Kathy Anderson of KenMeadeRealty - Located in the heart of Sun City Grand

Join the United States Tennis Association "Tennis On Campus" program for the 2009 USTA National Campus Championship in Surprise, Arizona, April 16-18, 2009. Click HERE for a printable brochure. The action will be taking place at

The Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex
14469 W. Paradise Lane
Surprise, Arizona

The new Surprise complex is one of the premier public tennis facilities in the country and expected to attract some big names in the future. Come enjoy the championship in Surprise, Arizona, and look for more to come.

Click on the picture below to see the new Surprise website page featuring the tennis and racquet complex.

The city of Surprise, Arizona has posted "Monsoon Safety Tips" on their website for those of you new to the area. As I wrote in a previous post, our monsoon season can bring some pretty Wild Weather.

People don't realize that even though we may get only an inch or two of rain, because our ground is so hard and dry the water can't be absorbed fast enough. This can create dangerous flash flood conditions. We also have hundreds of lightning strikes in a matter of hours and all of this is sometimes preceeded by a dust storm that severely limits visibility.

Don't fool with mother nature! And make sure you know what to do if you are caught in a monsoon storm.

I grew up in Seattle. But when mom and dad planned our summer vacations, most years this meant heading to the Oregon coast. My mom and dad are gone now but I still find myself wanting to head to Oregon. Most years my aunt and uncle from Pennsylvania rent a home somewhere on the coast. This year it's a 4 bedroom home in Manzanita and my husband Rick and were invited to join them.

I'll be posting highlights of my trip in the next few days. Manzanita is a darling little town just south of Cannon Beach.

The first morning here we headed up to Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach is a favorite with many Oregonians and out of staters alike. The shops are first class and the beaches are fabulous. But this post is about catching the low tide at Haystack Rock (pictured at top).

In all the years of visiting the Oregon coast, this was a first for me. I've always enjoyed seeing the tidal flats at Cape Perpetua but I found Cannon Beach to offer as much or more. The rock formations are fabulous and there are just as many starfish and sea anemones here as anywhere.

















If you have the opportunity to be here at the right time, this is one experience you won't want to miss... especially if you have kids

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First of all I want to say, this information is not limited to Sun City Grand. Part One here is all about some of my favorite local birds and they are all birds I have seen here in Sun City Grand, but you could just as easily see them in any of the other area communities.

Of course there are many more bird species than what I have listed here. I've left out the finches, the sparrows, the wrens and yes... even the doves. The birds I have listed here are the ones that are more apt to catch your eye because of their size, antics or uniqueness to Arizona.

We have a number of bird species that are always fun to watch. Some of them live here year round and others migrate in and out of the area. Sun City West has swans that live on the golf course lakes and have been named.

Unfortunately, Sun City Grand doesn't have resident swans yet but one of the more majestic birds that you will see flying around our lakes are the Blue Herons. They can have a wingspan of 5'-6' and create quite a picture when flying overhead.

In the last two months, while driving through Sun City Grand, I've had the pleasure of seeing roadrunners making a mad dash across the road in front of me.

These birds are much larger than I imagined. They can reach close to 2' in length

The Quail are some of my favorite local birds to watch. They are creatures of habit and local residents will tell you how a quail family will travel past their back patio at the same time each evening.

The babies are adorable little puff balls and the families look out for each other vigilantly. In fact there is usually a scout in the group watching out for potential danger and constantly vocalizing to the group.

I had the pleasure last year of having a family come through my front courtyard every day for about three weeks, at aproximately the same time each day. I was sad when they stopped coming by. It was probably because my cat was always sitting in the window watching for them too.

Of course everyones favorite are the hummingbirds. The last two days our backyard visitors have been absolutely exuberant. It's as if they are celebrating the recent rains.

Last night my husband went out on the back patio and one flew off his perch and right up to Rick as if to say hi. Then, ZOOM, he was off. We quite often have what I call hummingbird wars over the bird feeders I have out for them. We get much enjoyment from these social creatures.

Last (but certainly not least) is the Great Horned Owl. There are several species of owls you might see come out at dusk but the sight of this guy always amazes me.

My husband went to a clients house in Sun City West once to deliver something and saw an owl sitting on a yard ornament. He just glanced at it and thought it was one of the fake plastic ones that people use to scare off other birds. That is until the bird blinked his eyes and turned his head. It scared the bejeebers out of him. He said the owl was sitting only about 6 feet from the front door and he wasn't the least bit concerned with having Rick that close.

Well that's it for this post. As I said there are many more birds I could have mentioned and I'm sure I've forgotten other people's favorites but at least this gives you an idea of the variety of wonderful birds you can see right here in Sun City Grand.

Stay tuned for Part Two where I will talk about some of the creepy crawlies you might encounter as well as the four legged critters running around.

Little by little the landscape of Surprise is changing. Much of it is exciting (new shopping complexes constructed within the city guidelines to look like unique villages). Some of it is sad (the farmlands just minutes away are slowly disappearing).


Probably the next BIG addition to our city is the new Sam's Club that will be opening on the SE corner of Bell and the Loop-303. Some people may not think this is a plus. Some may wish it was a Costco. But many will become avid customers.

I still haven't seen the projected Grand Opening date but it will no doubt be before the end of the year. My guess is, they will want to have it open before the holiday shopping season begins in November. They are certainly working fast now. The parking lot has finally been poured and the lights throughout installed. The building itself will no doubt go up quickly (it sometimes seems they appear overnight).

In any event, the more ammenities and retailers we get out here in the northwest valley the less we will need to travel eastward to meet our needs. Our little city is growing up. And someday, as was told to me by someone who used to work for the Phoenix planning commission, Surprise will be the center of the valley.

Those of us that already live here already know it is a special place to live and there are MANY exciting additions on the horizon.

To see what else is planned for Surprise in the immediate future, check out my recent post, "What's New in Surprise, Arizona?".

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To see homes in the Phoenix, Arizona west valley retirement communities click on the following links: SunCityGrandListings.com, SunCityWestListings.com, SunCityFestivalListings.com, CorteBellaListings.info or click on the logo below to go to my home page where you can access others.

Thank you for visiting!