A New Section

The view from my patio at dusk.

As you might've noticed, I did, indeed, figure out how to upload a photo, though not as a background.  But hopefully you will bear with me as I figure out the mechanics of this system. 

I had to take another trip to the northwest area of the valley late last week for an errand, which isn't that far, maybe 20-30 minutes.  (That's where I took the photo I posted in my first post.)  This place just isn't that big.  At least from the perspective of someone who has lived in the Los Angeles area, where a traffic jam means 4 hours on 405 from 101 to 90.  Here a traffic jam means adding about 15 minutes to your trip during rush hour.  It can actually be pleasant, if you take the time to look up at the scenery off in the background.  (And/or have a good audiobook.) 

The whole valley can be driven across about an hour, and there's a beltway that was built large enough that it's actually ahead of the amount of traffic we have (again, unlike L.A., where there's so much traffic that they can't build sufficient roads to keep up with the number of cars).  I used to live here a while back, and only recently returned, after the beltway had been built.  I must confess that I love the beltway! 

While I was up in that end of the valley, I took a little side trip and saw a new housing development going up.

Everything looks sooo pristine and fresh out there on the edge of the desert.  Actually, it's really close to a mountain . . . okay, it's a mountain if you're from Jersey, where anything higher than sea-level is high . . . here it might be considered a foothill, I don't know.  But you can judge for yourself.  Here's some of the scenery around that new housing complex.

And a lot of the streets out in the new areas look something like this:

But of course that's a new housing complex.  There are plenty of ones closer in, or even at different edges of the valley, that are very nice.  And, as you probably know, there are also a great deal that are full of houses that have been foreclosed on.  (I haven't been through a section like that recently, or I'd have snapped a pic or two; when I find myself in an area like that, I will do.  After all, I said I'd show you both the good and the bad.)