Valley of the Sun 2013: Fast cars, girls, music and life in the fast lane.....

Warmer days have returned to the Valley of the Sun. 74F today, might be warmer tomorrow. Like days of rain followed by a day of sunshine back home, everyone has all but forgotten the 5 days of freezing desert weather. We are not quite to the "make t-shirts" to commemorate surviving the longest cold snap since 1988 (that is what the locals are reporting) but everyone is feeling a lot more lively now that the warm sun has returned. After enduring the ribbing that we had colder weather than some parts of Canada I pledge to gloat less about our near perfect weather.

This past week was not spent entirely indoors. We did manage to get in 2 quality rides, back to back, Wednesday and Thursday. We rode 50k on Wednesday afternoon after getting a new rear shifter cable for Dana's bike. On Thursday we rode 64k, half of which was into a 15-20 mph wind. We did a 6 mile hike in Usery Park on Monday morning. Barry had tennis practice Monday afternoon. Tuesday afternoon we played our league Bocce Ball match, which we won 15-12. (Dana reports that "Barry shot the lights out!" ...ah shucks :-) Barry played tennis Thursday afternoon. Today was a day of rest. We did attend our first block party today which this month was a morning coffee get together. Friday evening Barry and his brothers went to the Barrett-Jackson car show and auction in Scottsdale.

Birding this week yielded a couple of new birds to add to our growing list. At Usery Park we spotted a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, a Gilded Flicker and a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. Very exciting! We are also beginning to see more hawks in the area but mostly on our bike rides when we do not have our binoculars. We hope to soon get a better look at these guys to make a positive identification, although Dana is convinced they are all Red-tailed hawks......;-)

The visit to the Barrett-Jackson car show was a unique opportunity to see the classic car scene up close and personal. For those not familiar with the Barrett-Jackson "industry" it is not something that is easily described. This is a huge event. We attended in the evening when we could get the "twilight" rate of $25.00 for entry. I would put the crowd on hand at around 7,000. I can summarize the event in two words: "excess" and "culture". 99% of the people attending these events are more or less ordinary working or retired folks. 1% are there to spend, spend, spend. We saw one 1968 Camaro sell at auction for $270,000. Late 1960's muscle cars went for between $70,000 for a run of the mill stock Barracuda to $110,000 for a 1965 Mustang. Cars were being auctioned at a rate of 1 car every 6 or 7 minutes. They would be rolled onto the huge stage and off faster than you could say Hooker Headers Batman. This was the excess. What was also on display was "car culture". Having been through most of the displays at the show there is no doubt in my mind that we live in a car culture. On display were not only every type of car and truck imaginable but all the accessories that go to make up the car culture. This includes the clothes, jewelry, personal accessories, car toys, toy cars, etc. 2 1/2 hours was enough to over stimulate our senses but we departed happy that we attended the show. It was an interesting experience.

This weekend we will sit back and enjoy the 75F weather (mini gloat...). Sunday will be for football. We are very disappointed that the Seattle SeaHawks lost their playoff game to the Atlanta Falcons. That could have been a franchise turning point for the team. As with our other sports team, we are left to say "wait until next year".....

With that I say Ciao! I have included several photos from the week. Enjoy!