Arizona off-topic

[convulso]

Anyone have any predictions on if the cardinals new stadium is going to help them have a winning season? You have no idea how depressing it is for me to go from having the Lions as my hometeam, to having the Cards. I just can't win.

i just noticed via a yahoo news article that this stadium exists - yesterday. that article said it's already being hailed as one of the premiere sports venues in the world (by organizations that hold forth on such things). no idea about a winning season, but it's definitely helped tickets sales. the article said home games are highly sold...laziness (and the urgency of being parked in front of a closed birmingham cafe with wi-fi to type this post) prevents me from looking the link up to find out if the games are actually sold out. but it's generated huge interest. hell, i've never liked the cardinals (even in st. louis), but i'm interested. maybe it's the snazzy update to the unforms, or that hottie matt line art...yeah, it's definitely the line art.

lol, MJ - at least you had the barry sanders years. what do the cards have? oh yeah...a celeb QB who got trashed by TX for the championship. and paris hilton (isn't that who leinart's dating?) in the pressbox.

i hate pro sports and the culture of jock team sports in general, but i'm an arbitrary hypocrite about it - i do get excited every year for the pro and ncaa football. must be the southerner in me. gotta get cable pretty soon...

Edited August 14, 2006 by convulso

[convulso]

ah, hell, i looked it up - the security guy here just drove right past me, so i've got the time:

some yahoo photos:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/ari/photos?pg=4&cap=0

the article (while it lasts):

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Av34...p&type=lgns

i'm sure wikipedia, along with some fan sites, has some good photos of the stadium as well...but i'm not that motivated...

[MJLO]

Ben my friend. If you look around this site. I believe in the Glendale thread or the westgate thread. I have posted some pictures of the stadium. I looks atrocious from the outside. A science fiction set gone bad. Or the largest UFO to ever land!

of course they kinda suck being from a distance.

[loftguy]

http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?b...1&blogtype=

[MJLO]

Did anyone else catch that Dick Cheney was in town yesterday?

[colin]

Did anyone else catch that Dick Cheney was in town yesterday?

That guy is just a phantom!

I think it's kinda sad that our vice president is so unpopular that he has to actually sneak in and out of cities in his own country and that only members of the Young Republicans club or whatever are actually told of his arrival, although still at the last minute.

[MJLO]

They knew he was coming about a week in advance. It disrupts airport flow slightly so we were made aware a day or so in advance. He's unpopular but why is he unpopular? I have to admit I know very little about the man or his policies. He seems to be militarily oriented, but he does not portray himself as a bible thumper like the pres has engineered his image to look. Alot of people blame him for the policies in Iraq. But I'd put that blame on the pres him and Rumsfeld. Everyone else really are just pawns. But I think Rove drives the administrations policies more than anyone. That is to say he's atleast the one responsible for fooling the hicks into thinking the prez really cares about gay marriage.

[colin]

Pinal rated third fastest-growing county in U.S.

Pinal County so rarely gets any attention. It's known for farms, prisons and the trailer parks in Apache Junction, but a lot of development is going on there. And it's in a unique position to grow a lot more being on the I-10 corridor between Phoenix and Tucson.

Keep in mind that this is percentage growth, and, as the article mentions, Maricopa County actually had the highest number of homes built.

[MJLO]

Wow for as much going on there sure has been very little news on the development front. The only thing interesting I found in the papers yesterday was that the governer wants to raise the school drop-out age from 16 to 18. I don't think that it will make a difference in the long run. If a 16 year old kid wants to quit school they are just going to do as little as possible until they can legally drop out anyway.

[colin]

Is that with or without parent permission?

In Texas, I know that it's 16 but the parents have to agree. But Texas sucks.

Yeah, it seems to be pretty quiet in the papers. Maybe the election has diverted attention? The Star has insisted on doing a front page feature on a paraplegic the past few days. It can't be that dull out there.

[MJLO]

It's my day off so I'll scour thru the papers to see what's up.

But where did everybody go, it's been dead around here the past few days.

