See Ya

I have been having a photo-fight with Blogger for the last hour, so I'm going to skip the pictures and just tell you what you already know: the Albertson's era at Morrison Ranch is over. They had several - 8 or 10 - sign holders on the sidewalks on Saturday proclaiming "up to 95% discounts" and whether they cleared the inventory or not, by Sunday the parking lot was empty, with only a tiny white sign on the door stating "store is closed." My pictures show the empty lot and the understated sign, but you can see for yourself if you drive by. And that is that.

You will notice a red and black sign out front advertising the empty building; this was put up by Cerberus, the company that bought this part of the Albertson's stores. I will say again that neither Cerberus nor Albertson's is communicating directly with us (nor are they required to, since they continue to abide by the terms of the lease), but the scuttlebutt on the street is that they are actively shopping the building, which is just what we expected. We don't know who will make an offer, and I will pass it on when I know what the outcome will be, but I have to repeat that this center is NOT a distressed area, and it seems most likely that another grocer will buy the lease. It will most likely be closed for several months. The homes that are soon to be built at Lakeview Trails North make this location very desirable, especially for grocers, so we are optimistic about the future.

So, as they say, we move on.

Rain in the Ranch

Between midnight last night and 7 am this morning, Morrison Ranch received .17 inches of rain.

Around the Ranch and Town

Yesterday's big news, of course, was the fire at the San Tan Power Plant on Warner Road. The helicopters were hovering for quite some time; I'm sure that the billowing black smoke made for exciting camera shots. Thankfully, the fire is under control, and even more important, everyone still has their power. Ironically, when I read about some Phoenix residents losing their power because of the big storm on Tuesday night, I was feeling grateful for the San Tan plant. Residents who have been here a few years might remember some of the acrimony felt by the neighbors about expanding the plant, but it has kept up with our growing power needs. The thought of being without air conditioning on the 118 degree days is not a pretty one.

The other big Gilbert news is the opening of Cosmo Dog Park tomorrow night. From 6:30 to 9 pm, folks and their dogs will be checking out all the amenities and freebies. I've been watching it come together while driving by, and it looks quite lovely.

Around Morrison Ranch, the rainfall continues to be part of our news. We received an extra .46 inches yesterday morning, making our total rainfall from the last storm just shy of one and a half inches. The retention basins had plenty of water for playing (no dog park required for that!), and I was naysaying the progress at Highland Groves. I was mistaken, however; the guys at yesterday's weekly builders' meeting assured us that the SRP inspectors are in a completely different section from the storm damage folks, so the inspection of our boxes to run the irrigation should be on schedule. Furthermore, The Mister told me that since the grass didn't get started when scheduled, there will be more sod than originally planned, and less hydro-seeding. More, faster - not something we get to say very often.

Since it didn't rain last night, there should in fact be paving happening on the Elliot Road section just south of Highland Groves, in spite of the inch and a half of water the prior two days; so those traffic restrictions might be reduced shortly.

And I couldn't help but read this article about Gilbert High's football camp; our Number One Son is heading toward ASU this fall and didn't have to participate in the grueling run up "the hill" this summer. I wish the team the best, and I'll probably even go watch some games; but I won't have the "football mom's angst" to deal with this year. Whew.

Rain in the Ranch

Last night's storm was a long one by Arizona standards, and rather dramatic! In Morrison Ranch, our rain gauge showed .95 inches, which is plenty of water, though not the 2.13 inches that Crossroads Park received. Such is the nature of thunderstorms, that 3 miles distance can mean an inch difference in rainfall.

We have been in our Higley Groves West house for almost six years now, and our trees are large enough to not blow over in every storm, and still small enough to not break off in the larger storms, so our own Sherwood Forest survived this storm very well. A drive around the rest of Morrison Ranch later today may reveal others that weren't so fortunate.

The rain - with more like this forecast for the rest of the week - will no doubt delay both the paving of Elliot Road at Highland Groves as well as the laying of their sod (we need SRP's inspectors to inspect the meters for the power to run the irrigation systems to water the sod, and SRP will understandably be busy working on storm damage), but delay is normal. How long the delays will be depends on how much more rain we get over the next few days. But hey, the high temperatures are going to be 10 to 15 degrees less than the past week, and our lows should get back to normal as well. Our front porch this morning showed a balmy 78 degrees; not bad at all.

