When I am in Arizona, or other states to the west of Texas, I always note a thing or two seeming so different from what I see, for the most part, in Texas.
Such as the size of people.
And the quality of amenities, such as what one finds in public parks. Amenities such as running water and modern restrooms.
And the existence of multiple public swimming pools.
And roads and freeways which are landscaped at multiple locations, such as exits and through populated urban zones.
Has Fort Worth managed, finally, to landscape the two freeway exits to the town's only semblance of a tourist attraction? That being the Fort Worth Stockyards. I exited one of those exits within the last year, and even with the freeway re-build it was still a littered, weed-infested eyesore not worthy of a town with pretensions of wearing Big City pants. Or attracting new corporate headquarters to town.
I rambled off point for a few paragraphs.
So, as I was saying, soon after returning from a location such as Arizona I will find myself driving to the DFW zone, where I quickly find myself freshly appalled at the rather, uh, tacky look of the main roads I drive on to get to my final Haltom City location.
Exiting the I-35 freeway on to Western Center Boulevard is not too bad for the first couple blocks. And then the road begins its march back in time. By the time the road name changes to Watauga the quality level of most of what I see has dropped to bordering third world status.
Or worse.
From Watauga Road I cross railroad tracks to take a turn right on to Highway 377, also known as the Denton Highway. At that point I time travel back over a half century to what looks worse than the worst of North Aurora Avenue, way back long ago. Those familiar with driving to Seattle way back then, will know what I am talking about.
When Miss Daisy's temp driver was driving me to the airport for my return to Texas, a couple weeks ago, I snapped some photos from my vantage point behind the driver, hoping to show what the roads I see in Arizona look like.
I had planned to turn those photos into some sort of April Fools joke, making some bogus claim that this was the 377 Denton Highway we were looking at, totally landscaped and upgraded to modern America quality since my last trip to DFW.
But, such was such an obvious unbelievable April Fools joke I opted out of even making an attempt at it.
Last week on my return to DFW I had intended to remember to take a photo of what the Denton Highway looks like, for comparison to modern America purposes, but I forgot. So, I went to Google Earth and made a virtual drive to DFW, and took the "photo" you see below.
Looking south. Six lanes, no median, little landscaping, occasionally a few feet of narrow sidewalk.
I also took a Google Earth snapshot looking north from this location.
What is the excuse, or explanation for what you see in the two photos of the Denton Highway?
How can towns in Arizona's Valley of the Sun, a desert, manage what looks like lush landscaping? Well maintained? With broad sidewalks.
I think at the top and above Miss Daisy's temp driver is driving north on Alma School Road, in Chandler. Note how well the lanes are marked with white stripes, compared to that Google Earth look at Highway 377.
I don't know if above we are still on Alma School Road, or Dobson, or Pecos, or Baseline, or Queen Creek, or Warner, or, well, you get the point, I hope.
Most of the main roads one drives on look like what you see in the photos above, and below, well, except for the photos above of the Google Earth look at the Denton Highway. If you want to see something like the Denton Highway 377 in the Phoenix zone you can sort of find a road somewhat similar in Apache Junction. And maybe in a few other locations. But not to the level and length of the Denton Highway, and other main roads in the DFW zone.
In addition to the expected desert flora, such as cactus and palm trees, one also sees pine trees, and other similar type trees one would not expect to find in a desert. That and a lot of color from various blooms, not not much in evidence this most recent Arizona trip, due to spring blooms not yet arriving. Though we did come upon some wildflowers patches whilst driving in the desert.
Maybe on this month's trip to DFW I will remember to photo document what I see. But, usually I get distracted...
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