[convulso]

But where did everybody go, it's been dead around here the past few days.

i've been lurking. but i've come down with strep throat and i just haven't been alert enough to post. that, and i'm stuck in auburn until i get better - and that means low-bandwith 'stolen' wi-fi up in the apartment, along with the occasional coffee shop visit. i'll hopefully leave for AZ by monday or tuesday, if i am well by then. god knows i'm ready to start driving back. keep posting, though, guys! i want to contribute; i just have no energy to look things up, etc.

weird. i just checked weather.com, and tucson's humidity today is 51 per cent. that of my hometown three hours north of here today is only 36 per cent. can't believe it's more humid in AZ than in north alabama. i think it's 52 per cent here in auburn today. feels like hell. a wet hell.

the things i ponder...see? i told you being sick puts you out of your right mind.

p.s. - anyone got any thoughts on off-the-path routes i ought to take to prolong my road trip back to tucson? i want to take some intersting pics (well, interesting to me, anyway). it's either a northerly route through northern arkansas (eureka springs, fayetteville, etc.) and then turning south when i get to West TX or NM; or the new orleans / north shore small town route, with meanders through south TX and southern NM. suggestions?

Edited August 24, 2006 by convulso

[colin]

Sorry to hear about the strep, Ben. I used to get that all the time when I was a kid. Now it's tonsillitis, although it's been a couple of years since the last outbreak (this prime desert air).

52%? Maybe when it was actually raining. We had a vicious one yesterday on the southwest side of town. Downtown mostly just got wind and a sprinkle. It was purple on the radar and knocked down seven poles at one intersection (Irvington at Mission), which is still closed today.

Routes?? There are so many!

Per the North Shore vs. Arkansas segment, I can't say much as I haven't been through Arkansas since I was really little, and the Texas Panhandle area is pretty dull (except for Palo Duro, of course). I always like driving through small Texas towns though. One idea is to take TX 105 (starts on the north side of Beaumont) west to Brenham. You go through Cleveland, Conroe, Montgomery and Navasota. It's an interesting drive. West of the Brazos there's a turn-off for William Penn Road that will take you to the beautiful FM 390 (one of the few designated scenic Farm Roads), which itself winds around some gorgeous Brazos Country before connecting back with 290. William Penn is on Yahoo Maps as 93, but it's unsigned, although it is paved (but unstriped).

I took the Southern Louisiana route once through New Iberia and Cameron, and it wasn't really as interesting as I thought it would be, but it still beats I-10.

If you've never done it before, take US 290 out of Austin to Fredericksburg. If you can, get back down to US 90 to go through Marfa and Alpine because it's 80x more interesting than I-10. On that route, Lake Amistad is also worth a stop. If you take TX 39 out of Boerne to RM 187 south, that'll take you to Lost Maples State Park, which is just awesome, although the leaves won't have turned yet.

In New Mexico, head north on US 285 from Fort Stockton through Carlsbad and turn west on US 82 at Artesia. US 82 will lead you into the Sacramento Mountains. Once you hit Cloudcroft, you can turn south to get to Sunspot and the US Solar Observatory. The drop into the Tularosa Basin is awesome, and you've then got the option of hitting White Sands on US 70.

Coming west of El Paso/Las Cruces, take NM 9 if you never have. It's a crazy little border road that runs through Columbus, Hachita and Animas along an old railroad grade before ending in front of the Chiricahuas. If you've got some more time on your hands and don't mind a gravel road (mountainous, but well-maintained), turn south at 80 for about a mile, then turn right to Portal. This will lead you into the beautiful Cave Creek Canyon (there is a cave there but it's not open to the public), the Chiricauas and over Onion Saddle, then back down to pavement right in front of the entrance to the National Monument.

I hope that adds an additional 12 hours or so of fun to your trip. PM me if you want more info.

