A New Year Begins

I have to say, that our New Year began very pleasantly. In fact, I think it was the most fun I've ever had on New Year's eve!!! We started out by going to Olive Garden for dinner. For those of you that don't know, Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant... I love their salad... YUM! From there we headed to 19th Avenue and Camelback, to the "park and ride" lot for the new light rail system in Phoenix. This, we decided, was the best way to get to the Tempe Fiesta Bowl Block Party.
1. Riding the train was safer than dealing with party going drivers
2. The train dropped us off right in the middle of the block party, and
3. The ride was FREE!!!
I have wanted to go to this block party for years! We drank hot spiced cider, watched an illusion show, saw motocross bikers doing air jumps (those people are crazy). We had our picture taken, and then bought crazy new year stuff. We celebrated with fireworks, at 10:00 PM, with the people on the east coast, and listened to a local band, which was pretty good! But, better yet, at 11:15 PM we were treated to "STYX." I really like Styx, in fact I have both records (yes LP's) and 8-tracks (okay, I just dated myself) of their music. The entertainment was GREAT! After the second firework show we began heading back toward the train... Talk about a crowd! But, the light rail system worked great! And, the entertainment continued on the train. Oh my gosh... I had such a good time watching the people! Apparently, some of them had a pretty good time at the block party, and their antics were hilarious! Literally, everyone was very friendly and having fun! Surprisingly, the car ride back home was not near as frightening as anticipated. The traffic was pretty light and well behaved. We got home around 2:00 AM... Ha! Usually that's about the time I wake up!

The video below is a bit grainy, but it'll give you an idea of the concert and surroundings, under the bridge, at Tempe Beach Park.