Just the facts....Arizona Facts (flag, flower,tree etc...)
| A little about this site. This is not an
official Arizona site. This is a "We live in Arizona and take a lot of
pictures" site. There are pages of nature (clouds, mountains, deserts,
and rivers) and pages of fun things (4th of July, Merry Mainstreet,
Airshows, and parades). All pages are family friendly, though there is
a warning on the Art/Special effects page, some of the special effects
look very real, broken leg, broken arm etc. I also have links to many, many Arizona pages and resources. Every Arizona photo (and the Italy ones also) have been taken by me or someone in our family. I have them arranged according to where they are (Payson, Mesa, etc.) or what they are (Dust Storms, flooding, and such). Some of these pictures are a few years old, so if a price or certain place is mentioned in the picture pages, please verify the location and price before heading out on a trip. The picture pages are exactly that. Pages with LOTS of pictures. These are not huge graphics, but still with a lot of pictures on each page, they may take anywhere from seconds to several minutes to load (if you are on a slower dial up connection). And last but not least, yes, I do know that Italy is not in Arizona, but I just HAD to include a link to the Italy slideshow our son did. small print: No persons were harmed in the making of these photographs... well, okay, there was the incident with the cactus and the one at the skatepark. In general, we do maintain a safe fun environment. The broken bloody bones on the FX page are FAKE!!! please do not email me about my lack of mental capabilities and harming children. |
These are Photo Intense pages. DSL, Cable, or any broadband are recommended
Please be patient!
These are new Photo pages, arranged in album format
Click on the first photo on the thumbnail page to go to the photo, then you can scroll through by clicking "next". Also, some have captions underneath, which you may have to scroll down to see.
I hope you enjoy my Arizona Pictures
Also, if you like what you see, and decide to go... please remember that in the Phoenix area, always assume it will be hot, you will always need water, shade and time to rest. A hike in or up may not take long, but always factor in things like the heat of the day, being tired, etc and allow enough time to get back before dark. I always figure one and a half times however long it takes to get to where you are going, and allow time to enjoy when you get there. Arizona is a wonderful place where we can enjoy outside all year long, but it is also the home to heat, flash floods and creatures that can kill. Be prepared. Hiking in flipflops and without water can make you dead!!
I want to encourage everyone to discover these places and enjoy them, but first find out all the information you can, and use it.
2007 - Usery Pass, just East of Mesa, a hike to the Wind Cave, this day we encountered a rattlesnake....Usery Pass - Wind Cave Trail
2007 - August - After a very, very dry summer, August got interesting for a couple of days. We had a dust storm that came suddenly and put visablity down to nearly zero, a dry lighting storm (maybe it dumped rain somewhere, but we didn't see any) we finally had a very intense storm over about an hour that flooded streets, knocked out power and blew both trees in our yard down. I had taken off to chase the rain, and missed it, my husband, he was napping and slept through it. Please see my other pages for information on dust storms, street flooding and Monsoon storms.
Storm pictures August 2007
2007 - Summer - Since I am one who loves storms, one day while hearing of the storms brewing all around the valley, and knowing they were not coming to me, I decided to go see them. We drove to Papago Park, in Phoenix, and climbed up to "Hole in the rock" and stood where you can see the whole valley. We saw dust storms come up on one end of the valley, and watched rain storms blanket downtown Phoenix on the other side. It really was a great day. Enjoy !
Valley Storms as seen from Papago Park
2007 - December - A different twist here, not weather related, but our December weather made it a wonderful experience. We love to ride the motorcycle, but this is the first time we participated in any organized ride, though it will not be our last. It was to donate toys to children for Christmas. This was through Phoenix
December Toy Ride for Kids
2008 - March - Sometimes I think I have seen it all, but then I find something that amazes me. This was one. A friend of mine suggested this hike, and I went with her. I could not believe what I was seeing and had never heard of. I had to take my family back to see it. Everyone knows of the Superstition mountains, and even of the many trails, and the legend of the Lost Dutchman, but this trail leads to hieroglyphic drawings, not just one or two, but a mountainside full of them. To sit and rest by the waterhole and think of those who were there before us, there are no words to descibe. Please respect the beauty if you go, and take your trash out with you. Though this is mostly a flatland hike, it is strenuous at times, and water is a must.
