A day trip to Phoeni was on the agenda today. I decided to drive to the capital to renew my certification rather than renew it online like I did last time. I wanted an excuse to see parts of Phoenix I was unfamiliar with.
I planned on leaving at 9:00am but four dogs broke out the front door when an elderly man came by to drop off an opened DMV letter to my address about a suspended driver's license. His wife opened it thinking it was for her as she was expecting something from the DMV. He had put it on my porch chair without a note. My dogs' fierce barking got me curious, and when I went outside to check on the men, four dogs broke loose and quickly ran down Kino Road. I'm sure their escape scared him, but he was also apologetic/ I was curious what letter I got from the DMV.
It turns out it wasn't for me, but for a Kristopher Riley who apparently was the grandson of the owner of my house over two years ago. Riley made local headlines when he stole a vehicle in early 2017 and got law enforcement to start a high-speed chase when he was just 20 years old. I first became aware of Riley when in late October I had gotten three separate solicitations from three different criminal defense lawyers wanting to defend Riley in my mailbox. I then did some public searches on him to get a better understanding. of who he is He still has a facebook page. He's gotten quite a few tattoos on his face and neck since his 2017 arrest.
The elderly man who dropped off that DMV letter did the right thing by forwarding it to me physically, not knowing that I was not the one addressed in that letter.
I calmed down after the breakout. Hansel came back right away and jumped into the car. He was the one I had planned on taking with me today anyway. Zana and Gretel came back a few minutes later. Only Gretchen took a little longer, as she always does because she has no recall and likes to fence fight with Kim's dogs. Once I started my car to go after her, though, the sound of the engine enticed her to come toward me and hop into the vehicle. This seems to be the only way I can lure her back to me.
I finally got on the road at 9:30am, with an estimated arrival time in Phoenix at 1:05pm. Traffic through the bridge repair work offMarshall Road was minimal, but there was another slow-down in Tucson near the Kino Sports Complex, and then again south of Gilbert with a three-car accident off the median.
I finally arrived at the Arizona Building near the state Capitol at 1:20pm and registered to wait at 1:26. I was out of there before 2pm. Hansel waited in the car for just over 30 minutes under cloudy skies. After my certification renewal I took him to walk around the Wesley Bolin War Memorial across the street. It's part of the State Capital Plaza.
The Wesley Bolin War Memorial covers all the wars in which Arizonans took part. This includes the Navajo Code Talkers, women pioneers, Law enforcement and fire fighters. There's even a Canine War memorial that Hansel barked at several times. I walked around the entire complex to read the plaques before heading toward Roosevelt Row. It was now 3pm and 81F.
I started my visit here at the Sana Sana Cerveceria with its dog-friendly patio. It's a new brewery that opened last year. Everyone here spoke excited Spanish. Hansel wanted to get to know a MinPinX better, but kept him on a short leash. I had one Mexican Lager and then started my walk west on Roosevelt.
I was at the edge of the ASU campus. While I saw a lot of art, most of it is what I would not consider high-quality. I like realistic murals, not popart, and there was a lot of that. But there were also some good murals which I will feature here. There were also nice ceramic flower pots and trash bins. After a few blocks, I was in a historic district with old brick homes and native plants.
But there were also many homeless sleeping in the streets. They didn't threaten me, but Hansel wanted to sniff them all down. My main complaint is the trash they leave behind: food containers, dirty clothes, cardboard.
I soon followed the art and got off Roosevelt and landed on Grant. There was more art here. And more homeless the closer I got to downtown. I used my Strava app to get me back to Roosevelt.
I finished the 6.5-mile walk with a visit to the Greenwood Brewery at dusk where I stopped in five years ago. I recharged my phone here, sampled too beers, and finished off with a late meal at the Il Bosco pizzaria a block over. The Neopolitan pizza was very tasty.
I finally got on the road back home at 8:30pm and at home by 3:10pm. Four dogs were still in the back yard (so that Gretchen wouldn't be attacked) and were glad I was back home.
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