Our Ladies of Perpetual H.O.P.E.: The 3-Day Walk Route Map!

You are right, that's not the 3-day walk map. But it is a map and it is pink so . . . .

I tried to put the actual map here but it is in a format that won't paste and I am lacking both the talent and the software to force it up here.

But even if I had the actual map it wouldn't do that much good since it is deliberately vague. We know the walk will go past the cheering stations we talked about HERE. And we also have some specific 'points of interest' from the so called map. But apparently the exact route is a top secret. Due to safety concerns.

Puhlease. If I were going to harass a group of women it wouldn't be this group. They are in physically good shape, they are determined, and more than a few of them are a little bit on edge. (if you have 2 to 3 thousand women over the age of 18 that means that about three hundred of them will be PMSing)

But who am I to second guess the great Komen machine? I have absolute faith in our ladies; but since I do want them returned home safe and sound I'll not complain about the safety rules.

And because I hate critics and complainers I'll be positive and upbeat at all times and refrain from making snide comments as we go through the "points of interest" along the route.

1. Freestone Park

The 65-acre park is home to softball fields, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, batting cages, soccer fields, a skateboard park and walking trails around 2 lakes.

2. Joe’s Real BBQ

Has been featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives as a Gilbert favorite! Yummy!

3. The Islands

You’ll see the first of the 15 water features on today’s route!

Okay, see? I haven't said anything snide yet. Mainly because I love love love Joe's BBQ. If my mouth wasn't watering just thinking about their pulled pork sandwich I might have muttered something about our cultural obsession with TV. Why not point out the local areas that have been featured on "Cops"?

I also didn't say anything about the water features of The Islands. (For those of y'all who don't live here, The Islands is one of our many many suburbanite housing developments.) I like the water features at The Islands but if we are going to pass 15 of them today - are they really special enough to mention?

4. ASU Research Park

Seen from a plane or a map, this interesting building complex is shaped like a double helix.

Now the ASU research park thing was interesting. This is one of the Team H.O.P.E. training grounds and I have never noticed the shape before. If you look closely at the picture you can see Miss Kristine making an obscene gesture at the pilot!

5. Camp

Welcome Home!

6. Town of Guadalupe

Guadalupe is a Native American and Hispanic community of about 5,500 residents between Phoenix and Tempe at the base of South Mountain.

Ahhhh, Guadalupe. Named after a virgin. I'm not sure what my ladies will do there but it is a cool little town. The produce market at Guadalupe Road is incredible!

This isn't from our Guadalupe, it's from Des Plaines, Illinois of all places. But I think everything looks better in either rhinestones or neon!

7. South Mountain Park

At nearly 17,000 acres, this desert mountain preserve certainly covers a lot of ground.

I went to South Mountain Park on my first date with my husband and. . . .

Sorry. My mind wandered there a moment.

8. Ahwatukee Foothills
The area is known as a bedroom community with great access to freeways, hiking trails, and an amazing holiday light display alongChandler Blvd.

I have several friends who live in Awatukkee and I've never learned to spell it. I wonder if "great access to freeways" is on their postcards?

9. Mountain ranges

To the southwest you will see the Estrella Mountains with their jagged edges creeping into the Valley. To the East are the Superstition Mountains ~ the world famous icon that separates urban luxury and wilderness adventure.

That's it! I've tried to be nice here! Who wrote this????? The walkers here are 20+ miles farther away from the Superstitions than they were when they started!

Urban Luxury? It's true that the houses that have been parasitically encroaching on these beautiful mountains for the last couple decades are luxurious. And yes, the roads are paved. But I think if you hear coyotes howling more often than police sirens you aren't yet in an urban area.

10. Arizona State University

ASU plays its Homecoming football game on Saturday against Washington State ~ go Sun Devils!

More football? I wonder if anyone hears ASU and thinks about higher education and . . . .oh never mind.

Here is a picture of ASU during the flood of '65.

And a more recent ('84) pic for comparison:

11. Mill Ave.
The heart of downtown Tempe. Shops, restaurants, bars and bookstores help make this a great heart to the surrounding college community.

12. Mill Ave. Light-Rail Stop
The light-rail is the newest public transit available to Phoenixresidents, scheduled to open in December 2008.

13. Papago Park
The history of Papago Park begins back in 1879 with the area being designated as an Indian reservation for the Maricopa and Pima tribes. During World War II, Papago Park housed a German prisoner of war camp. Now the area is home to the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Garden.

14. Old Town Scottsdale

Most of the buildings date back to the 1920s. A laidback grid of wood and faux adobe with covered walkways, Old Town has ditched its utilitarian past to become a community of eclectic shopping. Its eastern end leads to the more sophisticated architecture of Scottsdale Center for the Arts, city government buildings and a row of restaurants and bars.

A laidback grid? Faux adobe? Whatever.

I'm sorry to be so snippy and sarcastic. I really and truly enjoy the east valley and it just bugs me to read these descriptions. But the descriptions are only words and they can't hurt the actual joy of walking through my backyard. And to be honest; if I wrote the 'points of interest' part of this I don't know if i would be getting any awards from the various chambers of commeraces!

So to recap:

Our Ladies will be walking through Gilbert