Parking Lot Temps & Cold Beer

Ah, I'm sitting here with an ice cold Tecate, watching the birds and squirels fight over the bird feeder, on an absolutely balmy day. It's 5 degrees cooler here than at the strip mall in front of my subdivision.

Today I was out grabbing some paint and supplies, stopped by a shop in the Greenbriar shopping center, then decided that the overwhelming heat needed to be quenched with a little cold beer. I ducked into one of the most interesting markets around, our very own Latin Market. A quick browse of the beverage cooler, and I settled on a six pack of Tecate.

Hopped back in the car, and started out the parking lot. As I made the turn onto Altoona drive, I noted that the temperature was 101. Wow. Less than one mile later, I was sitting in my driveway in the Altoona subdivision, having watched the temp gauge on the car the entire way. The shaded neighborhood was registering a cooller 96. Can you believe it? 5 degrees just from having trees planted.

So my constant chatter about the acres and acres of parking lots has yet one more leg - temperature. Greenbriar is a classic flat parking area. It too is acres of asphault, with no coverage. I hate parking there, because there is no shade to hide a car under. Most of the time we just walk there anyway.

Check out the Latin Market if you get a chance, they have everything from authentic foods to cowboy hats. If you can speak a hint of spanish, it can be a lot of fun (hint: know your meats by their spanish name). Very friendly folks.

However, if you're affiliated with any developer in the area, please pass on how much I dislike this parking design.