Wheels Spinning

I grew up in Wyoming, where the snow is deep for several months of the year, and cars and trucks routinely get stuck in one fashion or another. One of the first things a native resident learns is how to get "unstuck" - and it is generally counterintuitive. It seems like the way to get out of the rut is to give the gas pedal a good thump and apply lots of power, letting the engine do the work. But of course, the only thing that accomplishes is a deeper rut dug perfectly by those spinning tires, and the vehicle is stuck even worse.

What do summers in Phoenix have in common with Wyoming novices stuck in the snow? Well, it seems like there is a lot of wheel-spinning, with not much result. Pretty much everyone in the metro area leaves town for some period of time - sometimes long periods of time - but it may not be the SAME period of time as everyone else. So it's a good bet that someone who makes decisions or makes things happen is going to be unavailable at some point during the summer; and if any decisions are connected to other decisions, well, you can just forget about closure.

There is a lot of activity happening in Morrison Ranch, and it all contributes to the whole, but the activity hasn't yet translated into the moment where we say Ta-Da! There it is! Albertson's is near closure; the signs don't match the information we received informally, which was August 10, so we are going with the signs for the moment. The shops on the south side of Albertson's are completed and ready for tenants, but the next step in the tenant process is to get approvals from the town for the improvements, and that takes a while even if nobody is on vacation. In The Raw is working on their tenant improvements, but they don't plan to open for a while yet. The lights are going up on the tanks, but it isn't complete yet. Lakeview Trails North looks great right now because it has been all graded; it is about to look awful as they start trenching soon. They are putting up the chain link fence now, to make sure nobody falls into the trenches; a nice addition to the short black fences, don't you think? Out at Highland Groves, the electricity hasn't had its inspection, so the sod that was supposed to be laying in the parkway on this very day is postponed once again.

The Mister is on the phone, in meetings, and traveling to meet partners for the industrial site, but even that has yet to receive the stamp of completion. And there are a myriad of other details that the rest of us in the office are working on; they all contribute to this feeling of giving it the gas, but just watching the wheels spin. Eventually things will get unstuck, and it will feel more progressive than it does right now.

In the meantime, on a personal note, The Mister and I ran up to Williams AZ yesterday to visit our Number One Son where he is working at a youth camp run by Young Life. He is running the cleanup crew in the Pits, also known as the kitchen. The Mister wanted to jump in and help, and Number One Son was quite amenable to having another worker. Here they are, hard at it:





Let's just say The Mister slept very well last night; it is a lot of work, and especially last night, because a new group of campers had just arrived, and camp was full - about 500 people full. This week is an especially poignant camp, consisting of 130 moms, 140 babies, about 60 mentors of the moms, and another 140 child-care workers ( a one-to-one ratio for the babies!). These are teen moms, who are often ostracized by family and friends once they become pregnant; they are usually in financial straits, and at risk of entering a cycle of poverty and undereducation and hopelessness. These campers arrived from Arizona, California, Texas and Colorado; the arriving bus pulls up to the "depot" where the staff and crew are waiting to greet them:



There is plenty of loud music from the beginning to the end of the week; lots of fun (they bill the camp as a five star resort for kids, and it is, from the cloth tablecloths and napkins and good food to the no-sleeping-bag policy for the dorms to the toys like waterslides, olympic size swimming pool, zip lines, giant swings, frisbee golf, and more), and most important, life-mentoring for these girls, providing hope for their future. We are privileged to be involved with Young Life, helping to raise money for them for projects such as these.

And lest you think The Mister might have been one of those vacationing decision-makers, I will say that he participated in a conference call, set up a couple of meetings, dealt with a couple of emails and a couple other issues relating to Morrison Ranch; all this on top of working for his son in the Pits!

Lights in Time For Christmas

Over the past year and a half that I've been blogging, I've had several posts about the signature grain tanks that sit at the south end of Town Center North Lake. One of the oft-reported concerns had to do with kids climbing the tanks and running the catwalks, especially after drinking. To make that more difficult, we implemented several ideas, from fences and signs to hiring a security service, to cutting off the ladders. It hasn't been quite as alluring in the 116 degree heat, but we are still keeping an eye out.



