The To Do List, Visiting the Capitol and More Get Togethers

We continue to be busy here in Mesa meeting with friends, doing a bit of exploring and working on the rig.  We can't say we have been real happy with the Arizona weather.  We have had a couple cold spells and it has been much cooler here than in Florida.  As I write today it is even warmer in WashPA than it is here.  All that said, we have had no s**w and the sun usually shines even on the cooler days.  Nanc had a nice evening out with the girls when she was invited by Linda Rocks to see "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Centre Theater in nearby Gilbert. She said it was a wonderful performance and she had a great time with Linda and her friends Penny and Sandy.  Unfortunately, she forgot to take the camera.

We always try to take advantage of our extended stays by doing a few RV chores and maintenance projects.  That means I wash and wax the rig, including the roof.  While I'm up there I check the caulking and fix any places that are showing wear.  We had to replace the fridge cooling unit in the fall and the interior shelves were looking really bad, so we replaced those also.  I cleaned out the hot water tank and changed the anode.  And here I am doing the worst job.  The black water valve had been leaking and this job could not be put off so here I am up to my elbows in crap getting the job done.  Most of the jobs on the to do list are now completed for another year.  Just like a stix and brix there are always jobs to be done.     

In our travels we now try to visit the capitol buildings in each state.  We have missed a few as we did not do this when we first went on the road.  The buildings and grounds always give a unique look at what the state considers to be the most important aspects of its history.  This week we drove into Phoenix to tour the capitol.  This fountain and anchor are part of a new memorial to the battleship Arizona. 

These gun barrels are from the battleships Arizona and Missouri.  They are part of the newest memorial and symbolize the beginning and ending of WWII.  The memorial lists the names of all the Arizonians killed in that war.  The Arizona was sunk on December 7, 1942 in Pearl Harbor at the start of the war and the peace treaty with Japan was signed on the Missouri to end the war in 1945.  Here is a link to the blog I did when we visited the Arizona Memorial and toured the Missouri two years ago.  

This is the Arizona 9-11 memorial.  The events of that day and the days that followed are cut into the metal ring and are highlighted on the wall as the sun moves across the sky, a very unique and moving design.   

The building in the middle is the original Arizona capitol that opened in 1901 before Arizona was a state.  It did not include legislative wings that were added behind the building in 1918 and 1938 expansions.  In 1960 new buildings were added to the left and right for the Senate and House. 

In 1974 this new office tower was built for the executive branch.  The governor's  office is on the top floor.  Pictured at the bottom are the new legislative chambers.

The old capitol building is now a museum with many historical displays.  This is part of the battleship Arizona display.  The bottle of champagne is for the last survivor of the December 7th attack.  At this time only 13 remain.

There are memorials for the veterans of all modern American wars and the Arizonians who served.  Left is Operation Enduring Freedom, top is a Purple Heart memorial, bottom the Vietnam memorial and right a memorial to the Navajo Code Talkers. 

These two law enforcement memorials are to police officers and K-9 corps members killed in the line of duty. 

This is the Bill of Rights Monument.  Each of the first ten amendments to the Constitution are engraved in the ten stones. 

On Friday we went to dinner at Red White and Brew, our favorite restaurant, with friends from Sun Life.  We had a great evening with Suzanne, Lynn, Dick and Rene. 

Another day we got a text from Mike asking if we wanted to go ballooning, so it was up and out the door early Saturday morning.  We drove to the launch site, but this is what we ended up doing as the winds picked up and no one launched.  Oh well, it is always good time with the Libertis. Here are T, Mike, their niece Brenda, Paul (who was going to fly his first solo) and Daniel.  We are going to crew for Paul when he tries to solo on Christmas Eve.