A Windy Day in Fountain Hills Part Two

In my last post, I left you at Fountain Hills, AZ, where my sisters and I were walking around the lake on a WINDY day. Unfortunately the fountain was turned off due to the high winds. The flags were really flapping at the Veteran's Memorial as we passed by.

This mural ran along the wall on the other side of this building.

There were some shops along the path and we stopped in for some ice cream. We were delighted to find that they only had gelato. Just look at how gorgeous AND delicious this looks:

And believe me, it tasted as good as it looked!

We browsed through a gift shop and I noticed a picture of this horse statue that we had passed on the way into town that I had wanted to get a picture of.

I asked the man at the register, "Can you tell me where this horse is located?"

He looked at me a little oddly and said, "Yes, it's go right out that door and it's in the parking lot!"

He pointed to the door opposite the one we had come in.

I let out an embarrassing laugh and said, "Thanks!"

Here is "The Horse", made out of recycled material.

Now I will show you close up of sections of the horse. You will be amazed at what you will find!

Let's start at the head, shall we?

I see a bell, metal hinges and knives. I read somewhere that there are actually 20 hairs from an old lady's chin on the horse's chin. I wish I knew about that BEFORE I went there! There's an old road sign.

The two wheels and metal frame are from an old baby buggy. The large white piece is an old washing machine. Is that an old vacuum piece?

This is the belly of the horse. You can get a better look at the washing machine. Underneath and to the left is a faucet and metal soap dish. Above and to the right are three bells.

The back end was quite interesting with a hand mixer, coffee pot, tractor seat, ladle and pot lid.

The tail is a fender from a car with forks attached on the bottom.

I only took one picture of the other side of the horse.

There is a tea kettle, shoe stretcher, bedpan, toaster, another hand mixer, safety pins and faucet. I found the more I stood there and stared, the more items I found.

Here's another gem.

I thought this horse was quite a wonderful addition to all the sculptures in the town. It really WAS a piece of art. Here it is again in one piece.

By the way, here is a picture of the fountain when it is working. This was taken a couple of years ago when we had visited Fountain Hills Park.


I'm hoping to post on the Variety Show within a few days. I was waiting to get a video tape from Jim's act so I could post it. Believe me....the wait is worth it!

A Windy Day in Fountain Hills

One day I wanted to take my sisters to the nearby town of Fountain Hills. It is famous for it's huge man-made fountain. We decided that we would go out to breakfast, see the fountain and walk around, then make it back in time to grab some rays by the pool.

I searched on the internet for restaurants in Fountain Hills, and found one with great reviews, including breakfast. I wrote down the directions to the restaurant and then drove to pick up my sisters. They were staying just a few blocks from me.

It was cool that morning, maybe in the high 60's, and very, very WINDY (forecast of gusts of wind up to 28 mph), but the sun was shining and I was spending time with my sisters, so all was good.

We got to the town of Fountain Hills, no problem. I was following my written directions to the restaurant, but I thought maybe I had passed the street I was supposed to turn on because we were talking. I felt I had driven too far, so I made a U-turn with Big Blue into a side street (not an easy feat in itself), and my sister, Linda, whipped out her i-Phone, got up the GPS, and reassured me that I really didn't pass up the street. In fact, it was only a couple blocks away! I headed back in the same direction I was originally going and we found the restaurant right away.

Only one problem.

It was closed.

Yep. I made sure that the restaurant served breakfast, but I didn't make sure they were OPEN. It was a MONDAY and they were closed. Say what?

Back to square one.

Linda again searched on her phone and found another restaurant. She guided me there. It was located in a shopping center. I pulled into the lot and parked. We walked up to the restaurant and noticed......it was CLOSED. ON MONDAYS. Agrrrr!

Was Fountain Hills closed on Mondays?

Linda called two other restaurants and it sounded like their phones were out of service.

We were really getting discouraged. We KNEW there was a Denny's Restaurant in town, but we were hoping to try something different.

I saw a man walking across the parking lot so I quick jumped out of the truck and approached him. I asked him if he was from the area (eyebrows wiggling!) and he assured me he was (although he spoke in a heavy Scottish brogue!). I told him our dilemma of finding a restaurant for breakfast and he pointed to one just down the road called Phil's Filling Station. I thanked him and climbed back in the truck.

We found Phil's AND IT WAS OPEN!

SCORE!

The food was delicious and the coffee mugs were large. Our waitress was sweet, efficient and I loved her New York accent!

She told us, though, that if the wind was more that 10 mph that the fountain would NOT be turned on.

It just didn't seem to be our day!

We went to Fountain Park, anyway. I parked the truck on the street, grabbed my camera and the bread for the ducks and we got out and battled the wind.

Fountain Park was built in 1970 and includes 35 acres of turf, 33 acres and 1 million gallon lake, a world famous fountain, 18 hole Frisbee golf course, children's playground, restrooms, and picnic area with tables.

The fountain usually runs every hour on the hour for 15 minutes and shoots 330 feet in the air with only two pumps working. On special occasions with all three pumps running, the fountain can reach the height of 560 feet!

Despite the winds, my sisters and I decided to walk the path that circled the lake. There are many sculptures around. This one is called "An All Day Job".

Here is that same sculpture, but with my sister, Ann, attached. I didn't realize when I took the picture that it actually was the back of the statue. I just knew it was better light. Look at Ann's hair standing straight up - that's how windy it was!

We fed some of the ducks. There seemed to be an abundance of American Coots. Talk about an "odd duck"! These little guys have white bills, red eyes, and very weird feet. Not webbed like most ducks, but "scalloped", looked like they were made from scales or shells.

Some other ducks got mixed into the group

What kind of ducks are these?

Some more sculptures around the lake:

"Lovers"

I love this one of a little boy feeding crackers to the ducks, with one hand in front and one hand in back. This one is called, "Quackers".

Various views of the park:

The mountain with the "square" rock on top is called Red Mountain.

McDowell Mountains in background

Along the path were these two metal columns. You must be able to purchase a "leaf" and have it engraved.

TO BE CONTINUED.......

Watery Wednesday

This is a fountain that is in the center of a man-made lake in Fountain Park, in the town of Fountain Hills, Arizona. It is considered to be one of the world's highest fountains, shooting water 560 feet into the air, and is visible for many miles. If you are at the park on a warm, windy day, you can feel the mist from the fountain spray on your face. It has a nice cooling effect!

Fountain Hills is surrounded by beautiful views of Superstition Mountains, Four Peaks, and the McDowell Mountains.


Click here to see more Watery Wednesday images.