More Arizona Facts, Figures, and Trivia

About a year and a half ago, I wrote about some Arizona trivia and little-known facts that I had found while researching articles. Since then, I have been collecting information for a follow-up post. So without further ado, here are some more interesting facts, figures, and trivia about Arizona that most people (including people who live here) may not know:

· Arizona is the only state with the letter "Z" in its name.

· The founder of the Lions Club, Melvin Jones, came from the very small town of Fort Thomas, Arizona.

· Phoenix is the largest American city without passenger rail service (Amtrak discontinued service to Phoenix in 1995).

· Arizona's Oldest Radio Station, KOY, has been on the air for 89 years.

· There is a minor planet orbiting the Sun named after the State of Arizona. It was discovered by Percival Lowell in 1907.

· The fountain in Fountain Hills, Arizona was the world's largest fountain for over a decade.

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Wet-N-Wild Waterpark Offers Dive-In Movies

It was just about a year ago that Wet-N-Wild water park in North Phoenix opened its doors to the public after a change of ownership and a major overhaul. I covered the story in depth in my article "Major Renovations Underway at North Phoenix Water Park." Now with their one-year anniversary coming up fast, Wet-N-Wild has unveiled their newest attraction: dive-in movies!

On Friday nights through July 31st, 2010 Wet-N-Wild will be showing family-friendly movies to their guests. The movies are projected on a large screen above the wave pool so you can enjoy the show while you swim.

I have to say that this is one of the "coolest" ideas I have heard in a while! For the complete schedule of movies, check out the Dive-N-Movie page at Wet-N-Wild's website.The park also has an all-you-can-eat BBQ going on this weekend plus a fireworks display to celebrate Independence Day. 

Update: As of 2019, Wet-n-Wild is now Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix. It is unclear if they still offer movie nights.

Exploring the Reach 11 Recreation Area

There are a hundred reasons why this weekend was not the perfect time to go for a bike ride.

It was 104 degrees outside. I didn't have anyone to go with me. I didn't have the right type of bike. My brakes weren't in good working order. I didn't have the right clothing/shoes/whatever.But I really felt like getting out of the house for a while, so I decided to go for a ride anyway. Rather than just ride around the city aimlessly, I chose to check out the Reach 11 Recreation Area in North Phoenix. Although I have driven by the place many times, I had never been there before. My spirits were high as I loaded my bike in the car and headed over to Cave Creek Road and Deer Valley Road to check it out.

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North Phoenix Blog Celebrates 2 Year Anniversary

This month, we at the North Phoenix Blog are celebrating our second anniversary! For the past two years, we have tried to provide our readers with informative and interesting articles as well as original photography.

There were a couple of reasons why North Phoenix Blog was started. The first reason is that I wanted a way to improve my writing skills. They say that the key to great writing is to write about what you know, so the natural choice was to write about where I was born and raised.

The second reason was because I feel that there is not enough GOOD news out there in the world. Take a look at the AllTop headlines on the left-hand side of the page. Every day the major news outlets including the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix New Times, and the local news stations bombard us with heaps of bad news.

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North Phoenix Featured on Discovery Channel's MythBusters

The Discovery Channel is famous for its unique brand of original programming, and perhaps no show exhibits those qualities better than MythBusters.

This smash hit show chronicles the adventures of hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman as they put myths and urban legends to the test of science. Each highly entertaining episode balances scientific content with gratuitous amounts of blowing stuff up.

Just the other night I caught a new episode called "Mythssion Control" in which Adam and Jamie travel to Arizona to revisit and retest a previous myth with new variables. Trust me, it's definitely not as boring as it sounds!

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