One Year and Counting

one-year.pngTime really does fly when you’re having fun. It’s hard for me to believe that it has been one year since I retired from the aerospace mill. Considering our accomplishments in the past year, I think we have made fairly good use of the time.

In California, we have cleaned out most of the junk from the closets and distributed it to relatives, charity, recycle or the rubbish bin. We still have more to do before we’re ready to sell the California house. It’s going to take some time but then we still have to wait for the depressed housing market to improve (assuming things change in congress for the better).

In Arizona, we’re almost finished with the project of building our retirement home and becoming Arizonans. In a week we will be another step closer as we will arrange for delivery of the new appliances. I think we might also get our range safety briefing and join the Wickenburg Sportsmen’s Club.

The Last Time We Saw Our New House

We left Wickenburg on September 11, 2010. When we looked back, our house looked like this. Our contractor tells us that he has finished the topout inspection and started installing the insulation. We’re hoping to be as pleasantly surprised by the progress when we return to town next week as we were when we arrived in early September. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Bronze Horse in 3D

bronco.pngOn our last trip to Arizona, we took some time out to go to the Pedestrian overpass across the Hassayampa River near Downtown Wickenburg. I posted a panorama of the view from the bridge a couple of days ago.

As you enter the walkway (which used to be part of US Highway 60), you pass this bronze sculpture of a horse rearing up on its hind legs. I paused to take a pair of images to merge into the 3D version seen here. Click on the image to enlarge.

Of course, if you don’t have your 3D glasses, you can see the 2D image here.

Lake Pleasant

We can be at Lake Pleasant in less than an hour from our new house in Arizona. I took this photo in July of this year. It was a little too warm that day for a picnic, so we just did some sightseeing before we drove back to town. It is indeed a pleasant lake and state park. Click on the image to enlarge.

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The Hassayampa River – Panorama

On our last excursion to Arizona, we took some time out from house-building to do a little sightseeing. I composed this panoramic image of the Hassayampa River which runs through Wickenburg. Although it is dry in this image, it flows in the springtime and sometimes during the August/September monsoons. The presence of water ensures that the riparian vegetation stays green and lush even in the desert climate. Click on the image to see the full panorama.

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