Founder's Day 2008

It's been a while...job searching and settling in is keeping us very busy, and we've managed to fit some fun in as well.

Friday night we walked over to Main Street to check things out - Verrado's annual Founder's Day weekend was here and they were setting up in town for the next day's events. Just about everything was ready to go, and they were doing screen and lighting checks. It was pretty quiet with very few people around - less than 24 hours later it would look completely different.

Saturday was incredible - perfect weather and the celebration right in the town square and up Main Street. The festivities started at 2 and included vendor tents with all kinds of food, drink, and things for sale, classic Woodies (following the "beach" theme), and a different band playing every hour up until 8 when The Beach Boys would take the stage. They even set up a "beach" of sand alongside the stage (third pic above). Shawn and I had been kind of bummed since the bands that had played in the past included Train, Gin Blossoms, Blues Traveler, The B52s, etc., plus I had seen TBB several times at Great Adventure as a kid, but they put on a great show. Our friends Mary and Val and my goddaughter Julia and her exchange student Mina from Korea joined us, and it was fun to share the experience with Mary being from California and never having seen them before.

The lawn worked on the honors system, so you just showed up earlier in the day, laid your blankets down, and wandered in and out throughout the day. It worked out well for us since we were invited to our neighbors Tom & Kim's place later on in the day. Great wine, friends new and old, and the concert ended a great day. Sunday was the closing event of the weekend - a BBQ lunch in one of the parks - and then we headed off to see friends in the east valley for dinner. The weekend is designed to foster a sense of community, and it really works. We met some new people at the concert who are also new in town who pushed us to join clubs to meet people, and we have our first dinner for one next week. Everyone is so friendly here that it is almost impossible to NOT meet people.

That's the latest news. We're hoping to get away for some camping with our friend Eric up in Sedona this weekend before it gets too cold up there. We'll keep you posted.

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.