June 2019

A last minute trip for Kelly’s birthday.
It was so hot. Never coming back here in the summer ever again, ha.

It’s funny because my old roommates, Kelly & Priscilla – we talked about going to Arizona in the fall, the cooler months…but somehow we ended up going here. The flights were cheap and our Airbnb was amazing. Literally $35 a night, so good with AC too.

When you hear about AZ, I think most people think about the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, etc. So, let’s kick off the blog with that 🙂 We went to 2 out of the 3. For Antelope Canyon, it is HIGHLY recommended to book a tour in advance because slots sells out quickly. We did pass by it and they had one tour left at 4pm, but it was too late for us since we had to drive back to Phoenix. From Phoenix to Horseshoe Bend it is about 4-5 hour drive, depending how fast you drive, what time you drive, and if you take any stops. It took us about 4.5 hours with 2 quick stops. I would recommend going early in the morning or later in the evening for cooler weather – depending on which month you go, ofcourse.

Look at that beautiful sunrise. You could even see the sun rays.

Surprisingly, there was signal on the roads. I thought we wouldn’t have any. The entrance/parking lot fee costs $10.00 per vehicle. There were bathrooms on the side (no sink, no mirrors), just your typical hiking bathrooms. From the parking lot to the actual horseshoe bend is about a 10-15 minute walk.

I’m not afraid of heights…but this one was the most scariest for me, just because it is in the open and anyone can literally fall down. There are no gates or guards. Also, I thought about how many people have passed away from taking photos at these types of location. It was scary. My feet and hands were shaking and I some times had to turn away when I looked at people taking photos because it was so close to the edge. The photo below…I was pretty scared – doesn’t look like it right? 😉

After that, we drove to the Grand Canyon which was about 2 hours away and it was a $35.00 entrance fee. Side note, our car for the weekend was a Jeep, it was pretty cool haha.

The Grand Canyon is huge. I can see how people can spend about 2 or more days here because there are so many viewpoints to see and hikes to do. I would come back again to see and do more. We went to the Desert View & the Mathers Point view. Both were a quick walk from the parking lot to the view. They also had gift shops, restrooms, etc.

The Grand Canyon was beautiful. It looked like ceramics to me and I was just in awe of how “flat” the top was. It’s not like mountains and bumps. Just a flat line. The colors were nice too. The ranger at Mathers Point view was super enthusiastic and gave us knowledge about the squirrels there and gave us a sticker!

Want to do something similar but don’t have time to drive from Phoenix to Grand Canyon or Horseshoe Bend? You can go to Hole in the Rock. It is a very short trail, 5-10 minute walk up to the “Hole in the Rock”. The name is self explanatory. It is near the Phoenix Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. It is free to park and go to.

When you go inside the rock, there are steps and places to sit, relax, and enjoy the view.

Next is the Botanical Gardens, which is right next to the Hole in the Rock. We bought tickets online and if you went after 5pm, it was $15.00. Regular admissions is $25.00. We went on a Saturday, and I think it is a summer thing, but they had a Flashlight Tour. It was a cute date night for families, because they had flashlights to see the animals (we saw a baby scorpion) and there were volunteers stationed at each zone in the garden to give knowledge about the animals. We saw a baby tadpole, a water bug, and more. It was pretty cool. They also had fun bubble, coloring, mud, and necklace making activities. I wished we had more time to enjoy it, but nonetheless, it was fun! I didn’t know that there were so many different type of cactuses before. Random & fun fact, when we got off the airport and took the shuttle to the rental car, we were “Wowing” at how many cactuses there were haha – oh tourists 😉

It wasn’t all cactuses. There were tons of flowers and even a butterfly & bird garden as well.

Nature is so beautiful.

One of my other favorite things in Phoenix was the Art District. It is all around Roosevelt Row. It was free to go to, you just have to find / pay for parking.

#Truth ^

My favorite was this last wall here 🙂

Since it was SO freaking hot, literally 110 degrees everyday with dry heat…it was really hard to be outside for more than 1.5 hours without sweating like a pig. I mean it was already hot being out for 30 seconds. We drove through most of downtown, so I don’t have many photos, but I can tell you that it was pretty clean and there were a lot of art sculptures around. We did see a bit of it at night.

We also went to Old Town Scottsdale. I like this placed a lot and felt like I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it wasn’t so hot. There were a ton of cute shops, art galleries, and restaurants.

We also went to Downtown Tempe which had more bars and restaurants. This place was cute too!

Another random thing that you can do near downtown Tempe is Tempe Town Lake. You can rent mini boats, paddle boarding, etc. and enjoy the day on the lake. We didn’t do anything here, just stopped by to see it and the bridges.

Lastly, food. What did we eat?

My favorite place was Taco Culichi. It was cheap, had cute interior word paintings, and the tacos were delicious. They had this Birria sauce which was good too. Just typing this out, makes me want more.

Another good and romantic spot is Postino Central. They had really good salad, bruschettas, and wine. The inside were all candlelit, so this was the “best” photo I could get of it. The bruschettas were filling.

We also stopped to Pop’N Tea Bar and the drinks were so good and refreshing. They had really cute walls for photo ops too. Rewind – Ice Cream & Tea was similar too.

If you’re not into boba, there’s coffee! I don’t drink coffee, but we went to this shop for Kelly and the decoration was so cute! It’s called Teaspressa.

The last meal we had in Phoenix before our flight was Vovomeena. It was a brunch spot and I love the concept. You order and pay first, pick your own table, and they’ll serve you the food.

I want to end with a spot that I think is a really good place to hang out, socialize, and enjoy good beer: Arizona Wilderness DTPHX. There were giant Jengas and cornhole sets. There were indoor and outdoor seatings. And if it’s your birthday, they give you a $3 mini stein of beer! The mists really helped, because we were out at 11pm and it was still super hot.

That is all from this trip! Phoenix, Arizona is a chill place. I would come back when it is cooler. I would go back to Arizona in general to go see more of the Grand Canyon, go to Antelope Canyon, and possibly Powell Lake!

As always, thank you for visiting Vivian’s Ventures. Have you been to Phoenix? If so, tell me in the comments/reply section of your experience. What should I do there if I go back? If you haven’t been, tell me what you are planning to do there. Any questions or comments, let me know.