Chandler's Tumblweed Recreation Center

This is Chandler's newest facility. The Tumbleweed Recreation Center at Tumbleweed Park. It's located on McQueen at Germann Road.

It's a great facility with this huge courtyard in the middle open to our wonderful weather. Next to it is a two court basketball gym.

The gym can be separated with a curtain like this. So, open play can be on one side and a scheduled class or league can be on the other side.

This is me. Getting a good work out on opening day. I was the only one running on the indoor track. It's big. 1/10 of a mile around and it has views.

All the weights and cardio and the indoor track are upstairs. As you run, you get to go by the machines. Plus, you get to look out the windows at the courtyard, the street and park. You also get to run above the basketball courts.

There are two racquetball courts. Lots of cardio machines, lifestyle resistance machines and free weights.

Got kids? They have a place for them to play too. I didn't take pictures of the teem hayloft, a lounge for teenagers with active arcade games, air hockey, foosball and an open stage.

Here's the best part. Today, was the soft opening. The grand opening isn't until sometime in April and until then everything is free. Once, it is officially open you will be able to pay by the day, month or year.


Tumbleweed Recreation Center

745 E. Germann Road

Chandler, AZ 85286

480-782-2900

Open Monday thru Friday 5:30 am to 10 pm
Saturday 7 am-8 pm.

Sunday 10 am - 6:30 pm

Field of Dreams

2008 brings us some new softball / baseball fields in the east valley. It's called Big League Dreams and it truly is. When you're driving near the intersection of Power and Elliot Roads you see this large complex with huge walls. You park and see the entrance with baseball sculptures and the ticket office. Go see your friends or kids play here and you pay to get in. $3 gets you entrance and a $1 coupon for food or drink.


Once inside you notice why people are going to love playing here. The fields are manicured to a tee. The seating behind home is stadium seating. But, what people love the most are the walls. Click on the photos to enlarge and leave a comment on what you think of "Big League Dreams"

This field is a replica of the Big A in Anahiem.
I'm sure Angels fans will love seeing this.











Boston fans will recognize the Green Monster right away. Yankee stadium is right next to it, too.













If you lived in St. Louis way back when, you might recall Sportsman's Park. Here it is back to life. This is a view from the right field wall. The fans you see are photo on board. From a distance you can tell what it is, but you'll still love it.







This is the Sportsman's Park infield. Do you remember where The Polo Grounds werer? You can even play in a replica of that grand old park.












And for Chicago Cubs fans, here's Wrigley Field. The only thing missing is the ivy on the walls.

In the middle of the park is the clubhouse with all kinds of food to eat and a large indoor soccer field.

This is just another reason to love living in the east valley.

Photo Hunt 94: Old Fashioned

If you read a lot of blogs you might have come across photo hunts or picture of the day blogs. They're pretty cool. You can see photos from all over the world from amateur and/or professional photographers. Here's two you should check out. The first one is called: Tnchick.com. Each Friday she has a theme and people from all over the country will put pictures on their blogs. Today it is "Old Fashioned" and I have these three pictures:
This is the old church in the town of Guadalupe, Arizona. This is a small town next to Tempe. I think this is the prettiest church around. I hope you do too.
Just to the north is the Double Butte Cemetery. What most people don't know is that there is a cemetery on the east side of the highway. Only flat markers are allowed and the entire plot is gravel. Very Arizona. Looks like most of the people died around 1978.

Finally, back in Guadalupe are two shrines on a hill. I took all three pictures with my camera phone, so sorry about the quality.

The second blog I like is a "Picture of the Day" blog from a Chandler, Arizona resident. If you want to see pictures from all around Arizona and in particular the South East Valley, this is a great blog.

Enjoy.

Fireplace Memories

Certain events can stir memories of different places in the home. For me, Christmas always brings up the image of the fireplace in the house where I grew up. It was brick that was painted white and it had a walnut mantel. We always rigged a string just under the mantel to hang our stockings on. That way we didn’t have to put nail holes or some other fastener into the mantel. We frequently set out the Christmas greeting cards we had received across the mantel. We always had a fire in the fireplace on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning when we were opening our presents.
One of my favorite types of fireplace is the see through kind. We lived in a home for about a year and a half that had a fireplace in the wall between the family room and the living room. If there was a fire going, it could be enjoyed from either room. Pretty cool!
If you are wondering, yes many homes in Arizona do have fireplaces. It does get cold enough in the winter to have a fire in the evening. Also, many people chose to have outdoor fireplaces, either chimneias or fire pits.
Do you have a memory of a great fireplace? Share it with us by clicking on "comment" below.

Date Pinwheel Cookies

Yesterday I made date pinwheel cookies. I had never made them before and they took some time as the dough had to be refrigerated at two different times. They turned out great. I decided to make them because The Baker's Catalogue e-letter included the recipe. My grandmother used to send us a box of cookies every year at Christmas time and these cookies were always in the box. It is amazing how much a certain type of food can trigger memories of people and places.

The editor who submitted the recipe had similar memories about the cookies. She wrote ... (just click on her note below to read her whole story and get the recipe)

"My own memories include the soft brown dough, the dates bubbling on the stove, the tricky process of rolling the filling inside the dough, and the magical way the refrigerator would make the sticky mass solid and sliceable. And the taste! ...

There's No Place Like Home

Watching Tin Man last night made me think that there is no better place to start a real estate blog than with thoughts of home. What do you think of when you hear the word home? Is it the house you grew up in, the place you live now, the place your parents live now, or someplace else? Is it more than just a building, perhaps a neighborhood or a city? Maybe it is all those things. I think that the cliched "Home is where the heart is" may be one of the best definitions of home. That is certainly what Dorothy learned in the original movie.



So what about Tin Man? Tin Man is a mini-series that just premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel. It is not The Wizard of Oz redone (like The Wiz) or a musical. It is a new story from the Land of Oz that tips it hat to the original stories. For those of you who don't know, there are many books about Oz written by L. Frank Baum not just the first book which was turned into the movie. This is more a separate story as is Wicked written by Gregory Maquire. There is not as much of Baum's punny humor as in the book or the original movie but there is at least a tip of the hat there with the reference to the "scarecrow" as a "head case". I don't want to say much more and give away to much in case some of you are still planning to watch it. I believe it is on again this weekend.