New stuff to see

With the amount of adventures we do, you'd think Shaw is never in school.  He was out last week for October break.  He's out 90 minutes early every day this week for Parent/Teacher conferences.  He and I went and visited a new footbridge over Tempe Town Lake. 

There is a rubber bladder dam under the bridge that stops the Salt River (Rio Salado) and creates the lake.  A couple of years ago, the city attempted to save a couple of dollars by not replacing the bladders per the manufacturers recommendation and they burst-  the lake drained out in one night.  Lots of fish died and it reeked for a couple of weeks.  It's been replaced and this new footbridge opened this last weekend.  There are two traffic bridges and a train bridge about a mile away but this connects a couple of recreational trails that run the length of the Salt River with the Tempe Town Lakes Park.  

                                    

You can't see it in this shot but there are misters that keep the bladder wet so that it doesn't get sun baked.  It created a really cool rainbow.  I'm not a great photographer and this is higher than you think. You are 40 to 50 feet off the river bed and 20ish feet above the water line on the other side of the bridge. 

Waterfowl...

 That building on the left is the Tempe Center for the Arts.   

 Shaw testing out the bridge.  It seems to work. 

 That's looking down the river bed towards downtown Phoenix.

This is at Tempe Center for the Arts.  I've done a few DJ jobs in that part of the building in the upper right corner of this shot.  The water runs right up to the edge and from the inside, the reflecting pool just continues right on out to the lake... except you can see the bobbing head of a jogger or a cyclist going by once in awhile.
                                                 

That's downtown Tempe.  The building on the right is US Airways.  The one on the left is Lifelock- the identity protection company.  ASU's Sun Devil Stadium is on the backside of that mountain in the middle. 

 This is the Phart... the Phoenix Area Rapid Transit.

I enjoyed checking out the engineering features and I think it's pretty cool architecturally too. It has my blessing.  You may cross!

Big progress

If you have followed this blog for some time, you know that we have been visiting the Gilbert and Phoenix Temple construction sites on a monthly basis for some time.  Owing to my  past life in the steel business in Los Angeles, I've been able to detect the progress, but most of the photographs don't show much of anything that looks like a temple taking shape to the untrained eye.  We had a pleasant surprise today at the Gilbert Temple site- the frame for the building proper is complete!

There is a missionary couple assigned to the temple construction site now- Elder and Sister Miller from an adjacent stake- and an observation deck and a small visitor center in one of the construction trailers. Elder Miller pointed out the window and said that the Angel Moroni statue will be as tall as that crane.  The crane is at an angle now to give a good range of motion to move materials about the site and when it comes time to install the statue, the crane will have to pull right up beside the structure and be as upright as it can be to place the statue on the top of the steeple. 

 

We got some good info on what's coming up and we were able to look at lots of drawings of what the grounds will look like.  It's going to be a beautiful building and grounds.  The steeple should be done by March or April of 2012 and although Elder Miller couldn't confirm, I've heard estimates that it should be opening by 2013. Again, owing to my construction experience, that sounds about right.

 

Upon viewing the sign on this trailer that housed the visitor center, Lesa hoped/wondered aloud (and with a wide smile) whether the "owner" might be on site today...  I think we all felt Him there...

That was a long hot summer...

It finally cooled off this week!  I'm not completely bothered by the heat, I continued hiking even on the hottest days.  The difference is that I have some hiking companions now that it's not lava hot outside. 

That's Red Mountain in the left third of the shot in the distance.  From a distance, the desert looks brown and dead but as you can see there is lots of greenery out here when  you get close to it. 

Shaw is keeping hydrated.

I'd be interested to know what the forces were that cracked this rock in such an orderly way.  It looks as if somebody stacked these square rocks up deliberately.

 Another water break.

Scenery- this rock looks like a coyote howling at the moon.  It's amazing how much diversity there is in a 3 mile hike just turning the camera to the left or to the right.  We live in a beautiful state and it's a great thing to live in a city where can we drive a short 10 minutes to get to this. 

 That's Four Peaks in the distance- looks like a storm brewing up in the high country. 

 Almost back to the car.

Let the roadies take the stage...

I picked up Shaw directly after school today so he could come on a DJ gig with me.  He's the best roadie in the history of the craft.  I had a short load-in window and needed his help.  He's been around enough to know what the equipment is and what to do when I'm placing lights and cables and such.  Anything that he could lift or that was on wheels, he took care of it.  He was incredibly helpful.  He actually rode to LA with me a couple of years ago to do a gig and in addition to being a great travel companion and roadie, he actually got on stage and helped with the show itself.  Lesa came and picked him up from this one just before the event started.  The LED screen behind him just about washed him out in this photo, but you can see his handsome mug if you squint your eyes just right. 

It was a major industry function for the Destination Management and Corporate Events world and it was great to have been invited to provide the entertainment. 

There were a couple of models on either side of the stage on stools with a costume skirt that went all the way to the floor with a hula hoop hem.  The dress didn't actually glisten that much but I (Shaw helped) put a blue LED moonwash and a red and green laser matrix on her and it really shined. 

Thanks for the help Shaw, I couldn't have done it without you!