We spent the past 3 weeks in Arizona and it was absolutely beautiful, but also ridiculously HOT. I can’t lie, Arizona was not high on my list of places to visit, but it proved to be super awesome. Neither one of us had spent any time there so I was super excited for the opportunity when Benjamin was assigned to go. I am always excited to go to a new place! We did not take Stella with us since the daily temps were projected over 110*, so we stayed @ the Residence Inn to beat the heat. The worst part of the extreme heat is that it makes taking the dogs places more tricky – as in the pavement is too hot to trot on after 11am. Beausarge ended up getting booties so he could still get out and about. 🙂
The scenery in Arizona was breathtaking. The saguaros are incredible, especially after reading about old they have to be before growing arms. Around 100 years of age they grow their first arm and can be 15-16 feet tall. By 200 years old they have reached full maturity and can be 45 feet tall. So cool! The desert has a beauty all it’s own, even when a haboob rolls in.Dobbins Lokout on South Mountain provided a lovely view of the Phoenix area.
Dobbins Lokout on South Mountain provided a lovely view of the Phoenix area.
Floating down the Salt River was a great way to take in the beauty while keeping cool and seeing some wild horses. It was a super popular activity and the river was poppin’ with people. Weirdest part – there were several groups that brought marshmallows with them and were having marshmallow fights as they floated down the river. Not my thing… soggy marshmallows flying in the air and bumping into your tube is just gross. Besides that we had a great time 🙂 .
Our next adventure was driving the Apache Trail Scenic Byway. It truly is one of the most beautiful drives we have done. From the enormous saguaros to the contrast of the lakes and rock, there was a picture perfect scene everywhere we looked.
Beausarge was loving the views and had a blast when we stopped at Canyon Lake for a swim.It was super hot the day we went (113*), so after a swim we stopped at Tortilla Flat Saloon for a couple of drinks and a snack. Apache Lake was definitely the most beautiful of the Salt River Lakes.
It is extremely long and has incredible rock cliffs and mountains on most sides. It is only accessible by a couple of roads, unpaved, so it is not as busy as the other lakes and is truly awe inspiring. You can’t look around without knowing that God perfectly created this amazing earth.
On the drive out we drove through Sedona and the Painted Desert. We will definitely have to go back to Sedona since we didn’t have time to stop, but our quick stop at Painted Desert was definitely worth it. The pictures do not do it justice, the colors are so beautiful it absolutely looks painted – so cool! Arizona did not disappoint, however next time we go hopefully it is fall or winter.
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~ Clare
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