Tuesday, March 20, 2012

OUT OF COMMISSION

Saturday, March 17 – Rain, rain go away! Boy did we have a storm with HIGH winds. The mountains look spooky right before we got hit.

bad-weather-clouds


Monday, March 19 -
Marsha is down with an achy back. We workout at Anytime Fitness each morning, and the other day, while doing crunches, Marsha pulled a muscle in her lower back. She's been taking it easy, sitting on the heating pad, using muscle relaxers and pain pills but so far, no relief. Hope she starts feeling better soon!

We did make a move today. We were out for a little ride, when we received a phone call from the campground office. Due to a miscommunication, we didn't realize we were suppose to check-out and move to a new campsite.....OPPS!! So, we immediately returned to the campground, closed things up and moved over to a new site. Not sure why, in this computer age, they couldn't have shuffled things and put the new arrival in the other site, but they said it couldn't be done and we had to move.

The new site is pretty small with campers on each side crowding the dividing line as much as they possibly can. We can't put out our window awnings on the driver's side because the neighbor is so close. On the passenger-side, the fellow has a fifth wheel, a utility trailer, and two pick-ups crowded on a single site.

new-location-2

Ridiculously close!
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new-location-1

We are not very happy with Leaf Verde RV Park in Goodyear, AZ. We stayed here several years ago and enjoyed our stay. This time, not so pleasant. If we return to the area in the future, we'll definitely look for an alternative location.


Tuesday, March 20 –
We took a short ride to downtown Phoenix this morning to visit the State Capitol Building. Construction of the Capitol began in 1898, and it began operation in 1901.

1-oustide

The Capitol formerly housed the Territorial and State Legislatures, as well as various executive offices. These have relocated to adjacent buildings, and the Capitol is now maintained as the Arizona Capitol Museum.

Adjacent Senate Building. The House is on the other side of the Capitol Building.2-senate

The Capitol is a 3-story building constructed of stone with a beautiful center rotunda.

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The Senate used to meet at one end of the second floor, and the House of Representatives is at the other end. The Senate was open and retained is original appearance.

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Viewing area.
6-old-viewing-in-senate

The other two floors housed office space for the Governor, Secretary of State, and other sections of Government like Education, Finance, Agriculture, Etc... This is a beautiful historic building but unfortunately a new addition, that did not retain the original architecture, was attached to the front of the historic structure covering most of the beautiful columns and entrance way. What a shame!

5-inside

The stairs are made of iron. Very unique.
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3-seal-explanation

8-seal-on-floor

There is a beautiful park, Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, across the street from the Capitol. It serves as a home to 29 memorials honoring prominent figures in Arizona history as well as memorializing significant wars and other events that have had an impact on the state.

One of the highlights of the park is the mast and anchor of the USS Arizona seen here in the background.
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Operation Enduring Freedom Memorial
15-statue

That was enough for Marsha and her achy back for one day. By noon we were headed back West on I-10 to Goodyear and our campground.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!