Hole In The Rock - Papago Park

Sunday afternoon 3/6/16 (Day 63) after my local brew pub visit to The Perch, I decided to head over to the Hole in the Rock that is in Phoenix but on the border of Scottsdale.  To the south is the Phoenix Zoo and to the east is the Bitanicsl Gardrns.

I was by here the other day and I could see many people hanging out in the hole / in the rock.

With lots of nooks and crannies the mountain is popular for those with good sneakers, and no fear of heights, to climb all over it.

You climb through this small hole to the other side where the opening is much larger.

Some you see walk along the ridge and others hold on.

When I came through the small hole to the back I came upon a girl about 10 or 11 too timid to come through.  I professed to her, as her mother looked on, that I didn't like heights but was not scared as stairs had been carved out of the rock.  

She came through and down the stairs, although very cautious, she did it.  I now noticed her father waiting for her to come down.  I couldn't tell if I had aggravated him by my coaxing, but he didn't say anything.

Some choose to climb and sit on the steep surfaces.

The wind was up this afternoon and the hole passing to the other side was quite windy.

Off in the distance is downtown Phoenix.

Down below is a picnic area that looks like an oasis.

Brent

mscaloney@hotmail.com

The Perch Pub And Brewery

Last Sunday, 3/6/16 (Day 63), in the afternoon, I decided I wanted to try a local brew.  I searched Google Maps for brewery and settled on The Perch in Chandler, AZ.

The parking near the building is limited but a short walk was all I needed from a large parking lot a few hundred feet away.

The place is quaint, off the main drag, and what attracted me to coming here was the prospect of the rooftop bar.

The sign to the front of the building wasn't as graphic as their box delivery truck that was parked across the street.

I did find a brew of my liking and found a single seat at the bar on the roof.  The downstairs dining was very busy.

I sat between two younger guys.  One 30 something and one 40 something.  

Typical guys mostly talking about woman and checking out the woman they came in.  The bartender servicing is was a 20 something woman and the 40 something guy was giving her a hard time about her current male relationship.

I was assured that I had selected a great place to stop for a local brew, but I was also told that downtown Chandler has a number of good bars within a quarter of a mile.

The 40 something was originally from Providence, RI.  I asked him if he knew Buddy?  He looked at me strange and I said Cianci?

He said did you know him and I told him I had met him many years ago in the hotel where he lived.  I had been invited as part of a group in the hotel to his hotel suite.  The 40 something said his uncle was good friends with him

We spoke of Buddy for some time and how he turned Downtown Providence around and the mall there being a large economic focus.  Buddy went to jail for his misdeeds in office of Mayor, but this never changed the positive public perception that most had of him for what he did for the city.

Buddy died while I have been on my travels at the age of 74.

(Wiki photo)

Obituary:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/us/vincent-a-cianci-jr-celebrated-and-scorned-ex-mayor-of-providence-ri-dies-at-74.html?referer=&_r=0

I stayed for a couple hours until the sun was setting and conversation had been around.  I decided I was going to check out The Hole in the Rock.  A popular sunset place between Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Are You Here For The Sunset?

Wikipedia Defines a Rhetorical Question as follows.

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer.^[1] Though classically stated as a proper question, such a rhetorical device may be posed declaratively^{[citation needed]} by implying a question, and therefore may not always require a question mark when written. Though a rhetorical question does not require a direct answer, in many cases it may be intended to start a discussion or at least draw an acknowledgement that the listener understands the intended message.

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This is not the first time this year I have been asked a rhetorical question and it may not be the last.

I go to parks in the afternoon to cook/eat dinner before its dark.

This day I was at a park that I go to once in awhile that also has a disc golf course.

I finish playing disc golf and I go to my Prius to make dinner.  This approx 38 year old guy with his tee shirt off looking fall buffed with shorts walked by my car and I had a couple doors open and the back hatch, as this is how I access my fridge under the hatch, and I set up my door table as the picnic tables are too far to lug everything.  

It is visible with the hatch open that my sleeping bag is there on one side and it isn't hard to determine that I sleep in the Prius.  I don't look to hide this fact in a park.

Mr. Buffed had done what ever and was heading back to his sports car and he says to me "Are You Here For The Sunset?"

I always bite my tongue and take the high road at such encounters.  It wasn't sunset dude, I said to myself.  

I knew what he was doing.  He was giving me a message that he didn't like me there because of the image I give off.  

As I have noted in other encounters, it is a form of intimidation.

I turned to Mr. Buffed and smiled and said no I just finished playing disc golf and now I'm having dinner.

He went and sat in his sports car for awhile on the phone and eventually left.  I would have sat there a long time waiting for him to leave first.

It's too bad I'm leaving the area as I would like to go back at the same time of day and say hi to him and drum up a conversation so he knows I wasn't intimidated by his words or his physique.

Just like the dude at Slab City, CA and the dude at the BLM land in Ajo, AZ

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Gordon Lightfoot - Show/Meet & Greet

It's Friday night and I'm in the Phoenix area and I'm thinking I should do something.

I'm at the Wild Horse Casino walking around and see that Gordon Lightfoot is playing the house tonight.

I walk up to the ticket counter and ask if they have any tickets and I'm told they are sold out.

I then ask if they may release tickets and the guy said they may.  I decided to stand off to the side to see if anyone was selling tickets.  

Off on an angle there is s guy selling a ticket so I wonder over but the transaction was done and no more tickets.  

I decide to wait a bit longer and a guy asks me if I am looking and I said yes.  He has two to sell and I am a single. Vi told him I would hang out a bit longer and he could try to sell the two and if not I would buy one.

