Scottsdale

Valley of the Sun. 1/20/2012

It's just incredible that in a little less that my lifetime Scottsdale grew from a farming community covering 1 square mile to a city with a population of almost 218,000 and its area increased to 184 square miles. Scottsdale was incorporated in 1951 with a population of 200 people. The 24/7 Wall St., a financial news and opinion company, ranked Scottsdale the 8th best run city in the nation. It has the seventh highest median income and the highest percentage of high school graduates, low unemployment and the 6th lowest poverty rate.

If you like art galleries this is your place. There are 125 art galleries and an art walk every Thursday night. This week is the Scottsdale Collector Car Week, the main event is the Barrett-Jackson auto auction, and the event is televised on Speed Channel all week. The other auctions are : Russo and Steele, RM Auctions, David Gooding & Co., Silver Auctions and Bonhams. For a gear head like me this is heaven. Many of the old cars should belong in an art gallery.

As an avid biker this city offers many miles of bike paths both paved and gravel alongside the canals, golf courses and in parks; also a great variety of mountain biking. The people at the Bike Haus warned me that even the so-called beginner mountain biking routes here are more difficult than what would be common on expert courses in Wisconsin. Unfortunately last week I spilled blood again in one of my bike rides. So far I have left samples of my blood in 4 states; and in 2 - FL and TX; I left with no red streaks on the ground.

Winter escape to the Southwest. 1/3/2012

This year’s search for the sun is taking us to Scottsdale, AZ. Before moving into our rented condo in Scottsdale, we stopped to see our son Andy in Vail and spent Christmas week there. During our visit I took advantage of the location and managed to ski with Andy while Margee recuperated from a severe cold in the condo.
It’s been a while since I skied and Andy set me up with the best modern parabolic skis with mass-dampener. At my age I don’t think that I could handle my old skinny skis any more. It’s gratifying that skis width keep up with your body composition.  In any case I was still beat after a day of skiing no matter what kind of skis.  The natives in Vail were in a sour mood because of the lack of powder that they prefer. The snow, a lot of it man made, resembles the normal hard packed snow we are used to in Wisconsin and it suited me just fine.
After Vail we headed south to the Land of Enchantment and spent a few days in Santa Fe.  Margee’s cousin lives just outside of Santa Fe.
Santa Fe during Christmas is very popular with festivities centered on the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, and the Plaza. In the Plaza all the trees were decorated with colorful lights and there is music and native dancing.  The Hispanic tradition of La Posada, is a house to house reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s searching for a room. People join the procession ending at the Palace of the Governors chosen as the place of Jesus' birth. The farolitos, candles in bags, are all over Old Town on sidewalks, on top of walls and roofs. The favorite food is tapas; with La Boca the most popular restaurant. It takes weeks to get a reservation during Christmas. Fortunately Margee’s cousin made the arrangements and we enjoyed dinner there together.
Santa Fe is still cold in the winter but when it’s sunny it can be pleasant walking around during the day. But we are mostly interested in passing our winters in warmer climates, so we headed southwest to Scottsdale, our home the next two months.