A Carefree Drive

So last weekend I decided to go for a drive up to Lake Pleasant Regional Park (one of the Maricopa County parks) since I had not been there before.   To get there you go about 4 miles north of the Loop 101 off of I-17 and take AZ-74, better known as the Carefree Highway west about 10 miles to the mountainous desert-lands of the northwest valley (Part of the cities of Phoenix and Peoria)

Unfortunately when I got to the park I found out the county charges $6 per car to enter... Being the cheapskate that I am, I said forget that and drove off to enjoy my afternoon drive around the far north valley...

Thanks to a recently completed widening project on I-17 north of the Loop 101, there are now so many brand new lanes to choose from during light traffic on a Saturday afternoon! (And yet this is still jammed up to a near standstill during rush hour... How???)

It's the details that matter... Like the mountain borders along the top of the overpass and the native-american inspired turtle on the side.   ADOT spends a lot of time adding little details like these to their freeway projects.

They do mean 25MPH! (okay... maybe 35 mph...)  It is a sharp u-turn offramp to go westbound on the Carefree Highway

Fresh air, blue skies, and stunning desert vistas along the Carefree Highway in North Phoenix and Peoria:

Hmm... Shouldn't there be a big alien ship playing music somewhere around here?