Hieroglyphic Trail ... Peralta Trail, Superstition Mountains
So.. I also have some video that is reflective of Arizona, and the Valley of the Sun. These are up on Youtube (www.youtube.com/azmatthews), but to avoid having you look through nearly 100 videos, I am embedding certain videos here. *small print* no person in any video was in and danger from storms, flooding, nor chicken dancing. I have permission of all persons to publish these. Also, a couple have background music and I am complying with the requests of those holding the copyright.
Ice Blocking -what is it? Well, taking a block of ice bought from the local quicky mart and racing your friend down the hill with it, of course. (When living in 115 plus temps, we have learned to make up ways to stay cool)
Sledding? Yes, just over an hour away from the Valley, in March. Real Sledding, real snow!! This is near Payson (see my older Payson pages for more great things to do there)
Lightning - I want to reassure all who see this, this was far enough in the distance that we were not in danger. If everyone in the Valley stayed inside when they could see lightning in the distance, then from late May to late September, some years we would never go out of the house. This produced a great light show, but for us was just part of our friendly, dry nonsoon.
The August storm from pictures above. I pulled over because it was too bad to drive in. Aug 3, 2007
This is driving home, notice the rain has stopped. Our roads turn into rivers.. yes, I am on the phone, handsfree speaker phone..
A little closer to home, but not there yet.. more river road.
Finally made it home.. and found this...
Ah... the wonderful Dust Storm, sometimes referred to as an Haboob. This is from July 2007, and once again, while filming this, I am not In the dust storm.
Another one...
Okay, so this one is way out there.. but it's just to show that people in the valley can have fun on 4th of July, even when it was 115 degrees. (or maybe because we were in 115 degrees to long?)My Peeps, doing the Chicken Dance.
Prospector Park - Apache Junction AZ
Desert Monsoon Storm
Our Camping Trip, Payson area, July 2006
July Dust Storm in Mesa
July 4th 2006 - Mesa Community College
| Things Kids Do ... |
Weather or not... |
So many places, So little time.. |
Around Mesa..and the Valley of the Sun |
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 The first feature is a video of what happens when you mix Mentos candy and Diet Coke. (don't try this without supervision, etc. etc..) 
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 After 144 recordbreaking days of no rain.. what do Valley people do? Build a snowman for Spring Break !!
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 Green Desert - Low Clouds Beautiful Desert and Mountains Usery Mountain Park and surrounding area |
 The many wonders of living in Mesa. So many things, so little time. Parades, Museums, Parks, Swimming, City of Mesa classes, 4th of July, Picking Corn etc.... |
 July 15th-16th 2005
Harry Potter party pictures, waiting for the book at midnight.
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 Summer Storms and The most amazing Dust Storm I have ever photographed. August - September 2005 |
East Verde River |
Bookmans Mesa 2005 
One of our favorite places. Open mic night, Theme days, BINGO, oh, yeah, and Books too! |
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 Art and things... updated 2006 Bekah's Art |
 Arizona Flooding Feb. 2005 & Arizona's Stupid Motorists Law |
 Biosphere II |
 Reed Skate Park |
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2004 |
September 2003
Storm Clouds |
 Luke Days 2005
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 This and That |
 Past Mesa Weather |
 East Verde River area |
 Phoenix Zoo |
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2002 |
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 Arizona Desert Usery Mountain Park |
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 Lake Pleasant |
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Please be patient. I am still working on reconstruction..
Arizona Terrorism and Other concerns
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These are links that may be of interest to parents.Arizona Sex Offender Website This is a site that allows for looking up locations of Registered Sex offenders in the state of Arizona, while a good site for the info, I have found Errors in the zip codes of addresses in this site. If it says you have none in your zip code, it could be that they are listed in the wrong zip code. I suggest looking up the addresses that you question at the United States Post Office Zip code lookup
ADE: Arizona Standards AIMS information, including downloadable "Standards Cards" for each subject School Report Cards Search for the Arizona State school report card by school name, and view it online. Compare attendance, programs and policy violations. Keep in mind these are as reported by each school. Arizona's Graduated
Driver Licensing Law (GDL) - What it says City of Mesa Narcotics
Resources Crime
Analysis Unit
©2000,2001,2002,2003, 2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 Sandi M. - All images, graphics, animated gifs, video and Real Player movies on these pages have been created by me for this web site, with the exception of the mail box and the Arizona flag, flower and bird (these were on a clip art/web art CD. Special thanks to my family for allowing me to post pictures of them where the whole world can see. The address for this site is: http://arizonainformation.freeservers.com I am always looking
for more Arizona links! E-Mail me if you have one. |
