The mountains that make the valley of the sun, Phoenix, Arizona


I've often heard the Phoenix area described as "the valley of the sun". And a valley is simply an area surrounded by mountains. The mountains that make up the valley of the sun are: 1) the White Tanks to the west, 2) the McDowell Mountains to the east, 3) the Phoenix Mountains to the north, and 4) South Mountain to the south.

This is the Salt River Valley, which is also a way to describe "the valley of the sun", although not as glamorous a name, so the Chamber of Commerce went with "Valley of the Sun". Because, really, who wants to live in a valley of salt?

I've lived in the Phoenix area for a long time, but it's only been recently that I've been trying to figure out the geography of it. I like old photos and often the only thing that remains the same is the shape of the mountains in the background. Of course nowadays most intelligent people are watching for traffic, and using their GPS, which is why it's wise to not let me drive, because I like looking out the windows at the mountains. It has occasionally worried people that I've given directions to to "drive to the mountains" and "keep the river on our right". Yes, I know the name of the streets, and how to get to places in the valley, but I like looking at mountains. I can get around the valley by looking at the mountains, and the canals, the same way that I could ride my bicycle as a kid in Minneapolis, by just knowing my way with landmarks, and really having no idea what the streets were called.

This valley, by the way, tilts ever so slightly towards the southwest, so water that falls in the northeast valley eventually trickles its way down to the Gila River, which goes to the Pacific Ocean south of Yuma. When I lived in California I remember seeing the storm drain covers which reminded people that the water drains to the ocean, and it does, even in Phoenix. Run your finger on a map of the Phoenix area from the northeast valley down to Tres Rios, and then you can follow the water all of the way to the ocean, along the Gila River. When it rains I like to imagine the rainwater flowing down to the ocean, at the Gulf of California. If you can see this stuff, you may not be a very safe driver, or a responsible adult, either!

So that's the valley of the sun, the place I call home, and the mountains that surround me are like the faces of old friends. I like it here. Thank you for sharing it with me!

Image at the top of this post: The Phoenix Mountains as seen from 27th Avenue and Southern in 2018. You're looking north towards downtown Phoenix.
If you liked this article, and would like to see more, please consider becoming a patron of History Adventuring on Patreon. If you're already a patron, thank you! You make this happen!

 Click here to become a Patron!
History adventuring posts are shared there daily. The basic tier is a dollar a month, and the PhD tier, which includes "then and now" photos, billboards, aerials, videos, and super high-definition photos, is five dollars a month, and is discounted for seniors, veterans, and students.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why cars in the future won't need stop signs, red lights, or stripes on the road

Image
Time-travel with me into the future. Where we're going, we'll still need roads, but our cars won't need the kind of stuff that human drivers need, like stop signs, or stuff painted on the road. And if you're already panicking that computers will take over, don't worry, they already have. The fact that you're reading this right now combines so much amazing computing power that it would have been unthinkable to anyone in the 1960s, or '70s, when I was a kid. Speaking of being in the geriatric age group, if you're like me or older, you took a lot of pride in knowing the rules of the road, such as what to do at a stop sign if four cars approach at the same time, the difference between a "yield" sign and a "merge" sign, or maybe how to parallel park. But calm down there old-timer, that type of knowledge will just be as quaint as how to use a horse and buggy is nowadays. Sorry! The best way to picture how traffic will flow in the future is ...
Read more

Watching a neighborhood grow and change in Phoenix, Arizona

Image
I stopped to take a closer look yesterday at where the old Circle K had been in my neighborhood, which is a suburb of Phoenix. And it's got me to thinking about how much Phoenix grows and changes over the years, and how people feel about it. This particular neighborhood was built in the mid 1980s, when there had been only a smattering of houses and a community college (Glendale Community College, built in 1965). There are some houses that I can tell are from the 1970s, and a few even older, but what happened here is that the neighborhood suddenly appeared in 1985 or thereabouts. There are three shopping centers on the corner of 67th Avenue and Peoria - the one in the photo is called "Peoria Station", and it was designed to kinda look like a train station. The other three are called Westporte Village, Brittany Square, and Crossroads Plaza. I've lived in this neighborhood for a very long time, and no one ever uses those names, even though the signs are still up. But the...
Read more

Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?

Image
As someone who has been interested in history since I was a little kid, I've always asked the most childish questions, and quite often never got an answer. As a kid, I was told to run along and play, and don't bother the grownups, so I set my questions aside to work on when I myself became a grownup. But some questions I really haven't found a satisfactory answer for, and get thrown away as I find myself learning the more important stuff. I now understand the grownups, but the kid in me still has childish questions like "Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?" The first question to ask is whether a particular style (whether hair, clothing, etc.) was in style at the time. The moustache was, and you can Google a photo of Charlie Chaplin, who wore the same style of moustache at the time, and quite stylishly. The wide lapels were in style in the 1930s, as was were the tall shirt collars and small ties. But the haircut wasn't - it's just awful. Me...
Read more