Out Arizona Way
(06-27-2020, 04:49 AM)Tyson Rayles Wrote: Tell us again as to what made you decide to live there? Big Grin

Well, for one thing, I couldn't find my snow shovel, plus the car I bought didn't come equipped with snow chains... Nope
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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(06-27-2020, 04:49 AM)Tyson Rayles Wrote: Tell us again as to what made you decide to live there? Big Grin

the things mention here only occur 3 to 4 months a year  the rest of it at lower elevations  is no snow , no frozen pipers , don't have to have motor heaters in car . to name a few .
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(06-27-2020, 01:05 PM)jim currie Wrote:
(06-27-2020, 04:49 AM)Tyson Rayles Wrote: Tell us again as to what made you decide to live there? Big Grin

the things mention here only occur 3 to 4 months a year  the rest of it at lower elevations  is no snow , no frozen pipers , don't have to have motor heaters in car . to name a few .

Just think Jim about all that we save on clothes here. No heavy rubber boots, flip-flops are acceptable even at formal gatherings (I think, I haven't been to one in a very long time). No fur-lined jackets or wool pants. Again, jeans and a T-shirt are common, all year long. I doubt that 10% of the residents here have umbrellas. Some do just to shade them from the sun. And best of all is the beauty of the desert down our way, or go up north about a hour or two and you have the largest pine forest in the world. Then there's the Grand Canyon beyond that. Need we say more???? We can always make it through the summer just thinking about what our winters are going to be like.... 2285_
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Again Don if you are posting these slices of life where you are at to keep others from moving there it's working! Big Grin
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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(06-28-2020, 06:34 AM)Tyson Rayles Wrote: Again Don if you are posting these slices of life where you are at to keep others from moving there it's working! Big Grin

Yeah, I was going to warn Jim not to give too much away about the other parts of the year for fear that someone will see though all this.  Misngth
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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(06-27-2020, 01:05 PM)jim currie Wrote:
(06-27-2020, 04:49 AM)Tyson Rayles Wrote: Tell us again as to what made you decide to live there? Big Grin

the things mention here only occur 3 to 4 months a year  the rest of it at lower elevations  is no snow , no frozen pipers , don't have to have motor heaters in car . to name a few .

But you do need a lot of air conditioning!   Icon_e_biggrin
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(03-31-2021, 03:54 PM)Mountain Man Wrote: But you do need a lot of air conditioning!   Icon_e_biggrin

Icon_e_surprised !!!  That can't possibly be true....I've heard that it's a dry heat, and very good for one's health.  Misngth

If you wanna feel heat, try working in a steel mill...nothing dry about it at all, and you can see the "air" that you breathe.  Luckily, iron is supposedly good for your health, too.

Wayne
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(03-31-2021, 09:54 PM)doctorwayne Wrote:
(03-31-2021, 03:54 PM)Mountain Man Wrote: But you do need a lot of air conditioning!   Icon_e_biggrin

Icon_e_surprised !!!  That can't possibly be true....I've heard that it's a dry heat, and very good for one's health.  Misngth

If you wanna feel heat, try working in a steel mill...nothing dry about it at all, and you can see the "air" that you breathe.  Luckily, iron is supposedly good for your health, too.

Wayne

We have always stuck by the term, "you never have to shovel sunshine".... enough said. Icon_e_surprised
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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It’s been over a year, since I posted anything here. I still have a lot of old “Out Arizona Way” articles that I could dress up a bit and post, but the past few years haven’t been ones that allowed me many choices. I like to write, probably as much as I like to build things in my workshop or on my layout, so it was a tossup between one or the other since most of my time was dedicated to taking care of my wife. She’s been gone a year and I’m still trying to get use to that. But I do have a lot of free time now, and I need to take advantage of it, so maybe a few completely new articles here would be the right thing to do now.

Shopping around

Twenty years ago, the northwest side of our area was pretty much undeveloped. Lots of older farms, Luke AFB was way out in the sticks and nearby freeways weren’t even on the drawing board. Many roads were non-existent or dirt and I can remember when Bell Rd. went clear across the valley and stopped at US60 (Grand Ave.). Bell Rd. opened up when Sun City ran out of space and they started building Sun City West, then Sun City Grand and now Sun City Festival is way out in the desert, but not for long. Other developers followed and soon Surprise grew from a town of a few thousand to a city of over 100,000. Both these roads are now three lanes in each direction and Luke AFB is just minutes away.

We have all the usual chain stores and restaurants here, we are even blessed with three full-size Walmarts and one small one, each one just a few miles from my house. All of them are pretty busy normally, but now that the snowbirds are back, wow.... They built a Costco on what was a farm close by, now there are stores and fast food places being built all around it. They’re in a area about a mile wide and ten miles long that was all farmland that gave a rural feeling to the area, but it's all being built out, huge warehouses, big box stores, auto malls and housing. There was always lots of corn growing every year, carrots, strawberries, melons, flowers and a few things I had no clue as to what they were, but there was enough growing there to feed a lot of folks, now it's destine to be concrete and blacktop. They’re wondering why it’s getting warmer each year; me, I’m just wondering where all that food will come from now?

Being in what was the Wild West, it used to be easy to find western wear just about anywhere. Another thing that was easy to find was Native American jewelry. We could go to any mall or local western store and find what you need; some stores sold both. Now, you can't even find the malls, they're just history, making way for businesses and living space and most likely, a couple of Starbucks. As for western stuff now, there’s a place up in Wickenburg and one or two around Scottsdale and Carefree where all the tourists go.

