This is a view of the park we have in the center of the little town of Carefree, population 3,672. There’s a playground, the Carefree Desert Gardens and one of the largest sundial’s in the country. Friday means that I visit Carefree for the farmer’s market. I look forward to that each fall when the weather cools down and I can buy fresh veggies. (All photos are from my iphone, except for the one of the sundial which I googled and snagged off the internet.)
The Carefree Sundial located on Easy Street in the Carefree city center is 35 feet tall. Oh yes, it works!
This is the slide at the playground. I was surprised one Friday morning to see my outgoing, social neighbor with her little fluffy white dog Rascal going down the slide over and over. Rascal going down the slide that is, not my neighbor.
There is artwork throughout Carefree’s city center. I’ve taken a few photos of the sculptures found throughout the circle on Easy Street.
We purchased this sculpture for our house, of course in a more practical size. It was made by a local Carefree artist and only 10 of the smaller statues were made.
A bit of Carefree history.
The Carefree city center has water features, too, which is a welcome sight in the desert. My DIL, who went with me to the farmer’s market on a visit commented on how water is a priceless item in a desert, hence it’s prominent feature in the town. Words of wisdom.
I hope you enjoyed my tour of Carefree and the sights on Easy Street.
Happy Friday! What plans do you have for the weekend?
I had to add “Carefree Highway” from Gordon Lightfoot to this post.
A Christmas tree across from the post office on Easy Street in Carefree, Arizona.
There’s a little town near us where I do my grocery shopping, visit the farmer’s market and enjoy my favorite coffee shop. It’s called Carefree. I mentioned it in Friday’s post HERE.
I was interested in the history of Carefree when I wrote about Easy Street. Who named the street? Who came up with the idea of a town? I discovered the answers on several websites:
In 1946, Tom Darlington and K.T. Palmer met at a Kiwanis luncheon in the Adams Hotel in Phoenix, where the seminal idea of Carefree was born. Years later, both men found themselves working in a Scottsdale real estate office and their previously monumental dream was rekindled. Despite their differences, they both lived by the ideals of thrift, industry, honesty and loyalty. They carried out many expensive joint ventures on a simple handshake.
In 1955, a 400-acre goat farm north of Scottsdale was found with an abundant well, and 2,200 surrounding acres were secured. K.T. named their joint business venture the Carefree Development Corp., and the name “Carefree” was regularly used to describe their vision of the Town they proposed. In 1958, the Darlington-Palmer building was finished in the downtown area (that building is now Town Hall) and in 1959, the iconic Sundial was completed.
This is one of the largest sundials in the world and can be found in the city center of Carefree. It stands 35 feet tall.
Back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Carefree was home to the 160 acre Southwestern Studios, a TV production and filming facility. The Dick Van Dyke show was one of the most popular shows filmed there.
Carefree has some of the most entertaining street names in any town in the United States. You will see names like “Long Rifle,” “Tranquil Trail,” “Stagecoach Pass,” “Lazy Lane”, “Nonchalant Avenue,” “Rocking Chair Road,” “Bloody Basin” and my personal favorites “Ho” and “Hum.”
Carefree has a charming downtown with a large number of galleries, Southwestern Art and Jewelry, specialty crafts stores and more.
The whimsical street names came from a dinner party. KT and Tom mentioned they hadn’t come up with names. The guests began throwing out their ideas and the main street was named Easy Street. It intersects with Wampum Way. One street that I find peculiar is Tranquil Trail, which turns into Bloody Basin.
This is a sculpture in the heart of Carefree. The tents behind it are from the Farmer’s Market.
Home to around 3,000 people, Carefree is a friendly, beautiful spot. I’m glad we ended up next door. When we moved, I hadn’t been to the town. I asked a neighbor where the closest grocery store was and that was when I discovered the town.
“Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot pens the song “Carefree Highway”, the second single released from his album, Sundown. In October 1974, it peaks at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spends one week at #1 on the Easy Listening chart.” https://www.carefree.org/page/history
What fun facts have you discovered about where you live?
A bobcat sitting on our wall outside the front door.
I’m having one of those weeks where I have at least one big thing on the calendar each day. Monday through Sunday. Plus, my Frango project that I wrote about Monday HERE as well as an ever expanding list of work and writing to do.
Anywho. I decided to say no to my Thursday meetings and get stuff done. It felt so good to say NO.
I went to a Board of Director’s meeting Wednesday night for my Creative Women’s Group. We raise funds to support victims of sex trafficking. You can read about a residential facility we support HERE. They have a link to our group’s fundraiser HERE. It’s last year’s event, so I’ll ask them to update it to our March 2025 event.
I needed to get my own list of things done. Like going to the post office with boxes of Frangos to mail. I have to say the people are so nice here. Not at all like So Cal where people were impatient with me and my multiple packages to mail. To be honest, in Palm Springs, they were downright nasty and cursing. The employees were great by the way. The Carefree folks, employees and customers, are chatty and love to laugh.
The Post Office is on Easy Street. Think of that. Easy Street in Carefree, Arizona. Love it.
I joked with two women standing behind me in line that I needed my husband to retire so I could quit the Frango job. They laughed and one said, “Oh, you’ll find out there will be other things that he will do to keep you busy.”
The other one said, “I tell my husband Yoyo.”
“Yoyo?” we asked.
“Yoyo. Your on your own!”
Not to go off on a tangent, but I have a Frango dilemma. I’m missing 40 boxes of Frangos. I ordered them weeks ago. I got an email confirming my order. Next, I got an email saying they had shipped and were on their way. I clicked on the tracking link and I read a notice from UPS that said they never received the box. I called the store. They said they’d be delivered by Dec. 4 and that UPS was wrong and hadn’t updated their notification. Well guess what? I still don’t have them.
I was so proud of myself for starting this project early. I guess it’s a good thing!
When do you find yourself saying no? Are you overwhelmed when you say no, or do you say no as a preventative self care measure?
I am going to have a busy week writing and hosting my dad and friends for Thanksgiving. I get anxious thinking about it. I’m in the thick of getting the house ready. This will be the first time my dad will see our new home and stay with us. Tonight we have friends from our Palm Springs swim team coming over. We agreed to go out for a casual dinner, since I have the big feast ahead of me. I’m excited to see them, because it’s been years since we were swim parents volunteering together. We’re going to the ASU vs. UA football game together on Saturday, too.
For Thanksgiving, I am cooking the whole works for me, my husband and dad. That’s seem a bit much doesn’t it? I called our friends who moved from Palm Springs to one mile away and asked if they had plans. I’m excited to say our ex-pat Californians will be joining us.
Here are some of the highlights from last week, when I thought I was busy — but compared to this week, not really.
I spotted a Christmas tree across from the post office on Easy Street in Carefree. I love the name.Olive found a new place to hang out. My daughter absolutely hates the stacked stone fireplace in our new house. I can live with it and Olive seems to like it.Another night, another sunset
What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Are you getting together with friends and family this year?Are you cooking?
I honestly can’t remember what we did last year because we were in escrow to sell one house and buy another and I was packing for my first move in 28 years.