[Mith242]

Well I can't speak much on the southerly route but I can talk about the northern route. Are you looking for a slowl leisurely drive back? Eureka Springs would seem to me a bit out of the way. Although Fayetteville could be seen that way too I guess. Are you very familiar with northwest Arkansas? Just curious why you thought about coming towards my direction. Also when are you driving back? There will be some chances of rain this weekend up here in northwest Arkansas. Let me know if you'd like some more info. I also have a number of pics posted in the NWA forum of Fayetteville and Eureka Springs. I can send you a couple of links in a PM if you are interested. It would save you the trouble of looking through all the topics for the pics.

[convulso]

wow - thanks so much for the recommendations, fellas.

Routes?? There are so many!

One idea is to take TX 105 (starts on the north side of Beaumont) west to Brenham. You go through Cleveland, Conroe, Montgomery and Navasota. It's an interesting drive. West of the Brazos there's a turn-off for William Penn Road that will take you to the beautiful FM 390 (one of the few designated scenic Farm Roads), which itself winds around some gorgeous Brazos Country before connecting back with 290. William Penn is on Yahoo Maps as 93, but it's unsigned, although it is paved (but unstriped).

I took the Southern Louisiana route once through New Iberia and Cameron, and it wasn't really as interesting as I thought it would be, but it still beats I-10.

If you've never done it before, take US 290 out of Austin to Fredericksburg. If you can, get back down to US 90 to go through Marfa and Alpine because it's 80x more interesting than I-10. On that route, Lake Amistad is also worth a stop. If you take TX 39 out of Boerne to RM 187 south, that'll take you to Lost Maples State Park, which is just awesome, although the leaves won't have turned yet.

In New Mexico, head north on US 285 from Fort Stockton through Carlsbad and turn west on US 82 at Artesia. US 82 will lead you into the Sacramento Mountains. Once you hit Cloudcroft, you can turn south to get to Sunspot and the US Solar Observatory. The drop into the Tularosa Basin is awesome, and you've then got the option of hitting White Sands on US 70.

Coming west of El Paso/Las Cruces, take NM 9 if you never have. It's a crazy little border road that runs through Columbus, Hachita and Animas along an old railroad grade before ending in front of the Chiricahuas. If you've got some more time on your hands and don't mind a gravel road (mountainous, but well-maintained), turn south at 80 for about a mile, then turn right to Portal. This will lead you into the beautiful Cave Creek Canyon (there is a cave there but it's not open to the public), the Chiricauas and over Onion Saddle, then back down to pavement right in front of the entrance to the National Monument.

I hope that adds an additional 12 hours or so of fun to your trip. PM me if you want more info.

yeah, colin, i've taken most of the routes you've mentioned in NM (except for NM 9/80 - sounds cool!) and north and west TX. i agree about north texas being monotonous, but the weirdness of that landscape and culture somehow appeal to me, so i often go that way on trips. amarillo is a surreal place to me - it seems like it's at the eastern edge of the West, but nothing like it. i love palo duro, but i've heard about a similar place south of there - caprock canyons SP. i keep meaning to pass through there at some point, but i never have the time since it's not near the interstate. i may follow your advice on the beaumont-to-brenham route (isn't brenham where they make the ubiquitous and disgusting blue bell ice cream?) or the austin-to-fredericksburg route. i also need to get down to marfa and attempt to see these damn mystery lights. trans-pecos TX is a lonely, lonely place, but it seems it's getting less that way with each year that passes. i've only been in that part of TX that goes along I-10 and many roads north of there (ft. stockton, odessa, midland, and the back roads up into the guadalupes and on into carlsbad, artesia, roswell, portales, all the way past hereford, TX, etc.) - but i bet the area to the south all the way to big bend is a lot more remote.

i may get back to you if i decide (before i leave) to go the NM 9 route. sounds like a lot going on in a relatively short drive, and it's all stuff i haven't seen.

hate to hear that about your experience with the north shore. it's just hard not to want to take the NO route on trips out west if you live in south alabama - it's a huge highlight before the drudgery of all that oil-town buildup in east texas. i just thought, if i went that route this time, i'd exercise some will power and not hit NO and go through covington, abita sprs., etc. instead. NCB (i think) has put up some great photos of some of those towns in the LA forum threads. it got me interested.

