Calamity in Castle Rock, Colorado : Mar 2016

"Hundreds Trapped on Colorado Highway in Record-Breaking Storm" was the headline my eyes were drawn to as I was browsing through the day's news last night. I am in Boston right now but my mind quickly raced back to the treacherous drives that I used to embark on between Colorado Springs and Denver in the deadly blizzards. What business I had on a Colorado highway during a blizzard you may ask. Nothing. All I needed was some lame excuse to get on the road so I could experience the mayhem during the whiteout conditions on the highway that traversed the mountains. One time in March I believe, I set out to drive to Denver in a raging storm to attend a club meeting. The lady who was in charge of the proceedings called me while I was still on the road, told me the meeting was cancelled, admonished me for venturing out in those conditions and sent me back home.

I also saw a tweet in the online news article about yesterday's storm in Colorado that read : Highway 83 between Colorado Springs and Castle Rock in terrible condition. Mere mention of Castle Rock in the article jogged my memory about all the trips that we used to take to visit this gem of a town. Actually you never really take trips to go to Cast Rock. It is right there on your way driving from Colorado Springs to Denver and you just have to make a stop, a stop that may end up as a destination in itself and you may end up spending whole day there forgetting all about your original plans as why you were on the road to begin with. I can write an entire story about my trips to Castle Rock and I intend to do so some time but now it is suffice to say : there may be calamity right now but calmness would prevail and good times will roll once again in Castle Rock. 

Tallest Fountain in the World - Fountain Hills, AZ - Mar 2013

Here is a town that likes their fountains so much that they named their beloved town Fountain Hills and not to mention the town also boasts of being home to world's tallest fountain. I admit the fountain was impressive but getting there was half the fun for me.

I don't quite remember how I heard about Fountain Hills but I do remember that Saturday had been cloudy as we were ascending up the mountains in Tonto National Forest shortly after noon with no particular destination in mind. Earlier that day we drove through Tempe on Highway 202 and turned up north on Highway 87 into the mountains.

The weather up the higher elevation was lot cooler and terrain was lot greener than the Phoenix metro valley. I saw giant Seguaro cactuses that dotted the landscape across the rugged ancient meadow-like land that was covered in thick tiny bushes and mud-colored houses were perched atop the mountain. I am sure they have an amazing view from their homes but what do you do if you run out of milk. 

Further up the highway we saw the signs for the town of Fountain Hills and we decided to check it out. It was a brand new community carved out of the hills on the edges of National Forest. Everything looked freshly minted - the houses, civic center, fire station, roads etc. I would have to say we never set out to come to this city, we just chanced up on it I might add. 

Right in the center of the town is where all the fun is and it is where everybody makes a beeline to like a moth drawn to the light - for a valid reason though. Here you will get to see the world's tallest fountain.

Don't be alarmed if the fountain doesn't seem very tall when you first see it. They only activate the special pump at the top of every hour and the fountain shoots up to the skies and the show lasts for 15 minutes -- if you ever been to Vegas you know what I am talking about -- rest of the time the fountain just looks like a normal fountain but it still very high compared to lot of fountains. At its highest the fountain rises up to impressive 550 feet. I did not know this at the time but I came to find out the fountain was the tallest in the world when it was installed in 1970 and remained the tallest for a decade and now it is the fourth tallest in the world. Where are the other three? I prefer not to know - or I will be tempted to go see them. 

When the clock marks the top of the hour, fountain starts sprouting, there is a stir in the crowds, you can sense the anticipation among the throngs that are gathered there and they get up from where they were sitting on the grounds and walk towards the fountain with their cameras that looked the size of a bazooka hung over their shoulders all ready to go. Not to look out of place, I discreetly hid my pocket camera out of public view.

If you are lucky you might get to see a live free music concert that normally takes place up the banks of the lake on Saturday afternoons. Kids can keep themselves busy by chasing the geese around on the slopes of the embankment. Fountain Hills sure was one of the unique towns that I ever visited. Thank You!