Reconnecting

We are from Colorado, but it seems we need to come to Arizona to reconnect with Colorado connections. During John's 50th high school reunion in August, we talked to Dennis and Linda about the time we spend in Mesa in the winter. They were interested and knew they had a meeting to attend in Scottsdale this month, so we gave them our phone number. Last Friday they came to see Valle del Oro, where we are staying, and talk about the snowbird lifestyle. These are people we hadn't seen for 30 years before the reunion, but Friday we talked non-stop for over three hours. It was a great visit and we urged them to plan on spending part of their winter in the Valley of the Sun.



Then, this week, we rode the Phoenix light rail to Tempe to have lunch with Bob Kley, the priest John assisted at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Coolidge last winter. He was ordained to the priesthood in Colorado, as was John. First we had to buy our tickets for the train. The machine worked much the same as those at Denver's light rail stations.



The Phoenix system is fairly new and the trains are sleek and shiny.



Each station has art by local artists. This is the sculpture at the station where we boarded the train.



Maybe this sign will help you understand what the work is all about. Click to enlarge so you can read it.



We passed this art work as we rode along. I didn't get off to read about it. I am reminded of a ball of yarn.



We met Bob at the 3rd and Mill station in Tempe, near the Arizona State University campus. We had lunch at the Zuma Grill in the nearby shopping area that was full of small shops and numerous restaurants.



After lunch, we walked to the nearby Tempe Town Lake. They have damned up a section of the Salt River to provide recreation for local residents. We had read about it, but never seen it. It is really quite impressive.





We plan to drive back to the lake some day soon and ride our bikes on the 5 mile path around the lake.

I can't tell you how glad we are to be in Mesa. When I turned on my computer to do this blog, the weather gadget on my desktop said it is 28 degrees and snowing in Denver. The 78 degrees here is soooo much better!