Hi All, Last Thursday I flew into PHX under the cover of darkness, I spent all day Friday in Sun City, and was winging it back to Seattle before the sun rose on Saturday. What a hectic, fantastic day I had in SC. The purpose of my visit was to attend the home inspection on a place we have an accepted offer on. There are a few minor things that I'm sure will get worked out with the current owner, and then we will be home owners in SC. I also met the realtor that BP turned us on to, and BP I believe we owe you a beverage of your choice. She is fantastic and was a tremendous help during the finding of the home and during the inspection. Thanks for pointing us in her direction. The reason for the post, however, is to ask a question about a huge Saguaro cactus. In the back corner of the yard there is a Saguaro that has 6 arms and I swear is 30ft tall. Birds, time, and all kinds of other things have done a number on the base of the cactus. As soon as we own the home, I will contact someone to come in and take a look at all the plants, but my question is - will this cactus tip over? It's absolutely beautiful and it would be a great loss if it tipped over. I'm aware of the laws concerning the Saguaro and would not consider removing it, my concern is the deterioration at the base of the cactus causing it to collapse.
Unfortunately, they do tip over after time. In fact, I saw one down in the front yard of a home on Aqua Fria the other day and i'll stop and get a picture if they haven't removed it yet. We have the largest Saguaro I have ever seen in our back yard and we have been concerned about it for years now...it's leaning. What's interesting is the darn thing is growing dozens of arms on the non-leaning side to try and counter-balance itself. We've also cut off several of the bigger arms on the leaning side to keep it from falling. A few years back we had one of the casino's come out and take a look at buying it. With the 6 foot block wall around the back yard and the massive size to it, they said it would be too much work to get it out and try and transport it. We have removed to Queen Ann palm trees. They get big and dirty and buggy. One we cut down, the other we sold. The one in the front yard was blocking the stop sign on the corner and we replaced it with the 3 and a half ton rock. The joke in the neighborhood was now we had a landmark for all of us living on Desert Rock Drive. I'll post up a picture on the cactus and the rock. All of that aside; fabulous news on finding a place J & V; hopefully it all works out for you. PS. You get off cheap on the beverage, coffee is my staple. Though we may have to go to Starbucks on Bell Road rather than McDonald's across the street where the most popular item on the menu is the senior coffee. The Sun City lifestyle at it's finest.
Congrats J & V. I did a turn around flight on the day of my inspection, in and out within a few hours. Rather exhausting, although in my case the flight is only 1 hour. The in-airport waiting is hard part.
Good to know about the Cactus, we'll keep an eye on it and have someone come in and give advice on how to take care of it. Thanks...I had considered a turn around, but I'm glad I stayed. I got to wander around the area to get my bearings, check out distances, and generally drive in circles. At one point I was hoping nobody called the Posse on me because they thought I was casing the joint. Starbucks? Well, if I must I gladly will. We currently live within sniffing distance of a Starbucks roasting site. It always smells burnt to me...the J portion of this duo works within sight of Starbucks headquarters. I can stand in the parking lot look left I see Starbucks, look right I see the original Amazon headquarters, and if I look up I can often see Boeing planes taking test flights into Boeing field. Gosh, I am sure not going to miss any of that.
Please consider contacting the Sun City PRIDES for removal of any cacti. They removed a large cactus for me and the person was very efficient. It was the one with arms and would soon have reached the eves of the garage. There was no charge, but I sent them a $20 donation. BTW. They are using donated cactus to redo the middle islands in the streets. Another option is one of the Garden Centers. I think the one on Bell road west of Sun City advertises they buy certain cacti.
Congratulations on the new home! Interesting the number of newer TOSC members closing around the same time.
Maybe i'll contact the Daily News Sun And see if they want to do a story on the site and new buyers. Anyone here in the witness protection plan? Here's a shot of the Saguaro that went down, though they cut part of it up to get it off the street: Here's the one in our back yard: Finally, here's the rock we replaced the Queen Ann with:
