At the 'Copa

347 Repave Begins

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:39:34 GMT

ADOT started the repaving project out on 347 yesterday. They had cones up in the southbound lanes and funneled everyone into just the single fast lane a couple miles outside town.

Traffic was exquisite. When I was heading north into Chandler about 4:30PM, southbound was a bumper-to-bumper crawl from R-E-D clear on up to Riggs.

My sister and I decided to kill some time after we had dinner, so we didn't actually come back through until almost 9PM. Both southbound lanes were open again by then, but the slow lane was all chewed up for the last mile or so before town. The road surface had those deep grooves in it, you know? I hate those. My tires kept catching in that mess, and the car would suddenly yank and shimmy.

Didn't see anything happening on the other side of the highway yet.

Why I Love Maricopa

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:27:42 GMT

Reason #37: All the money I'm saving on lotions and potions. Instead of buying those fancyschmancy anti-aging, resurfacing, deep-cleansing, pore-treating, miracles-in-a-jar, I can just step outside and get sandblasted!

Monsoon season is such a trip.

Accident on 347

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:37:01 GMT

There was another accident on 347 at the Rancho El Dorado intersection just before 2PM today. Isn't that the third one in a week? Hubby drove through it on his way home, and sent me this pic he took with his cell phone. He said it looked like a car turning left into R-E-D from southbound 347 got smacked by a car heading straight on the northbound side. Both cars flipped.

You know, my daughter and I talked about how fast those signal lights are just this past Sunday evening, when we were coming back from errands up in Chandler. I swear, the green arrows hardly turn green at all! They sort of... wave themselves in the general direction of green.

Be careful out there, guys. And quit racing the yellow lights!

Hard Rain

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 04:11:37 GMT

Wow, man. Arizona doesn't play around when it decides to rain!

I was watching "Rachel Ray" when I had the slow, creeping realization that the den had grown very dark in the space of just a few minutes. About that time, my daughter came downstairs and said there was a mean, angry cloud coming in over part of the neighborhood.

I put ol' Rachel on pause, and went to the back door. The rain was beating down against the dirt of the backyard. We already had several large, misshapen lakes out there. I hollered for Hubby, who grabbed the video camera and shot some awesome footage of the downpour, complete with a couple lightning strikes. Meanwhile, I took still pictures.

While outside, Hubby noticed that one of the windows over at the unfinished house next door was standing open. He went over to shut it, and discovered that the damage may already have been done. Sure enough, there was a dirty puddle in the room with the open window. Unfortunately, because the roof isn't done yet (it's got its tiles sitting in big stacks), there was rain water trickling in through the rafters. Worst of all, the drywall is already in and painted. Someone is going to have a bummer of a surprise when they arrive on the site tomorrow.

I'll post the pictures later tonight. Have to get them off the camera and do some quick cropping. Trippy, fascinating weather we have here, that's for sure!

Can We All Be RED?

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 02:27:18 GMT

So, I was getting ready to add the Lakes at Rancho El Dorado to the list of Home Owners Associations, when it dawned on me... I don't actually know what the Lakes at Rancho El Dorado is! Is it a subdivision of R-E-D, or its own thing, like Villages at Rancho El Dorado?

Are we about to have R-E-D, V-Red, and L-Red? Man! Those people got such ginchy, netlingo-friendly shorthand names!

Hey! Do you think it's too late for Glennwilde to apply for an R-E-D designation? We could be G-Red!

Whaddup, G? I'm from G-Red! Rawr!

Can the other neighborhoods get in on the action, too? Cobblestone could be C-Red. Tortosa could be T-Red. Sorrento could be So-Red. Homestead might not want to take Ho-Red, though, or they might all get banned from the forums everytime they post about themselves. My sister over in Desert Passage could say she's in DiP-Red!

Alterra and Acacia Crossings, you guys want in? A-Red and ACk-Red! are yours!

Reminder: Bountiful Baskets July 28th Order

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 02:29:47 GMT

Bountiful Baskets sent out their email newsletter this morning. There was a note in there about their recent decision to limit capacities at each of the sites. They've also switched the ordering deadline to Wednesdays at 10PM.

Get your orders in, Maricopans! The form for the July 28th produce basket order is live now!

Fire Department Running Drills

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:19:51 GMT

We had a special treat last night! Just after dinner, the fire truck from our interim station house over on Bowlin and White & Parker pulled up on our street! Curious what all the fuss was about, my hubby grabbed the camera, and went out to talk to the guys.

Hubby chatted with them just briefly. They were very friendly, and told us they were here researching all the new construction. We stayed out of their way while they toured the Standard Pacific 4509 and 4508 models that are being built next to us. Then, the guys came out into the backyard next door, and discussed typical entry points to the the yards in this neighborhood, clearance at the gates, and things like AC units that could impede access.

After walking the new builds, they came back out to the truck and hooked up hoses to one of the hydrants on our street. Then, one of the men tested the pressure by spraying across the cul-de-sac and into one of the empty lots.

Before they left, they ran a couple mock trials through the 4508 model two lots over from us. One of the firemen mentioned that the 4508 is a good house to test the reach of their hoses since you have to go all the way in to get to the stairs and then all the way through the upstairs to get to the master suite.

It was awesome to see our Fire Department running drills and getting to know all the new developments. They worked really well as a team, and those drills through the house up the street were fast! I feel so safe knowing these guys are on the job.