One of our desires is to upgrade the view; so over the last year, Bias for Action has sprung into action (no surprise!) to spearhead these improvements. The damaged quonset hut and grain mill have been removed, the tanks have been painted a shiny silver, and for quite some time he has been working on getting lights on the top. There are always delays, and this is no exception, but I'm happy to report that there are some authorized tank-climbers on site at this very moment:




I'm not sure how soon we'll see the lights, but it's reasonable to think that, even in the Land of Improbable Delays, we will have them by Christmas!

The Microburst

Arizona doesn't have much in the way of "disaster weather" like hurricanes and such, but one thing we do have is the microburst, a miniature dust storm that lasts minutes and cuts a relatively small swath of acreage with fierce and destructive winds. Last night at about 6 o'clock, when The Mister and I were on our way to dinner at one of Gilbert's fine dining restaurants with some friends, we encountered the dreaded microburst. We couldn't quite make it into Dual before the dust hit, so we sat in the truck while it passed over, and then ran into the restaurant just as it began to rain. So when the newspapers said that there were planes overturned at Gateway last night, The Mister wanted to get out there for a look. He and The Water Expert have their pride and joy parked there and he needed to see if it was all right. It is, but someone else's pride and joy is not:





The owners have our sympathies...

We Knew That

Gilbert is a great place to live. We already knew that, but Money Magazine apparently agrees with us, according to their latest ranking of best places to live. Both newspapers have an article on it this morning. The AZ Republic says:

Two Valley municipalities are on Money magazine's Best Places to Live list of communities with fewer than 300,000 residents.

Scottsdale was No. 7, and Gilbert was No. 16. Mesa came in No. 3 on the magazine's list of Best Big Cities, with populations of more than 300,000.

The annual rankings, released Monday, cited Fort Collins, Colo., as the top small city, based on criteria including jobs, crime, weather, health care, schools, recreation and a stress gauge, said Tara Kalwarski, Money's special-projects editor. Colorado Springs, Colo., was the top large city.

And the article in the East Valley Tribune includes a quote from the mayor:

Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman said the town's 16th ranking is a "tremendous honor."

"It's humbling and flattering," he said. "It's a combination -- we have excellent schools. It's certainly something we'll brag about."

Our schools and our economic indicators "caught the highest praise" in the survey. But we knew that.

Blog On

Most folks aren't aware that the AZ Republic has a blog, staffed by their reporters. I read some of them occasionally, but frankly haven't found any of them so compelling as to bookmark it and go back there daily. But when this article showed up over the weekend, I found my curiosity piqued:

Gilbert residents have a new way to sound off on local issues or just engage in some friendly banter about community issues online, thanks to the addition of a cadre of bloggers on The Republic's Web site, azcentral.com.

Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman and his predecessor, former mayor Cynthia Dunham, are among 20 Southeast Valley bloggers who can be found at seblogs.azcentral.com. Other notable Gilbert residents who have become Republic bloggers are Ric Borom, a former Gilbert policeman and now principal of a Mesa charter school; Elizabeth Cress-Sweet, Gilbert Arts Advisory Board chairperson and a community activist; and Mary Ellen Fresquez, the owner of Ink It in downtown Gilbert and a longtime community activist.

The group also includes Bob Schuster, The Republic's Southeast Valley Editorial Page Editor, and most of the other editorial writers for the paper's community newspapers in the region.
Howard Dendurent, a Gilbert community columnist for The Gilbert Republic's Opinions pages, also is blogging.

As whole, the group offers an eclectic mix of community leaders, activists and personalities who will be talking about issues in individual Southeast Valley communities as well as regional concerns.

"In recent years, blogs have become a vibrant and significant part of the Internet and for newspapers, they offer a new opportunity to build stronger connections with the communities we serve," said Paul Maryniak, The Republic's Southeast Valley general manager.

Maryniak credited Schuster and azcentral.com Editor John Leach for coming up with the idea of a Southeast Valley blogging contingent.

"It's an important addition to our community forums that appear on the Opinion pages," Schuster said.

"It's immediate, lively, frank, informative and entertaining. Sometimes a bit bare-knuckle, the kind of stuff that doesn't always appear in the paper.

"Our bloggers come from a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and political positions. But they have one thing in common: They're all plugged in to our communities. I'm really looking forward to this, and heartily urge our readers to visit the site and to participate in the discussions."

