Light Rail is finally here!!!

So the METRO Light Rail is finally open!  I arrived at the 19th Avenue/Montebello station around 1:00 this afternoon and encountered a massive crowd of thousands and thousands who were there to see the wonder of the Light Rail....  I waited in line for about 2 1/2 hours for my ride...    

The new light rail route is 20 miles long, took 12 years of planning, 5 years of construction, and cost $1,400,000,000  (that's 1.4 Billion dollars).  But it has definitely all been worth it if the reactions of the crowds were any indication...

As you can see, the light rail is as popular as any ride at Cedar Point (I spent 2 1/2 hours in this line... this photo only reveals a small part of this massive line)

And the new light rail trains are still shiny...  Wouldn't that train look great in any city?

Crowds of onlookers standing on the platform at Mill Avenue in Tempe watched as the fireworks exploded overhead at dusk to celebrate a successful first-day launch of the light rail network...

It's official...

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Joyous Kwanzaa everyone!  Or perhaps I should just say happy Christmahanukwanzakah to you!   

So I officially closed on the house this afternoon.  We were able to get everything signed in less than 45 minutes. and when all is said and done I will be enjoying my new home for more than $300 a month less than what my rent here at San Lagos is... (and this is including home insurance and property tax!)  I was able to lock in my interest rate at 5.00% and will get the keys and start moving on Monday the 29th of December.  So now I have five days to get packing and thus far I have packed one box of stuff...  But five days should be plenty of time... right???

Glendale Glitters

On Saturday night Jenna and I went downtown to Glendale Glitters  (check out the link).  It is the kick-off to the Christmas season here in Glendale.  The city decorates the downtown in over 1.5 million Christmas lights and has live entertainment, food, and all sorts of other activities.  It is similar to the Toledo Zoo's Lights Before Christmas but free-of-charge, without the animals, and a lot warmer.  The temperatures were in the mid-to-low 60's on Saturday night when we went.  It is a huge event in Glendale that draws hundreds of thousands of people downtown.  As always, I had my trusty camera with me and snapped a few photos of the festivities.  

First, I decided to avoid trying to drive and park downtown and take the free shuttle busses.  This was the line at Glendale Community College as we were waiting to board the shuttle busses to take us downtown.  Surprisingly, there were enough shuttle busses running that we only had to wait about 5 minutes to get on a bus:

And once we made it downtown we were instantly greeted with the spectacle of lights:

We were able to make it to the upper levels of the municipal building to get a birds-eye view of the live entertainment and the crowds gathered below to watch in the downtown amphitheater.  The mini-Mickey mouses were performing a Christmas song on stage in this photo (I think...):

So what do you decorate in the desert for Christmas?  Why a palm tree of course!  I think it looks quite nice :-)