Thursday, February 26, 2009

Fountain Hills

We went to Fountain Hills today, and let Geo the GPS lead us up there. It is North of Mesa across the Salt River, and then North on the Beeline Highway.

You can see the Fountain for several miles, since it sprays up into the air about 500 feet.

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It is in the center of the town, that is almost brand new. I believe this was just desert several years ago, as there were no old buildings anywhere. I reminded me of Beverly Hills, as there were not many main streets other than right downtown. But big dollar houses were all around in the hills. The one thing they had in common was looking down the hill at the lake park and the fountain.

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Since I wasn’t impressed that I wanted or could afford any of the real estate, we went directly to the lake park. This statue was really different.

I decided to just stand here and not move too much, and the coots started to run for the water. But then they just went back to pecking for grubs.

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I was out in the shade of a small point in the lake, under a palo verde tree, and had to take another shot of the fountain.

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I was trying to take the birds pictures without scaring them off, and they were actually beginning to come back towards me.

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And all of a sudden the fountain just stopped! I wasn’t prepared to have it quit. So I walked back to the car. We drove around the park, and enjoyed the birds and the people walking their dogs. Loyce ate her lunch, and then I got a call from the stock broker in Des Moines.

So the pleasant enjoyment seemed to come to an abrupt end. Discussions of available interest rates and the overall weakness of the market killed the mood.

But for a while there, we had a nice time enjoying water, green grass, 87 degrees, the birds, and the fountain. Things that are not all that common here in the desert.

The fountain seems to run for 15 minutes at the beginning of the hour, as it began again after we were driving around town looking the place over. Its all nice and new and such, but still an overpriced suburb, that is out in the hills East of Scottsdale.

Retired Rod

2 comments:

  1. That is a beautiful area, I love the fountain.

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  2. Fountain Hills is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, neighboring the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Scottsdale, AZ. The population is 24,669, as of the 2006 Census. It was the eighth fastest-growing place among cities and towns in Arizona between the 1990 and 2000 census. It has the world's fourth tallest fountain. Charles W. Juels' Fountain Hills Observatory is nearby.

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