Thursday, January 13, 2005

9:47 AM Thursday January 13, 2005

Weather report for Yuma: Sunny and 67+ degrees for the next five days! Yes! We went to dinner with our friends from Shelton, Joan and Charlie last night. They will be in Yuma (actually Winterhaven, CA just across the CA/AZ border) for a couple weeks after arriving from Casa Grand on the 11th. Joan and I met 15 years ago when we both worked for the State of WA (I quit after 5 yrs. she finished up her sentence and retired ... ha!), liked each other immediately and have remained fast friends all these years. She and Charlie are "snow birds" and this is their second winter on the road. What fun it is to meet up with good friends this far away from home!
The pictures below were taken on a spur-of-the-moment trip we decided to take to Maricopa which extended itself to Casa Grande. It was a long day for Phil behind the wheel of our little Ranger but we really had our eyes opened regarding the growth of those two small towns. We could see that the building trade is alive and well in Arizona as we drove around this area. Individual family homes, looking to be at least 2000 square ft. each are being lined up in new housing developments like soldiers shoulder to shoulder down the street. Each is different up front but they all look alike (if you know what I mean) and. "Who will be buying them?" was the question we asked ourselves as we rubbernecked and exclaimed at the ant hill-like activity in all directions. We wonder if housing in Phoenix has priced itself out of the ball game and new residents are choosing the "bedroom communities" of Maricopa (about 30 miles south) and Casa Grande (about 45 miles south) as their homes even if they work in Phoenix. Can anyone clarify our speculations? Yuma has grown a lot (according to my aunt who has been coming here for 20 years) but it didn't happen overnight like it seems to be happening in these two towns.

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