadn't had dinner so we decided to stop at the new Westgate complex next to University of Arizona Stadium where this year's Superbowl took place and where the Arizona Cardinals play.

I had heard there was a lot going on there including many restaurants and shops, but I didn't expect what we found. It was an entirely outdoor complex with everything from Margaritaville to Johnny Rocket's, all kinds of other bars, restaurants, and shops with a hotel, movie theater, casino, fountains, bright lights, etc. I felt like I was on vacation in Coconut Grove, Florida or San Diego, and then it started to hit us that we really ARE living in a vacation spot.

That's enough storytelling for now, but you get the idea - lots happening. I have a feeling it will be like this for a while longer.

Saturday, October 4th - Part 1

Today was essentials day. After waking up and moving everything from the garage into the house, we took a break and walked up to the local coffee shop, Mokarabia, got a couple of coffees, and sat on a bench on the square taking it all in - the biweekly bookmobile (haven't seen one of those since I was about 7), kids playing in the fountain, clouds rolling in for a possible storm. We toured the Village Health Club, got info on membership, and saw the pools that are included with residency - two nice ones, one for lounging and the other for laps. We met the Millers, a family of six from the area that moved to Verrado in May, and realized that, although we might be living in Mayberry, we are in a very special place.

Off to WalMart - AGAIN - for the items we could no longer live without, but we did stop in a NY style bagel and deli place for lunch first. I have to say I was extremely surprised as I had remembered from living here years ago that decent bagels were nearly impossible to find, and these were really very good.  Then some furniture shopping, a stop at PetSmart for more essentials, Lowe's to check out grills and workbenches, etc. By the time we made it home we were exhausted, but there was still too much to do. We dropped everything off, checked on the cats, and were ready to get going again, but once again got sidetracked with a neighbor.

I was outside of the garage throwing something away when I saw someone up our back alley - more on the "alleys" later - unloading what appeared to be cases of wine from their car. Greg, the neighbor that had moved out, had mentioned there was a nice couple in the wine distribution business up the street. As a wine fan I couldn't help myself and called over to him, "I have to ask...are you the wine guy?" He said, "I sure am!" and came down to introduce himself. I explained that Greg who had just moved out had told us one of our neighbors was in the wine business and I put two and two together when I saw him unloading. He welcomed us to the neighborhood and mentioned it was a perfect day for us with the sunset and rainbow at the same time. I turned around to see a full rainbow - end to end - larger than any I've ever seen in my life stretching across half the sky, but it was impossible to photograph with a normal camera. I said I had to show Shawn, and Tom said, "Go get Shawn, I'll go get a bottle, and I'll see you in a minute." Sure enough, a minute later he had a great bottle of Pinot Noir for me and we talked up about wine, restaurants in the area, pets, etc. We'll definitely be catching up with him and his wife Kim soon.

Just another Verrado day.

Our First Official Day - Friday, October 3rd

This was Friday: Got up around 7:30, packed up the cats and our stuff, loaded the car for the LAST time on our road trip, grabbed coffees from Mary for the road, hit the credit union again, and met our shipping driver, Ben, who had arrived in Phoenix with the Jeep on the 30th. Shawn was happy to have her back and followed me to our new place where we introduced the cats to their new home, had lunch at Grazie (just a short walk to Main Street), met a neighbor, Greg, who was moving out that day, and made plans to meet back later - he'd bring a good bottle of wine that hadn't been packed and we'd swing by the Memphis BBQ place in downtown Buckeye after our errands. We headed to town, set up garbage service, found out our local MVD (like the DMV, MVC, etc.) was closed on Fridays, found a new agent here and transferred our insurance policy, looked into new auto insurance, and headed to another MVD in Avondale. It was extremely packed but very organized, and before we knew it we had new AZ licenses, our Jersey licenses were shredded, and were registered to vote. Back to town to pick up the BBQ and then off to a great dinner with Greg and his friend Keith - our first and Greg's last as residents of Verrado. After that we headed to WalMart just one exit away for the essentials, which at that hour consisted of sheets, blanket, and pillows for our camping air mattress (bed on order and soon on the way). The rest would have to wait.

Are we really here? Thursday, October 2nd

I can't believe it has been three days since our last post, but it has been an absolute whirlwind since we arrived.

We left Gallup at 8:15 am, drove across to Flagstaff then down to Phoenix, gaining our last hour of extra time with the change from mountain to pacific. Thankfully it was the shortest leg of our trip since the cargo carrier on the roof decided it was going to make every kind of noise imaginable the entire time regardless of what we did to adjust it.

We arrived at our friend Mary's in Chandler at 12:20 pm, set up the cats for the day/night, saw Mija, Mary, all of the critters there, my goddaughter Julia and their exchange student Mina, had a quick lunch, stopped at the credit union, and took off for Verrado to meet our realtor and get our keys. Got to Verrado, toured the house with Shawn, emptied the 5x8 U-Haul trailer and cargo carrier into literally half the garage (how DID it all fit?!?!?!), returned the U-Haul to a place in downtown Buckeye - a true western Main Street town - and headed back to Mary's in time for a party where we got a big Arizona welcome from friends new and old.  I swam for about 3 minutes after the party (a bit chilly...but had to do it on principle since it's October!!) and then we crashed hard for the night. Mija was pretty ticked off that she couldn't sleep with us as she usually does, but the cats needed some time to adjust before we threw another change into the mix.

Final Night on the Road - Gallup, New Mexico

After a last meal with Shawn's brother Mike before leaving Castle Rock, we were back on the road at around 11 am. Today, although an average-length leg of the trip, was a little more nerve-wracking then the rest. Coming through the mountains of both Colorado and New Mexico tested the Jeep more than ever, but she pulled through and we arrived in Gallup at about 8:15 pm. More delivery food and soda, but calmer cats now that they had a few days of vacation before traveling.

I didn't really take any good photos during our visit, but I did catch one blurry shot of Shawn and Mike enjoying the firepit (NOT the cause of the fire) over the weekend.

Tomorrow is it - an early start should see us crossing the border into home territory before 9 am. We'll head across the edge of the Painted Desert, through Winslow to Flagstaff, then it's a straight shot to Phoenix. We still can't believe it is all finally happening.