Well I can't speak much on the southerly route but I can talk about the northern route. Are you looking for a slowl leisurely drive back? Eureka Springs would seem to me a bit out of the way. Although Fayetteville could be seen that way too I guess. Are you very familiar with northwest Arkansas? Just curious why you thought about coming towards my direction. Also when are you driving back? There will be some chances of rain this weekend up here in northwest Arkansas. Let me know if you'd like some more info. I also have a number of pics posted in the NWA forum of Fayetteville and Eureka Springs. I can send you a couple of links in a PM if you are interested. It would save you the trouble of looking through all the topics for the pics.

i hope to be fully well and out of here by tuesday at the latest. damn this humidity.

yeah, i've got a lot of time to make the return trip, for once, but i'm not familiar at all with NW AR. i've been through on I-40 and stopped briefly in ft. smith. the sketchiest of all my sketchy friends lived for a while like a skynnyrd roadie carnie gypsy in eureka springs and he seemed to love that area. then again, he looks like buffalo bill from the silence of the lambs and stays drunk 24 / 7. he had a married girlfriend in clifty. i had also read in a magazine a while back that SR 23 up there is treacherous and fun, so i thought that would be interesting to check out. i hate what i've seen of the eastern half of arkansas, and i love everything i've seen west of little rock. i've been through pine bluff, texarkana and other little towns way off the interstate in the southwestern part of the state that seemed a lot more endearing than anything i've encountered in the east. everything directly west of memphis in AR and south of town in MS seems to be pretty much memphis' trash can. i've counted more trucks on I-40 west of memphis than cars every time i've been through there at night. the physical divide that separates east and west AR is profound - the topography is so beautiful once you get west of LR. i just thought that, if that terrain was representative of the ozarks, i ought to venture farther north and check it out. and i could visit fayetteville, which would round out my visits to all the SEC campuses except for LSU's and Ole Miss'. my favorites thus far have been UGA's and 'Bama's. athens rules.

i'll nose around tomorrow in the AR forums and check out some of the pics you mentioned.

thanks again, guys, for the input.

[Mith242]

yeah, i've got a lot of time to make the return trip, for once, but i'm not familiar at all with NW AR. i've been through on I-40 and stopped briefly in ft. smith. the sketchiest of all my sketchy friends lived for a while like a skynnyrd roadie carnie gypsy in eureka springs and he seemed to love that area. then again, he looks like buffalo bill from the silence of the lambs and stays drunk 24 / 7. he had a married girlfriend in clifty. i had also read in a magazine a while back that SR 23 up there is treacherous and fun, so i thought that would be interesting to check out. i hate what i've seen of the eastern half of arkansas, and i love everything i've seen west of little rock. i've been through pine bluff, texarkana and other little towns way off the interstate in the southwestern part of the state that seemed a lot more endearing than anything i've encountered in the east. everything directly west of memphis in AR and south of town in MS seems to be pretty much memphis' trash can. i've counted more trucks on I-40 west of memphis than cars every time i've been through there at night. the physical divide that separates east and west AR is profound - the topography is so beautiful once you get west of LR. i just thought that, if that terrain was representative of the ozarks, i ought to venture farther north and check it out. and i could visit fayetteville, which would round out my visits to all the SEC campuses except for LSU's and Ole Miss'. my favorites thus far have been UGA's and 'Bama's. athens rules.

i'll nose around tomorrow in the AR forums and check out some of the pics you mentioned.

thanks again, guys, for the input.

Eureka Springs is a very interesting little town. I don't know if I'd call the road to it dangerous but it is winding and it slows down your progress. On a map it isn't too far away from the NWA metro but the road makes it seem like it's further away because it takes a little while to get there. If you do stop by the U of A campus you have to see Old Main. It's the icon of the campus and one of the icons for the city of Fayetteville as well. I'll mention a couple of other areas for you to check out if you come through Fayetteville. Dickson St extends eastward of the campus. It's a pretty well known area. Then when you get near the post office there's a street going south called Block St. That will take you to the Square. The Square and Dickson St are probably the two most well known areas of the city. I might be able to suggest some other things if you're interested and if of course you decide to come through this way.

