Ivy - Sedona

Still working on my Sepia/Monotone conversion.

Scottsdale Shops

Wine Bar - space is now for rent..

This one is actually near historic old town.

The Fountain.

Taken near 5th Avenue Scottsdale. This is a nice little area for walks, browsing. Featuring shops, gardens, galleries, and restaurants. There are a lot of empty stores here, blame it on recession, but I see many of the similar shops are here, that probably doesn't help.

Back Yard Wildlife

Foxy


I went the our backyard the other day, and I startled some animal, and it jumped on top of our 6 foot fence. At first, I thought it was just a squirrel, but since it wasn't as stealthy as a squirrel, I took another look, and it was a fox!

My first thought was - I hope it's not going to charge at me, since there are many cases of rabies around here. Good thing it just jumped into our neighbor's back yard, whew. Also, don't know why, but there was a raven staying close to this fox. I have heard coyote and badger teaming up, is there some symbiotic relationship between fox and ravens?

The shot was taken through the fence, hence the quality issue. Since it was in our neighbor's yard, I didn't just want to stick the camera over the fence to take the picture. They probably call the cops if they see me do that!

Dining tables

Waiting...

Prepared for the crowd.

There are a lot of nice restaurants in the Scottsdale area. Since we have been spending so much time down there recently, we have tried out a few different ones.

We heard from our nurse that Maggiano's Little Italy is having a special for month of June, where you buy certain dishes at half portion for dining in, and you can have another item at half portion, for to go (listed item only), at around $13, not a bad deal, so we thought we'd try it out. Nice they didn't have a tacky name for this special, like recession buster, :).

I am usually very frugal when it comes to dining out. We have tried out some "fancy" restaurants, I usually leave dessatisfied after shelling out some stupid sums of money to try to act fancy.

One place that I did like, was REDD at Yountville, CA, right on the wine trail. The food was excellent, and service was great. Truly an enjoyable experience.

I myself, usually seek out comfort food, simple and down to earth type of stuff. If I had my way, I'd go to La Luna Market and Taqueria at 1153 Rutherford Rd, Rutherford, CA. This small market makes a mean carne asada! I'd love to go back there for more of that stuff! :)

Mountain View, Campbell, CA

Cafe on Castro Street.

Houses near Castro Street.

Performing Arts Center, City of Mountain View.


Head Quarter of NetFlix. Looks like a hotel/resort, rather than business complex, and it's HUGE! They call it Netflix City. In Campbell, CA.


Short 2 day trip to Mountain View, specifically, El Camino Hospital. The weather was really nice. I was hoping to finish up early and take a drive out to Pacific Highway 1, but client had a lot of questions about work, so I didn't get a chance for sightseeing. Not a problem, there's always another trip. They are finishing up with their new hospital, so I might go out there and assist with the move.

Sedona through 179A

North on 179.

Bell Rock.

The road from Phoenix to Sedona (179A) has been under construction for some time now. Closer to Sedona, it's still a little chaotic. But from town of Oak Creek all the way to Chapel Road, the road has been completed, and it is a nice, flat, quite road now. Closer to town, it changes to 4 lane traffic. Also along the way, larger parking lots for scenic stops are now available, makes it easier to off and back onto 179.

This is quite a dilemma for residents of Sedona, as better road could mean more tourists traffic, but the old 2 lane road was really bad, as congestion on 179 during Summer months makes it difficult for everyone to get around town.