By the way, you can click on any of these pictures to view larger versions. Here are a few more we managed to snap off before the firemen rode away into the sunset:

Monday's Storm

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:33:32 GMT

Here's some news footage of the dust storm rolling in Monday afternoon. Maricopa even gets a mention by name! Woohoo, we're famous!

Although the reporter does refer to highway 347 as "387." Ok. So, we're almost famous! =P

347 Repaving Project

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:50:46 GMT

Looks like our favorite rush hour pastime of pothole bingo out on 347 is about to come to an end. ADOT is set to begin repaving 10 miles of the highway between Maricopa and I-10 next week. The project will reportedly take 4 months to complete, however the transportation department is negotiating with the city to get a variance which will allow at least some of the work to occur overnight.

Article at AZ Central

Maricopa vs. Your Hometown?

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:26:48 GMT

Wow. There are a lot of folks on both 85239 and the City Data forums who regret having moved here. Hubby and I sat out on the back porch and talked for a good hour about the issues raised. Neither one of us quite gets it, probably because we're both toothy-grinning, obnoxiously happy to be here. Yeah, that would probably do it.

The best advice I can offer is to accept Maricopa on its own merits. Don't compare here with your old hometown. This isn't Red Bank, NJ. It's not Midlothian, VA. It's not Flint, MI. It isn't Deadwood, SD. It isn't Petaluma, CA. Trying to draw comparisons among any of those is folly and terribly unfair to each and every one; they all offer varied, interesting, and worthwhile living experiences.

Just as Maricopa does. This is a strange, unique, bizarrely beautiful place to live.

Take the weather as an easy example. I'd have to live on the complete other side of the world--geographically and culturally--to enjoy anything even remotely like this fascinating, frightening, incredible weather; it truly amazes me how hot, how violent, how wild and untamed it can be here at times.

We live 30 minutes from a sprawling metro area with millions of people. You can buy anything. See a show. Go to a game. Wander through a museum. Drive around the ritzy neighborhood and dip your toes in their fountain. It's fabulous and wonderful AND Maricopa won't be gobbled up by it because of the reservation. It's the best of both worlds: living the city life, but not having to live IN the city.

Also? We have tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds! C'mon. How cool is that?!

As far as benefits... The cost of living here is about 80% what it was where we came from (north of San Francisco, CA). My family's dollars go a lot further, so we're actually able to enjoy all the amenities and attractions that living here offers. And, as I may have mentioned before, the three of us are healthier now, since the move. (Remember when we were little kids, and our grandparents would say things like, "Oh, old Mrs. Thomas, she moved out to the desert _for her health_"? Yeah. Grandma and Mrs. Thomas were on to something).

Finally (Yeah, yeah. I could wax poetic about Arizona in my own simple, idealistic way for pages on end. I know), I don't think I would have done anything differently. I almost said that I would have moved sooner, but moving sooner would mean the experience I've had thus far would be different, too. I've enjoyed and am enjoying the ride too much to give a moment's pause for even the lightest-hearted regrets.

Glennwilde Social Committee

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:13:10 GMT

I've been thinking a lot about Glennwilde, and ways that I could do my part in enriching and promoting the neighborhood. We have an HOA, but the developers currently control it; the BOD won't fall to us homeowners until we're 75% built. Meanwhile, we obviously don't yet have any sub-committees: no Social Committee, no Community Newsletter, no group of nice folks to welcome people as they move in, none of that.

And people are moving into Glennwilde everyday! Wouldn't it make sense to have community activities and services in place now?

I just... I love this neighborhood, and I really want to give back to it. I believe what I'm most interested in coordinating is, in fact, a Social Committee, and further creating a newsletter, organizing neighborhood events, getting together a welcome wagon, and so forth.

BUT I don't even know where to start. Do I wait until we hit that magical 75%, and then look into forming this committee? Or is this something I could get rolling now, and simply have it folded into the HOA proper later? I understand that, in part, it comes down to a question of the HOA overseeing and funding a committee, budgeting for its activities, etc., but there sure are things my neighbors and I could do now, either free or on the cheap-cheap.

Any other Glennwilde residents want to get together on this?

Dump Sites

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:56:26 GMT

So, you've moved in. You've unpacked your stuff. Now, you have all these boxes and cartons and wads of bubble wrap junking up your brand new Maricopa minimansion! There's no way you cram all this into your weekly bin!

You need to make a dump run! Try these:

Butterfield Landfill
(602)437-3165
7:00AM-12:00PM
40404 S. 99th Ave
Mobile, AZ

The Recycling Association of Maricopa
(520)568-9428
Saturdays 8:00AM-12:00PM
McDavid Road
Maricopa, AZ

Welcome!

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 00:44:42 GMT

Welcome to At The 'Copa! This community is for residents--past, present, and prospective--of the City of Maricopa, Arizona, to connect socially as well as share local news and discuss city events. I founded At The 'Copa because there was no other online community or group like it; I certainly wished something like this was around when my family was looking at relocating.

Speaking of which... My husband and I moved here with our daughter at the end of March. We're from Sonoma County, California. Although there were certainly numerous factors that figured into our decision to move to Maricopa, the biggest of them was quality of life. In the settling dust of massive corporate layoffs and a real estate market collapsing under its own overpriced weight, my husband and I realized we were sick and tired of paying for a California zipcode without the quintessentially cliche' California fancypants lifestyle to show for it. We now live in a beautiful home in Glennwilde that's more than twice the size of our old one. We also have no mortgage and so little monthly overhead, I expect we'll soon have something my husband and I haven't had our entire marriage: savings.