[colin]

Brenham is the home of Blue Bell, yes, which is now also sold in Tucson at Albertson's.

I went to the factory when I was a kid and remember being extremely disappointed that the giveaway was a choice between one of those little cups of ice cream that you eat with a wooden spoon, or a mini ice cream sandwich. What a bunch of cheap beotchs. The Tabasco factory is about the same though.

The area south of I-10 is absolutely the most desolate part of Texas. The smaller roads are a little trecherous at night because of wildlife. The last time I drove through there, I took a small road out of Sonora and have never been more worried about hitting deer: they were everywhere!

I took a trip to Pinal Peak yesterday (20 miles south of Globe, absolutely breathtaking) and a little bat flew right into my windshield outside of Winkelman on the way back. Not only that, but it didn't fall off of my car, so I had to pull over and knock the thing off my hood. I hate that, but at least I was able to swerve and avoid an enormous coyote.

You know, not only is the University of Arizona also called "U of A" colloquially, but one of the campus' main attractions is the "Old Main" building. Que loca!

[Mith242]

Brenham is the home of Blue Bell, yes, which is now also sold in Tucson at Albertson's.

I went to the factory when I was a kid and remember being extremely disappointed that the giveaway was a choice between one of those little cups of ice cream that you eat with a wooden spoon, or a mini ice cream sandwich. What a bunch of cheap beotchs. The Tabasco factory is about the same though.

The area south of I-10 is absolutely the most desolate part of Texas. The smaller roads are a little trecherous at night because of wildlife. The last time I drove through there, I took a small road out of Sonora and have never been more worried about hitting deer: they were everywhere!

I took a trip to Pinal Peak yesterday (20 miles south of Globe, absolutely breathtaking) and a little bat flew right into my windshield outside of Winkelman on the way back. Not only that, but it didn't fall off of my car, so I had to pull over and knock the thing off my hood. I hate that, but at least I was able to swerve and avoid an enormous coyote.

You know, not only is the University of Arizona also called "U of A" colloquially, but one of the campus' main attractions is the "Old Main" building. Que loca!

Yeah I have to keep remembering not to be lazy and type it out because there are other U of A's as well. I came across one mention only to realize later the guy was referring to Alabama.

[sunbums]

Yes but is that just the city itself? or does it take into consideration all the suv driving soccer moms with fake titties, who talk on there cell phones, sip the latte, and drive all at the same time? They live in Chandler and Scottsdale, which are not part of Phoenix!

In Chandler? Damn where ?

[MJLO]

Sumbums, Mesa withstanding, it is a valley wide epidemic. If you don't believe me spend a few days in my hometown ( Grand Rapids Michigan) . You'll appreciate the fabricated look of the women here that much more. In GR you have a bunch of bible thumping moms in sweats. (For the most part). Mesa is a little like that with the strong LDS presence.

[sunbums]

I guess I was just curious by the connection between Chandler and Scottsdale, but I get your point. I'm thinking it's largely due to the median age here in the Valley. That's a hunch since I don't know how it compares to the rest of the country, but I'll bet it's on the younger side (discounting snowbirds). I've always told people that thru all my travels I think the women here in the Valley were, as a group, the most attractive.

[colin]

I would actually agree with you there. It may be the large college population combined with a higher than average amount of sunny weather and an active, healthy population that make it that way.

[MJLO]

Anybody have big labor day weekend plans?

[colin]

Chicago?!

I've only been here about four hours, but I took a long drive and, man, that was a lot to take in.

I don't know if it's appropriate to post here, so I'll post in a/the Chicago forum.

[sunbums]

Chicago?!

I've only been here about four hours, but I took a long drive and, man, that was a lot to take in.

I don't know if it's appropriate to post here, so I'll post in a/the Chicago forum.

it's ok if you tell us about a great ciIty like chicago. Please compare it to Phonenix and what we may learn fom it....