Arizona

Continuing on with the wonderful Fifty-Nifty United States series {Here}.  Up next is the warm, desert of Arizona.  Brad and I traveled to Arizona back in the winter of 2011 when I surprised him with an after Christmas trip.  It was a great time to get away from the Colorado winter and enjoy some warm weather.  We visited both Tuson and Pheonix.  You can see the full version of this trip recap {Here}.

Lots of fun and sun

We stayed in Tucson but enjoyed a day trip to Phoenix. The weather was absolutely beautiful, it was only a little chilly in the morning otherwise it was a nice 70 degrees with no clouds or wind.  We stayed at the wonderful Hacienda Del Sol hotel.  You can get amazing winter rates and our package even included free Breakfast at their restaurant. We really took it easy this trip with no real itinerary (so not me!) relaxed and did what ever, when ever.  I did have a couple must do's on the list but other wise we would plan the night before for the next days activities.

View from the hot tub and Restaurant at the resort

Roadrunner

DAY 1: Our first desert stop was Colossal Cave. It was a pretty neat tour except for most of the cave formation's were dead due to the cave being so dry and people not taking care of it.  I am a cave connoisseur of sorts so on my cave list it was just ok, It would have been really neat if the formations hadn't been ruined.  But it was still exploring a new cave in a different area and both Brad and I really enjoyed it.  There was great views of the desert from the cave entrance and we saw 3 road runners on the drive.

At the top of the canyon before the cave Tour

Inside the Cave

After the cave tour we headed over to Sabino Canyon to take the tram to the top of the Canyon and enjoy some desert hiking.  It was a beautiful area where we saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed the views of the canyon.  The sun bursts were awesome as the sun was going down, we got some great photos.

View at looking west into the Canyon

Canyon Waterfall

Sun setting behind us

The colors with the sun set were so vibrant

Saguaro cactus, blooms in the spring with the Arizona state flower

DAY 2: We shopped around town some and picked up some small gifts and an ornament to add to our collection (we always get an ornament from every place that we travel to, this way it always brings memories back when we hang it on our Christmas tree each year). We visited Biosphere 2 and did the tour of the building.  It was very interesting with lots of scientific data collection.  In the early 90's a group of people were shut inside for 2 years to see if they could live off the sphere, they made it but it was a long, hard road.  It was a very interesting tour to see the self sustainability factor and how they made life work inside.

Getting ready to go on the tour

Biosphere 2 in the middle of the desert

DAY 3: Road trip to Pheonox with many stops along the way.  Brad's dad and step mom Julie sponsor a pot belly pig named Mel. Ironwood Pig Sanctuary is a place were all unwanted/abandoned potbelly's can go to live out the rest of their pig life.  Most of the pigs live to be 17 plus years old.  The owner Mary does an amazing job with all of the pigs, Brad and I were so impressed with the facilities and how happy all the pigs were.  She has rescued over 600 pigs that are at the sanctuary.  The pigs have tons of land to roam around with many volunteers that take amazing care of them.  We had to stop and see our "brother" and his family.

(Side Note: If you are looking to give money to an animal rescue that does an amazing job please click on the link above and sponsor a pig in need, get on their mailing list or email me for more details.)

Mel was such a "ham" in all of his photos

Their faces just crack me up

Twinkie (One of Mel's GF)

After spending all morning with the Pigs we headed to the Ostrich farm to go on the big wheel truck tour.  While waiting for the big wheel we were able to feed lots of animals including Donkeys, White tail deer, goats, ostrich and birds.

Nice Donkeys, they were so gentile

Don't get too close Brad they will bite you!!

Feeding the Ostrich Grapefruits

White Tail Deer

After lots of stops we finally made it to Phoenix. Brad found out there was a Bass Pro there so of coarse had to check it out!!  (I have only been to 20+ other stores around the US). For dinner we went to a Mexican Restaurant named Aunt Chiladas.  It was some of the the best Mexican food I have ever had in any of our travels!  I know my Mexican food as we have it EVERYWHERE and let me tell you this place trumped them all. I had the Pepper and Quaso which was a Pablano Pepper stuffed with chorizo and cream cheese and topped with a savory red pepper sauce, all I can say is DELISH!!

Brad in front of his "homeland"

DAY 4: We visited some small museums around town.  We went to the Miniature Museum, postal and stamp museum (I want to volunteer there when I retire) and San Xavior Mission.  The weather was great so we decided to go back to the hotel to get some pool time, hit up happy hour at the hotel restaurant which had amazing food and margaritas and then watch the sun set over the dessert mountains while in the hot tub. 

Out side of the mission

Beautiful wood carving inside by the alter

We were in Arizona a total of 4 days and it was a great long weekend get away. There was quite a bit to do mixed between adventure and relaxation.  Our next trip back will be to the Grand Canyon together.  We both have been when we were kids but think it would make a great "family" trip one day.  Arizona is a great place to visit I especially liked it in the winter as the temperatures are pleasant and sunsets over the desert amazing.

If you missed my Alabama re-cap please click {Here}.