I've copied the entire article, as well as linking to the article in the paper above. You might find that inadequate, because you would want a link to the actual blog written by these folks. So would I. I found it a bit ironic, and not a little shortsighted, that even in the online version of the article, they provided no links. The address of the online newspaper itself is not much help. I did a search of the newspaper site using the word "blog" and came up with some articles that referenced blogging. Only when I opened one of the referenced articles did I see that it was written on the political blog by one of the editorial writers for the Republic; and there I found a listing of sites for their blogs, including this one for the southeast valley, so I'll help out the paper by passing it on. The decision about bookmarking it is yours, but at least you know where it is.

Some Thoughts About Grass

Bias For Action is on an email list from the Town of Gilbert's Water Conservation Specialist, Cathy Rymer. She recently sent him a note about Bermuda which reads, in part:

Temperatures are hot and humidity is on the rise which means Bermuda grass is in its glory. Bermuda grass is the best choice for turf in areas of the southwest deserts. It tolerates our alkaline soils and water and has excellent resistance to heat and drought or injury from foot traffic. Common Bermuda produces flower stalks, pollen (which can offend allergy sufferers) and seeds while the hybrids are sterile and produce no pollen/seeds. Hybrid Bermudas such as Tifgreen, BobSod, Tifway and Midiron (E-Z Turf ™) are fine leaved Bermuda grass varieties that are popular for large turf areas as well as small yards. The hybrid Bermudas are also less likely to invade flower beds and tree wells and are typically greener and denser.

She attaches an article with tips about watering and mowing and such; you can look at all of the suggestions at the Town's website here.

So I noticed that our front lawn was looking a little stressed, and mentioned it to The Mister, who agreed that we need a little more water to green up the Bermuda. I also mentioned that parts of the parkway in Higely Groves West looks a little peaked, and he explained to me that our Bermuda isn't as strong and vibrant as it might be if we turned it from the rye grass a little bit earlier. We choose to keep the soft luscious rye longer, and so when it's the Bermuda's turn to face the heat, it isn't quite as thick. That's a fair tradeoff, to me, since I love the rye grass.

Oh yes; as for the elusive sod for the parkway on Highland Groves? It's been ordered, and barring those pesky circumstances that seem to come up and hinder our plans, should start to be planted on July 25.

Starting to Dream

The AZ Republic has a couple of articles in today's paper about Gilbert's budget approval, including one that talks about the increase needed for the Big League Dreams project next door to Highland Groves:

A $33.6 million spending cap was placed on the Big League Dreams ballpark complex by the Gilbert Town Council on Tuesday night.

That's $10 million more than Gilbert officials thought the eight-field complex and its clubhouses and food courts would cost when the controversial project was introduced to the town two years ago.

But escalating construction costs and changes to the project have swelled the overall price tag of the largest one-time park expenditure in Gilbert's history, said Paul Mood, Gilbert's Capital Improvement Program coordinator.

I'm sure that I've never mentioned this before, but projects always cost more and take longer...

The article details some of the specific reasons for the increases:

Town staff, not Big League Dreams LLC, the project's developer, recommended many of the changes, Mood said.

Like other construction projects in Arizona, Big League Dreams has been hit by sharp price increases for lumber, steel, fuel and concrete.

Among the more dramatic changes is that the park will use natural grass fields instead of artificial turf.

Many types of artificial turf retain heat, making field temperatures as hot as 180 degrees and hampering daytime activity, Mood said.

"If it gets that hot, you simply couldn't run it in the summer," Mood said.

Other factors raising the price centered on Gilbert's higher standards for landscaping and other improvements, Mood said. Town staff also made stiffer requirements for the buildings.

The high standards of the Town of Gilbert are both a blessing and a curse. Of course we all like high quality projects and want our town to reflect that. On the other hand, reasonable people don't always agree on the details of the requirements; and because we are in a high growth cycle, it can take quite a while for the necessary approvals. And in this case, you have the added complexity of the project being a joint private/government affair.

In any case, it does appear that Big League Dreams is nearly ready to begin construction. Bias For Action received a phone call earlier this week to discuss placement of fences on the project, so I assume that now that the budget changes are approved we'll see some action.

Earth on the 65-acre site could be moved as early as the next two to four weeks, said Jason Van Dyke, a Phoenix-based project manager for Kitchell CEM.

Construction is estimated to take 12 to 14 months, Van Dyke said.

A Water Feature By Any Other Name

Yesterday's East Valley Tribune had an article about the town council's vote on painting the downtown historic water tower:

After years of promises and waiting, the council will decide tonight whether to approve a $247,000 bid by TMI Coatings to paint the tower a titanium white.

