Scottsdale Arizona

October 27, 2011 by Irene

Get out and get cycling

My husband Rick is a cyclist. He heads out early every weekend and rides for several hours, many times getting 70+ miles in during the ride. That isn’t exactly my idea of fun, but for him, he loves it. I am the one with the cruiser. I am more likely to stop and take a photo along the ride to catch my breath. Luckily we live in Scottsdale and we are both in great shape for going on a ride.

Scottsdale is being awarded the Gold Designation from The League of American Bicyclists. There are only 14 Gold Designated cities in the country, and the highest level of Platinum has been given to only 3 cities.

So why is Scottsdale so bike friendly; with 112 miles of bike routes, 124 miles of bike lanes, and my favorite, the 119 miles of paved bike paths as well as 218 miles of unpaved trails, is it any wonder that Scottsdale is a bicyclist’s paradise. Whatever your preference!

So with cooler weather here, hop on your bike and explore the area!

June 29, 2010 by Irene

Desert Botanical Gardens

I love our gardens. Love being a member, even if I don’t get there as often as I would like. Last year the Desert Botanical Gardens had the Dale Chihuly: Nature of Glass exhibition. Because of the exhibit, the gardens increased their revenue last year by 45%.

With so many of the museums, parks and other community facilities facing closure due to the economy and lack of funds, I am glad The Desert Botanical Gardens is doing so well.

Connect with them on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter

June 22, 2010 by Irene

Summer Resort Fun

With temperatures rising, many of the visitors to our beautiful city have left, not to come back till cooler weather returns. So the resorts are offering great summer play packages.

Millennium Resort has offers starting with $100 room, and get $100 in food and beverage, even pool side. For a bit more add in a golf package.
Hyatt Regency Scottsdale is offering free meals, kids camp, and with their ‘water playground’ loads of fun for the family
Stay at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort and spend the day at the spa or enjoy all of the services they offer.

Call the resort you’re interested in getting away to and find out what specials they are offering.

You don’t have to get out of town to have a vacation – summer fun is waiting in your own back yard.

May 18, 2009 by Irene

Wild Kingdom update in McCormick Ranch

Yesterday we had fun with the Badger.

In the afternoon I got a call back from Critter Control. They didn’t belive that we had a badger. And in McCormick Ranch, impossible…

They asked for proof and I sent them to my blog to see the photos. No doubting us, a badger is what we had. They were speechless. In 17+ years of doing critter control in the valley they have never had a confirmed badger report. They once had a call from someone in Buckeye, but could not confirm it, as they didn’t trap it.

So a badger is rare in populated areas. Almost unheard of.

That is good to know. Today, someone checked the last known location of our little friend. He has moved on. Hopefuly to a more rural area, or out to the desert even better.

May 17, 2009 by Irene

A Badger in McCormick Ranch

I get asked about critters, what will people expect to find when they move to Arizona. When I let them know that even in the heart of Scottsdale’s McCormick Ranch they can still expect to see an occasional coyote, javalina, hawks and owls. People are surprised! They were thinking along the lines of bugs, snakes, scorpions. I haven’t seen any snakes or scorpions in the area, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there, just that I haven’t seen them.

Today I got the surprise when a BADGER found it’s way to my front courtyard got trapped and ‘dug in’ literally.

This ferocious critter dug a hole VERY quickly righ next to our front door. I believe it felt trapped, and found a spot to defend itself.

Not sure if it was still there…. we took the hose from the balcony of the upstairs office and flooded it out.

It was there! and not very happy with us.

From the safety of the roof and upper deck, we hosed down the little guy and chased him out the patio and then blocked it off so he wouldn’t return.

He headed off and made another hole in the neighbor’s front courtyard. They are out of state for the summer. So that gives us a bit of time to get Animal control to get out here.

Till then, I am headed out with notices for the neighborhood to be on the lookout for a Badger and do not approach – those are mean buggers!

March 9, 2009 by Irene

Adobe homes in the Southwest

St. Francis de Assisi Church in Rancho de Taos

When people think of the Southwest and homes, many times they think of Adobe built homes. I often get asked why all the homes are stucco and why there isn’t much adobe.

I used to live in New Mexico, and know that real adobe homes are very labor intensive. Mud bricks stacked together then more mud over the bricks to give the smooth texture we are familiar with.

Super green, a great insulator, and the thicker the walls the stronger. The St. Francis de Assisi Church in Rancho de Taos, well known for being photographed by Ansel Adams and painted by Georgia O’Keefe, has walls that are over 6 feet thick at the base. The whole community comes together every year to re-mud the exterior. The rain and snow make the natural dirt/clay walls soften and wash away. Yes, the buildings last a long time, the church was built in 1815, and the Taos Pueblo is over 1000 years old. Keeping up the mudding can keep the adobe standing indefinitely.

Meanwhile, stucco lasts a lifetime (not sure how many years that is) but with a fresh coat of paint every now and again, the work to maintain it is much less.

I love the look and feel of the real adobe homes, and I have been in many while living in Taos and Santa Fe. They are a bit challenging to hang a picture on, when remodeling, taking down walls is not an option, making the stucco homes of Arizona much more practical.

Scottsdale Arizona

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