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!
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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.
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There is no grass. But there are so many other plants with a lot of colors.
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I was expecting a dry wasteland of brown! There is a lot of brown but much more color than I expected.
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VRBO rented house
Our VRBO house was massive! We saw a lot of very large houses in Arizona.
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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.
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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!
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You’ll feel hot sitting in the sun, but the water is nice and cool.
I dripped water on myself every now and then.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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!