Saturday, March 21, 2009

The view from the mall

That is, the view from The Boulders, which is the latest incarnation of the original Prescott mall, out Iron Springs Road. This is the mall I'm most likely to visit, thanks to the PTA bus which will drop me at the door of any of the stores, probably the WallyMart or Tuesday Morning, the latter for a high-end kitsch fix.

Presumably these are the Boulders, for which the mall is named. Don't know how long those scattered, forlorn fences have sat amongst the granites -- no doubt an expression of the dismay that residents, exclusive up at the top of the rocks, felt when the mall was first opened sometime in the 70s. To the northwest of the action, BTW.

Isn't it wonderful how a zoom lens will compact the distance between objects, such as cars in a parking lot or on a highway. That's a reason why I always wondered at the naive acceptance of photographs as evidence back in the pre-PhotoShop days; it was just more difficult to doctor an image back then.

Back to the subject, however. A prime view from the Boulders is the cemetery associated with the Pioneer's Home. One of the historic figures buried there is Big Nose Kate, lady friend of the Earps, if I'm not mistaken.

Then there's the cluster of strange-looking modern buildings to the northeast of the mall, up on a small rise. Hearsay: doctors' offices. Can anybody out there confirm? The mall is at a lower level and that rise was cut away, resulting in a fine example of erosion (below).

Looking to the south, one gets a good view of Mt. Union, the tallest peak in the Prescott region. (Major correction -- that's Mt. Tritle, folks, not the highest of the peaks, but close!) And, below, to the southwest, the tip of Thumb Butte's thumb shows behind nearby granites and that crowded mildew-colored apartment complex at the foot of the hill. (Yes, the buildings are really crowded together even when viewed by the naked eyeball.)

In closing, an excellent view of a set of muscles heading out from the shopping center toward that huge, decorative boulder across the way. As the picture suggests, yesterday was sunny and warm, despite the snow still evident on the north slope of Mt. Union.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice tour, I enjoyed it. For some reason I couldn't post my comment.

Steve in Germany

Anonymous said...

Hi, Granny J. The weather was fantastic Saturday, an early spring blessing! We hiked up Mt. Tritle to the Davis Dunkirk Mine on top. If you use your digital zoom you can see us on the peak of what you are calling Mnt. Union.
After a while they all look the same. Well any ways on that north slope there was at least 2 feet of snow still. That place got buried from the last big storm!

Anonymous said...

The white buildings by the cemetary is a nursing home. I don't recall the name of it.

Granny J said...

steve -- always glad to have you along...

style -- thank you for correcting me; I've always had a problem with those peaks south of town. No nice ID tags, for instance. But wow, 2 ft. of snow still. That means the creeks should run for quite a while, yet.

dagny -- thanks for the info; anybody else out there know the name?

DeltaCubed said...

Here is a different view of The Village at the Boulders.

I think the new mall, just like it's predecessor, the Ponderosa Plaza Mall, is named for what was removed to make room for shops and parking lots. Some of the construction of the Wal-Mart alone required the crushing of more than 60,000 tons of rock. Hundreds, if not thousands, of trees and thousands of truck loads of boulders were removed from that site.

Granny J said...

DDD -- thanks for that link! I'd love to see an aerial taken well before the WallyMart was built, for comparison purposes...

Anonymous said...

HA!

Great evidence that, no matter what earthly age we may be, a woman can appreciate a fine set of muscles!! :)

Heee, thanks GJ!

~Anon in AV.

Granny J said...

anon av -- and why not???

TomboCheck said...

That nice white fencing was put up when wal-mart moved in. Before that It was simply chain-link. :)

And you are correct, the brown and white offices are related to doctors, dentists, and a chiropractor or two (I think).

Granny J said...

Tombo -- thanks for the intel re white fence and the MDs' offices.

Anonymous said...

Yup, those are medico-dental offices--or were. Got my wisdom teeth expertly removed in one of them.

Granny J said...

melanie -- so I don't want to need to go to those buildings. Thanks for the confirmation.

DeltaCubed said...

AERIAL VIEWS

GrannyJ said: "I'd love to see an aerial taken well before the WallyMart was built, for comparison purposes..."

Well, Here are 2 Aerial views of new construction at Yavapai Community Hospital & Ponderosa Plaza Shopping Center, Prescott, Arizona, 1988.

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