“It’s long overdue,” said Councilman Don Skousen. “It’ll set off and show what’s going on with the development there. And when we get the park finished underneath and around it, it will be a great gathering place.”

For almost a decade, local business owners, residents and town officials have raised money and made plans for the tower’s painting, as well as for the construction of a park that is expected to include a small amphitheater and water features.

Set in the Heritage District, the 123-foot-tall tower was built in 1927. The town’s first jail — a tiny adobe building — sits beneath and will also be restored.

I presume that vote was affirmative, since it was presented positively in the article. It does seem like this project has been in the hopper for a very long time. The Mister is a big fan of the effort and has encouraged others to support it with their donations as well.

The trail space aroun the water tower is also slated for improvements and parks and pedestrian-drawing features, including those of the water variety. This week's Gilbert Independent lays out those water features for us, and I had to laugh at the descriptions. If I told you that the three water features were a "delivery falls," a "reservoir gorge," and a "lateral deluge," would you have a clue what I was talking about? Because I've been listening to land planners speak their lingo for several years now, and I sure didn't know what those terms meant. This reporter does a good job of explaining the terms, though:

The water features will be interactive and consist of a delivery falls; a reservoir gorge and a lateral deluge. According to Mr. Svelund, the delivery falls will create a sense of entry with a column archway on each side of Gilbert Road at the entrance to the trail, featuring cascading water.

The reservoir gorge will have a strong visual link to the downtown water tower and the future park planned for the tower. It will be the main water feature and will mimic a babbling brook.

The lateral deluge will contain a series of troughs made of metal and concrete and will create a sound of rushing water.

“Children can put their hands in the water and feel it moving,” Town Councilman Steve Urie said. “People will be able to see, feel and hear the water features.”

Whatever they call the water features, I think it will be a great enhancement to the downtown Gilbert area. The article also indicates that a couple of folks are involved in this project whom The Mister enormously respects, Tami Ryall and Kathy Langdon:

According to Assistant Town Manager Tami Ryall, the project will begin construction this fall.

Gilbert Chamber of Commerce President Kathy Langdon congratulated the parties involved in the project.

“I think the town has done a fantastic job in putting this project together,” Ms. Langdon said. “I’m thrilled with the results.”

It's going to look great.

Still No Word

The AZ Republic brought up the Albertson's closures once again, and has printed a couple of versions of an article over the last few days. Here's the link and the lead to the one in the Gilbert section of the paper:

Shoppers and business owners near one of three Gilbert Albertsons set to shut down in August are wondering.

Albertsons announced in June that nine Arizona supermarkets would close by the end of the summer as part of a shutdown of 100 "underperforming" stores in 12 states. There will be 51 stores left in Arizona.

The closing Gilbert stores are in the Superstition Springs strip mall on the southwestern corner of Power and Baseline roads; the southeastern corner of Cooper and Ray roads; and Lakeview at Morrison Ranch near Higley and Elliot roads.

If you go to the article, you'll notice that the accompanying picture is of the Lakeview Albertson's, even though all the storeowners and customers interviewed are from the other stores. I'm sure that's because ours is the most attractive!

The only reason I'm bringing this up again - even though we have no new information yet - is because I am still hearing rumors ("Basha's; it's definitely going to be a Basha's!" or the worst one yet "I hear they're putting in a Dollar Store!") about the future, and I want to reiterate that these are rumors.

In summary, the Morrison Ranch location is different from the others; the store was built before all the houses were, and so it was indeed an underperforming store (except for the gas station, which was one of the most profitable in the state), but with Lakeview Trails North under construction to the west, the location becomes even more prime, not distressed. Albertson's nationwide was having problems in an industry with very slim profit margins; but grocery stores are still necessary. We will do all in our power, limited though it may be contractually, to ensure that whatever goes into the empty Albertson's space will be good for Lakeview Village and the Morrison Ranch residents - which we are - not something that will pull the center down.

And finally, we have no information from Albertson's themselves yet as to what they plan for that store. Still waiting, and shaking our heads at the rumors.

Highland Park Elementary School

When The Mister was up taking pictures last week, he snapped this shot of the new elementary school located right next to Higley Groves. It doesn't have all of its landscaping in yet, but it is ready to open this fall. Formerly known as Elementary No. 27, it is obviously within walking distance of Higley Groves. It is also the elementary for Highland Groves residents, though I doubt that walking is an option for those kids.

