Thanks for checking out my blog. I hope you enjoy it and also find out what life is like for me/us here in Surprise, Arizona.
Map
For starters I thought I'd include a link to a map of the greater Phoenix area. For optimum viewing it helps to change the viewing size to 100%.
Once you find Phoenix then follow Hwy 60 to the northwest (runs diagonally) and you'll come to first Glendale, then Peoria, then Sun City, etc. and then Surprise. Looking at the major streets below the word "Surprise," locate the intersection of Litchfield Road (runs north & south) and Cactus (runs east and west). We are very close to that intersection.
What's in a name?
Phoenix gets its name from the bird in Greek mythology that died in a fire and then rose out of the ashes. It's associated with the sun (HOT sun) and rebirth. This area is sometimes referred to as the Valley of the Sun. There are mountains at different locations all around the city (the White Tanks west of us, the Estrellas (pronounced Es-trayas) to the south, and South Mountain Park to the south, and so on. Because it's a valley it has a smog problem at times. We are quite far out so hopefully we won't be bothered by it.
Note: Mountains down here are not green and forested like you may picture mountains. They are brown and rocky with some desert vegetation. They are most attractive when parts of them are in shadow when they look dark blue-purple. It's also nice to see their silhouettes again the sky at dusk. We can see them from our neighborhood even though they're several miles away, so they must be big.
So what causes that smog?
Traffic--lots of traffic! That's the thing I like least down here. And once the snowbirds come there will be even more traffic. Hopefully I will get more comfortable with it as I drive more. I think I have relaxed some so I'm hopeful.
Speaking of traffic, I've never seen so many red PT's like mine. It's very surprising. And there are LOTS of BIG pick-up trucks, and I mean BIG. Sometimes I think I'm in Texas (that was for you, Jennifer).
My Major Map Points Thus Far
- Mark's brother Rod, his wife Karen, and son Brandon live about 10 miles east of us in Peoria. (More about them on another day.)
- The Northwest Regional Library is on Bullard about three miles north of us.
- The churches we visited have been west of us a couple to four miles.
- And then SHOPPING. Grocery stores (Fryes and Safeway), McDonalds, the Sonic Drive-in, pizza shop, walk-in hair place, and other stores are at the intersection of Litchfield & Waddell. There's a Super WMT farther east on Waddell, my nail place is at Litchfield & Greenway, and so on. Then directly north of us on Bell Road (which turns into Sun Valley Parkway as it goes west) are major chains like Home Depot, Lowes, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Office Max, Target, Michael's, Kohl's and so on. However, to get to a JoAnn's I have to drive about 12 miles east on Bell! That's also where there's a mall, nice furniture stores, larger chain restaurants (there's a PF Chang's), etc. They are opening new stores west of us (a Kohl's just opened and a Wal-Mart) but I'm sure it will be a while before there's a real mall.
Here's the link for our city web site. It was founded in 1938 and was named after the founder's hometown in Nebraska. In 1960 it was incorporated and now has a population of approx. 90,000, with most of the growth occurring since 2000.
No comments:
Post a Comment