He thinks for a couple seconds and says he will just sell the one to me for face value of $60.00.  I agree and the cash sale is done.  Then he says here is a wristband for the meet & greet after the show back stage. He said he would just give that to me.

Very nice score.

I have row E, so 5 rows from the stage and all the way to stage end.  Good seats to me.

It was a good show and Gorden is 77 now.  Where did the years go.  A local fan favorite was Carefree Highway, named after the road north of Phoenix.  Gordon told us he was headed down I17 from Flagstaff many years ago and saw the road sign and thought that the words were deserving of a song and wrote it in a few hours.

My seat was near the back stage door so I was first inline to meet Gotdon and shake his hand and tell him how I appreciate his music.

It was a by chance situation that I ended up at wild horse casino, by chance in getting tickets, and by chance getting to personally meet Gordon Lightfoot.  It's interesting how some things just fall together.

For John M, where I used to work, Gordon did sing the Edmond Fitzgerald and I knew someone other than me knows how many times the bell tolled on the Maritime Saylors' Cathedral for the crew.

For the rest of you its 29 times.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Disc Golf Tournament - Fountain Wells

I have been playing Disc Golf in The greater Phoenix Area for a couple days  and met a fellow player Friday AM in Mesa who asked if I was going to the Disc Golf tournament that was going on. 

My reply was that I didn't know about it, so he filled me in.

I headed directly to Fountain Hills, one of three tournament sites, to check it out.  It's nice to be able to just do this.

When I arrived I met Brad, who was from Wisconsin, and came for his second year of play.

Brad, a twenty-something, had just finished his round so he offered to show me around.  He took me out to meet players and show me good spots to watch.  

He spent about a half hour with me. Not many people would have taken that much time.

I truly appreciated his kindness.

The course is around this lake with a large fountain in the center.

My disc golf app UDisc had the drop pin in the wrong location and it brought me a mile away to a housing development.  The picture above was my correction sent to the developer.

This is a very nice course that is played in a public park.  Therefore some care in throwing is required.

The biggest threat is the loss of your disc in the lake, like above where basket is on this peninsula.  

These players are a mix of wanting to be pros and pros.  There is no holding back or laying up to be safe.  They go for it water or not.

I saw many a disc lost to the water.  The judge for that tee will try to retrieve with a water retriever but that is it he will try.  Only a couple used floating discs.

Action putt shot with saguaro and fountain in the background.

I went back Saturday AM to a much bigger crowd as the top 50% of the field would be playing.  So the pros were there today.

I watched many groups play this hole that shoots across water.  Oh so many a disc lost!

Of the ones that made it, many were around 400 foot throws.

I can't do this on a good day.  I watched and I think I had to hold my jaw up as I was in amazement of their skills.

They did it so effortlessly too.   

Here are the trophies that will be passed out later in the day.

I am so glad to have gotten to see the tournament and the players.

I don't expect I will ever get their skill but will continue to work on it.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Baseball - Spring Training - Cactus League - Thursday 3/3/16 (Day 60)

It's always great to catch a spring training baseball game, so I decided to order up a ticket last week for this Thursday's game between the Arazona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. 

I chose the Salt River Fields ball park over the teams as they do a great job of parking where other stadiums are not nearly as good.

My seats put me right behind home plate and with it being near 90 in the shade today. I was protected by the canopy shade.

It's so nice to see the throw and the unpire's call.

Here is D. Baxter the Bobcat, the Arazona Diamonback Mascot, jamming it up standing on the concrete barrier between sections.

It was a close game with a good ending.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Tonto National Monument - Wednesday 3/2/16 (Day 59)

On my way from Stafford, AZ to Phoenix I decided to turn north from Globe, AZ to drive the scenic Apache Trail

Prior to Apache Trail turning to a narrow winding dirt road there is the Tonto National Monument.

Up from the valley is the visitor center where I checked in with my senior pass and I get free entry.

There is a well maintained 1/2 mile trail up the hill that starts on the back of the visitor center that leads up to the lower cliff dwelling.

On my way up I met a 50 something woman, by herself, that I will call "L".  

We ended up sharing an enjoyable conversation on the way up.  She told me all about here volunteering for the National Park Service and had a wonderful time and highly reccomends doing it.  She had done it twice at the Grand Canyon.  

The Ranger here at the top referred to the cliff dwellers as imergrants.  Like other Native American tribes that lived here, they left lmno clues to why they left the area.

This is the lower cliff dwelling that is open to the public.  There is an upper dwelling that they have private tours of 12 people that are prearranged that you can sign up for.

Most of the dwelling was distroyed before the area was taken over by the Federal Government.  Therefore much has been rebuilt to show what it wa like.

The people who lived here had a wonderful view. 

The ancient rivers carved out these caves  leaving overhangs making them good places to live.

This dwelling is like many other similar cliff dwellings you see in the southwest.

On the way down "L" and I saw a bird fly out of this cactus.  I examined it and found the blue egg and the mother bird stayed close and kept an eye on us.

After I took the picture "L" bent down to take the same picture and said to me, "You know.. You can tap the screen (iPhone) to brighten the picture before taking it."

I laughed knowing I have had an iPhone for taking my travel pictures for three years and didn't know that.

I turned to "L" and said "L, I will never forget you for giving me that tip."

Explaining further that I post brighten the pictures I need to make brother with the editing software.

She went on to recommend SnapSeed as a post editing software.  We had a wonderful conversation on the way down too.  She was out exploring while her humus and is working in Phoenix on business.  She is off to other cities with his work but plans to volunteer for the National Park again.

One is never to young to learn!  Thanks "L".

For more information about the cliff dwellers and Tonto National Monument visit: http://www.nps.gov/tont/index.htm 

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com