Zoolights

Every year the Phoenix Zoo does a "Zoolights" fundraiser from about Thanksgiving until the end of New Year's week. The display changes each year and seems to attract bigger crowds each year. Perhaps going the day after Christmas was part of the reason for the massive crowds this year.

The big blue tree uses 30,000 lights which raised the question for how long it takes to set up for Zoolights. Research indicates it takes a crew of four 12 weeks to install the lights.

In addition to lighting the trees, there are a lot of animals shapes, many which appear to move. The monkey "swings" across a wire above the restrooms while birds "fly" in the trees nearby.

This year they added a light show in the lake with the trees, 12' floating tubes, and a 24' sphere changing colors and other effects in time to the music. I forgot the camera so all the photos are from my phone.

The Phoenix Zoo is a private non-profit operation that doesn't recieve any public funding. Zoolights is their largest fund raiser of the year and worth a visit if you're in town.

Signs of the Season

I really thought that Fall had arrived in the Valley of the Sun when the temp during my walk yesterday morning was in the low 50's. Even BJ was celebrating the arrival of Fall on her Facebook page. Unfortunately, the overnight lows for the next week are all forecast to be over 60 degrees.

It has been cool enough to make hiking enjoyable. The gals invited me to go with them a couple weeks ago on a hike to Wind Cave at Usery Park.

It's a 3.2 mile round trip with 800 feet elevation gain that leads through the desert to beautiful view of the valley. It's impossible to get lost on this hike with directions to Phoenix in view throughout the hike. Apparently the pilots that trained here during World War II had a bad habit of getting lost.

In addition to the trails, the approximately 6 square mile park includes over 70 sites in the camping area with water, electric, and a dump station for $25 per night. Nearly empty during the summer, it will be filling up now that temps are more reasonable. Dry camping is available about 7 miles away in the Tonto National Forest for $6 per night with 50% off for seniors.

The confirmation that seasons are changing is the number of out-of-state license plates that are showing up on the street. Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, Washington, and Oregon are all showing up in significant numbers. I guess it's time to get out and enjoy our local back country.

A Touch of Culture

It's State Fair time in Arizona. We went on the first weekend and were disappointed in the animals. A bunch of goats and rabbits and a few beef, but no dairy or sheep and only one pen of small pigs. Perhaps those will be later since the fair runs for a couple weeks.

The carnival portion of the fair seems to get bigger every year, and the rides get less and less interesting!

The big reason to attend the fair the first weekend was to get a dose of culture at the figure 8 races. These are lots more interesting than a demolition derby because there's some speed and daring to go with the mud, mayhem, and trashed cars!