My friends and I went to Scottsdale, Arizona for a bachelorette party. Apparently, Scottsdale is a popular town for those parties.
Of course, we went in May during their summer. Every single cab driver told us we visited at the wrong time.
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But we still had an amazing time! The long flight was definitely worth it.
The flight was only 4 hours there, much shorter than expected. And Arizona is 3 hours behind where I live. So the flight only took 1 hour. Lol!
But we took a redeye back. Oof.
Scottsdale temperature and landscape
I still can’t get over the dry heat.
You feel very hot and you sweat, but the sweat evaporates immediately. So you don’t feel as hot.
Very strange and interesting!
I was still on East Coast time the entire weekend. Waking up right before sunrise at 5/5:30 AM. But at least I was able to catch some cool weather. It’s even hot at night.
Just looking at these pictures is making me hot!
I was also very surprised at how much greenery there is.
There is no grass. But there are so many other plants with a lot of colors.
I was expecting a dry wasteland of brown! There is a lot of brown but much more color than I expected.
VRBO rented house
Our VRBO house was massive! We saw a lot of very large houses in Arizona.
The main house had a large kitchen and open living room, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 1 master bedroom and bathroom.
There was also a guest house with multiple bunk beds, a bathroom, and a living room.
The yard was big as well with a pool, hot tub jacuzzi, grill area, putting green, and lounge chairs. And full of plants!
Salt river tubing
Salt river tubing was so much fun! Very relaxing and a cooler way to spend time in the sun. And you may see some wild horses!
You’ll feel hot sitting in the sun, but the water is nice and cool.
I dripped water on myself every now and then.
Tips to make salt river tubing a success:
- Get there as early as possible – it gets busy and much hotter the later it gets
- Rent the tubes – it comes with a free shuttle bus ride to the river and back
- Bring your license – it’s required to rent the tube
- Put a cheap fitted sheet around the tube – the tubes are black and soak up the hot sun
- Bring cooler floats – you’ll need lots of water and somewhere to put your belongings
- Use waterproof dry bags – for your important stuff and keep it in the cooler
- Bring camping rope – tie your cooler float to your tube so you don’t lose your stuff
- Wear water shoes – some areas of the river are much more shallow and rocky than others
- Bring a water paddle – the current may push you to the rocky and bushy edges
- Reapply non-nano zinc sunblock – the water will wash it away and you’ll burn
- Leave the wild horses alone – just gaze at their beauty from afar
Most of the river is very slow-moving. But there are areas where it is shallow and rocky. So the water starts going really quickly.
The salt river tubing lasts a few hours depending on where you get out.
It’s a wonderful activity for a group of people. But we also saw lots of solo people paddleboarding.
Eggstacy
Eggstasy was so delicious!
I had the quinoa bowl and loaded sweet potato mash.
Everyone else had a few cocktails, egg platters, pancakes, sandwiches, and the list goes on.
Very delicious food and friendly wait staff.
Hiking in Arizona
Unfortunately, we didn’t find a long hike trail. But we did do a mini hike and got very nice views of the city.
We didn’t have a plan before we went. So definitely plan it out before you go!
Go as early as possible, and bring more water than you think you need.
The temperature is cool but still very sunny in the early morning. But around 9-10 AM it gets hotter and hotter about 80+. And then all of a sudden it’s over 100.
At least that’s how it was when we went in May which is their summer.
Diego Pops
Diego Pops is a very delicious taco spot. I thought it was ice cream pops. Lol!
The inside is small and set up more like a bar. And the outdoor seating area was full at night (when we went). But there is a take-out window in the parking lot.
So we walked up, ordered, and ate right there.
I had the steak and sweet plantain tacos. They were delicious!