I know that no student wants to hear me talk about school starting up while it's still the middle of summer; but for those parents who might be interested, school this year starts August 9th in Gilbert (yes, I know that's a Wednesday). My kids have officially completed all their K-12 education, so this calendar doesn't affect me much this year, for the first time; but as a football mom, I can't help but wonder about the grueling 2-a-day practices in 110 degrees, right before school starts, not to mention that football camps will all have to be in July, cutting short the summer anyway. I guess that's the price to play football.

And if you're wondering, yes, I will be attending some high school football games this fall; I can't break the addiction that quickly.

Bugs in the Ranch

The picture shows Highland Groves in the foreground, and was taken yesterday. I really enjoy seeing the projects come together, and doing so from the air is great. If you could zoom in really really close, you would see lots of bugs at Highland Groves. We don't know why. We once suspected the construction pond at the northeast corner, but it is filled in. Others suspected the lake, and we treated it twice. I am currently suspecting the corn to the east and south, which would be good, because even as this picture was taken, the corn was being chopped up and hauled to the dairy. That means there will no longer be that source of food and water.

Equally, we don't know what to do. We have had two different pesticide companies out and they say there is nothing to be done. I just got a call from a resident, who put me on to the idea of "fogging". The county does it for Mosquitoes, but not midge flies. The county says these are midge flies. They remind me of white flies, but apparently those are a little different. We are trying to get in touch with the individual at the county who identified the bugs and made the recommendation, to see if they know someone who provides this service privately. But right now there is no solution before us.

I know they are a nuisance. I was out there for an hour this morning. I gather some days they are even worse. The result is that many residents are calling sales people, builder offices, the management company, and our office to complain, and look for relief. Many of the answers I have heard, first or second hand, have a big dose of "that's someone elses problem" in them. Well, this answer has none of that. I simply have no option before me that professionals recommend as both safe and effective. We are looking for one. As soon as we find it, we can start addressing the question of who pays for it.

We had a huge outbreak of white fly about 10 years ago. It was through most of Gilbert. There was no one from whom to ask relief. But in a couple of months it ran it's course. I hope that at the worst, that is what we have here. A natural condition bigger than man (it happens!), but which takes care of itself. I further hope we can find something which helps sooner. In the meanwhile, you are welcome to call. I for one will give the uncomforting, unfortunate, honest answer that we don't know what to do.

Fire and Rain

With apologies to James Taylor, there was both some fire and some rain in the Ranch in the last couple of days. The Mister saw the story (and the helicopter) on the news, so he drove over to Higley Estates yesterday and snapped this picture of the aftermath of the fire:


He explains:

I am attaching a picture from my phone. Not very good, but you can see the burned area around the garage window, and what is left of a corvette in the driveway. The front is burned off. I don’t know if it was in the garage or not. I suspect so, and then it got rolled/pulled out.

Our sympathies to the residents of that house; I hope the insurance reimbursement will be swift.

As for the rain, according to the rain gauge, at 6:50 this morning it was a pleasant 74 degrees with 79% relative humidity and we had gotten .02 inches of rain. Here is the view from our front porch:

Happy Independence Day

Slow News Day

I’ve been talking to The Mister every day to keep up to the minute on Morrison Ranch news, but frankly, this is a holiday weekend, and there isn’t a whole lot going on. He noticed that Albertson’s now has 60% off signs displayed, and yesterday they had folks walking out in front with those signs, which makes him think the closing is soon, but we don’t really know.

Of course, the reason I’m trying to get his input is because I can’t get my own, since I am currently en route with my oldest daughter to Seattle, where she will be starting grad school in the fall. We have driven 1465 miles so far and are on our last leg into town; we are ready to be out of a car for a while!

People tell me that the northwest is cloudy all the time and you never see the sun, but I haven’t yet experienced that. We’ve driven in full sun and abnormally high temperatures all the way. Yesterday we saw Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens all in one day, framed by spectacularly blue skies. And today we added Mount Ranier to our repertoire… Here’s our best shot of Mount Shasta as we sped along the freeway (in case The Mister is reading this, I mean “sped” in a loose sense of the word):

But really, the moment I know something of interest about Morrison Ranch, I'll pass it on.