That's just my story for this day, I guess I miss the old days, even twenty years ago would be fine, but we can't turn the clock back so I just go with the flow.
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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(10-20-2021, 06:19 AM)ezdays Wrote: It’s been over a year, since I posted anything here. I still have a lot of old “Out Arizona Way” articles that I could dress up a bit and post, but the past few years haven’t been ones that allowed me many choices. I like to write, probably as much as I like to build things in my workshop or on my layout, so it was a tossup between one or the other since most of my time was dedicated to taking care of my wife. She’s been gone a year and I’m still trying to get use to that. But I do have a lot of free time now, and I need to take advantage of it, so maybe a few completely new articles here would be the right thing to do now.

Shopping around

Twenty years ago, the northwest side of our area was pretty much undeveloped. Lots of older farms, Luke AFB was way out in the sticks and nearby freeways weren’t even on the drawing board. Many roads were non-existent or dirt and I can remember when Bell Rd. went clear across the valley and stopped at US60 (Grand Ave.). Bell Rd. opened up when Sun City ran out of space and they started building Sun City West, then Sun City Grand and now Sun City Festival is way out in the desert, but not for long. Other developers followed and soon Surprise grew from a town of a few thousand to a city of over 100,000. Both these roads are now three lanes in each direction and Luke AFB is just minutes away.

We have all the usual chain stores and restaurants here, we are even blessed with three full-size Walmarts and one small one, each one just a few miles from my house. All of them are pretty busy normally, but now that the snowbirds are back, wow.... They built a Costco on what was a farm close by, now there are stores and fast food places being built all around it. They’re in a area about a mile wide and ten miles long that was all farmland that gave a rural feeling to the area, but it's all being built out, huge warehouses, big box stores, auto malls and housing. There was always lots of corn growing every year, carrots, strawberries, melons, flowers and a few things I had no clue as to what they were, but there was enough growing there to feed a lot of folks, now it's destine to be concrete and blacktop. They’re wondering why it’s getting warmer each year; me, I’m just wondering where all that food will come from now?

Being in what was the Wild West, it used to be easy to find western wear just about anywhere. Another thing that was easy to find was Native American jewelry. We could go to any mall or local western store and find what you need; some stores sold both. Now, you can't even find the malls, they're just history, making way for businesses and living space and most likely, a couple of Starbucks. As for western stuff now, there’s a place up in Wickenburg and one or two around Scottsdale and Carefree where all the tourists go.

That's just my story for this day, I guess I miss the old days, even twenty years ago would be fine, but we can't turn the clock back so I just go with the flow.

Right now they are demolishing the mall that I was at at least once a week through my teens and early 20s.  It will be replaced with condos, self storage, a grocery store, and a little bit of retail.  The mall was half vacant for the last 5 years anyway, so I guess it was time to go.  On one hand I find it sad that this mall is going, but in reality the "mall culture" I grew up with is dead.  I remember reading something like 75% of the malls that were around in 2000 will be gone by 2025.  If it is not a nationwide big box store, people don't go there.  "Niche" stores like hobby shops are almost gone.  "Going shopping" is not how people want to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I'm not sure how people get a chance to be around other people anymore.
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(10-20-2021, 10:27 AM)nachoman Wrote: Right now they are demolishing the mall that I was at at least once a week through my teens and early 20s.  It will be replaced with condos, self storage, a grocery store, and a little bit of retail.  The mall was half vacant for the last 5 years anyway, so I guess it was time to go.  On one hand I find it sad that this mall is going, but in reality the "mall culture" I grew up with is dead.  I remember reading something like 75% of the malls that were around in 2000 will be gone by 2025.  If it is not a nationwide big box store, people don't go there.  "Niche" stores like hobby shops are almost gone.  "Going shopping" is not how people want to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I'm not sure how people get a chance to be around other people anymore.

Yup, Paradise Valley Mall, I watched them build it, expand it, and now that's going away as we speak. Used to go to Hobby Bench there. Metrocenter, the larges in the Phoenix area, gone. They had plans for a large mall here in Surprise until the 2008 decline hit, now the plans are gone for good. Wouldn't it be ironic if they tore down Arrowhead Mall and replaced it with an Amazon distribution center????
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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If I ever decide to write a "out Carolina way" thread I will only write about the bad stuff because unlike you Don I don't want to encourage anymore people to move here. The town's population is already over 1,100. Wayyyy to many people! Next thing you know they will be adding another traffic light. We already have 5 now. Waiting
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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Geeze Mike, I thought I always am talking about the bad stuff, too much of everything, grueling heat, too many stores, crowded parking lots, traffic and long lines at the Post Office. But you may be right, could be that there are folks that really enjoy that kind of living. I was in real estate for a while, I once had a client that wanted to live on a busy street. I never understood that until I found out that he was from the NYC area and missed all that noise from the traffic.

No, no, I implore you, stay where you are, we don't need more of anything. Mostly though, the thing I was trying to imply is that our old cowboy ways are gone, and that's a crying shame. Icon_cry Icon_cry
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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"Mostly though, the thing I was trying to imply is that our old cowboy ways are gone, and that's a crying shame. "

Agreed! Here our moonshine ways are gone.
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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