Sunday, January 15, 2012

Some Cool Stuff about Phoenix...

Phoenix, Arizona is located in the Salt River Valley, in the northeast part of the Sonoran Desert. It's one of the hottest and largest deserts in North America and covers an area of 12,000 square miles. Phoenix is generally flat, but surrounded by a boatload of mountains. It's really pretty cool to stand outside and look around and see The McDowall Mountains, White Tank, Superstition and The Sierra Estrella, shown below.

I'm not sure I would like to live here. Summer temperatures are brutal. People die here in the summer from the heat. More than 100 days a year are way above 100 degrees. During winter, a few days may see freezing temps. Rain is scarce outside the monsoon season that runs from July to September. The monsoon brings high humidity and often flooding rains. Other than that, weather is pretty non-existent here. It's just sun, sun ,sun all the time. It's sunny about 300 days of the year here. 

Mesquite, fallow cotton field and Sierra Estrella Mountains

Even though it's friggin' hot here, January is nice at about 70 degrees. Here in this neighborhood they grow alfalfa and cotton, and horses. There are horses everywhere here. I would think it would be too hot for horses but they adjust very well to the climate. During the cooler winter (right!) a horse will even develop a shaggy warm coat. I don't believe for one second it ever really gets cool here, but Peg assures me it does. Horse people like this area because there is lots of easy access to mountain trails, beautiful desert vistas and most importantly, horses have the right of way. 

Trav's shaggy winter coat

Traveler has a couple neighbors I met yesterday.Moon was friendly enough, but after I stood near him for a couple minutes he tried to taste my shirt and my hands and my camera, with his teeth. 

Moon trying to bite me...

Pretty Pony isn't terribly interested making friends, but he give me the once over and then promptly turned his back and ignored me. I guess being pretty is all he's interested in.

Pretty Pony being...pretty

4 comments:

  1. AZ is one of those places I've always wanted to go. :) *sigh* Someday.

    Route 66 is on my bucket list. There's a section that runs through still (about 300 miles) that I'd love to do with the kids. Painted skies, desert landscapes, mountains in the distance....

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    1. I didn't like 'mf' as my name, haha but it wouldn't let me delete the whole thing...

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  3. I love the pictures, especially the one of Moon trying to bite you, lol. He looks very cute even if he is evil! I need to work on my blog, I've neglected it terribly :(

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