A Trip Downtown

Last Saturday our Photo group took a trip downtown to take some street shots.  Murals seem to be the thing in Phoenix and the Art district on Roosevelt Row seems to be the centre of activity although, from viewing online maps, murals are spread all over Phoenix.  

We decided to take the lite rail from Mesa.  For $4.00, $2.00 if over 65, I could ride the rail all day.  We got to the closest station and pulled into the parking lot.  Being Saturday there was lots of room although we were told during the week the train is pretty full.  If I was working downtown I would definitely be taking the rail rather than fighting rush hour traffic and paying for gas and parking.  There was a ticket dispensing machine in the parking lot and we put in our credit cards and a ticket, or what we thought was the ticket, popped out.  We got on the train and enjoyed the the ride, the scenery and the wide variety of other patrons.  We were about 1/2 way through our trip, total about 40 minutes, and the conductor came around to check our tickets.  Thats when we were told that what we had were receipts and not tickets.  Apparently the tickets drop into a chute below the receipt dispenser and none of us noticed.  The next person going to the dispenser machine was going to have a nice surprise.  Given that all 5 of us had this look of disbelief and confusion on our faces the conductor took our word for it and let us continue our ride.  

Each train consists of the engine and then alternating cars with rows of seats and then a car with room for wheel chairs and racks to hang bikes.  The ride is nice and smooth and very relaxing.  

Lots of pics so enjoy. 

Our crew

Lots of park and ride bikes available throughout the great Phoenix area.

Some beautiful houses in the area.

Above a major roadway for cars.
Below a nesting site for pigeons, upper left.

Lots of construction. 

A series of containers stacked on top of each other.
Inside were office space and residences.
Pretty neat concept. 

Side of a building

Long brick wall adorned with a huge mural.
This is only a small segment of the wall. 

More of the same wall

The source of all those birds. 

We had lunch on a restaurant patio.
This was the side wall of the restaurant.  

Back wall of a strip mall
Notice the door and electrical conduit, box and meter.

More of the strip mall with a door and conduit part of the picture.
Very well hidden 

This was the back of a machine shop with a couple of ladies having lunch. 
Shot taken through their fence.  

Side of another mall with parking lot in the foreground

Back of a music store

Love this one.

Large church

 

Back alley.  Gate leads to someone's backyard. 

I was surreptitiously, or so I thought,
snapping pictures of these young ladies all dressed in red.
Busted.

Old man taking pictures of young ladies.  Thought I would be in trouble.
What they wanted was someone to take a pic of the group with one of their cameras.Turns out it was a bridal shower.  Lady in white is the bride.  

Pretty soon I had them jumping for joy. 

And then it was time to head for home.
Was a fun day

The past few days had been cold, wet and very windy.  Even had some thunder and hail on Tuesday.  It has allowed me to get caught up and the forecast is sunny and warming up into the 80's by next week.  A trip to the Zoo is planned for Sunday although I might pass.

On Saturday I have my monthly Photo Editing workshop scheduled at BTA which has been very helpful.  I have never spent much time editing my photos, just some basic stuff in Photos on my Mac.  My new software, Luminar and Aurora, provides endless possibilities and while time consuming, I am getting better and have only scratched the surface.

As we have just over 2 weeks before we start north we are starting to watch the weather and wondering if the snow will ever melt.  I am sure those of you reading from home are wondering the same thing.

Later.