Initially we were a little apprehensive about living in Arizona but after being there for short time we discovered how much we loved it.
Here is a list of 10 things we loved about Arizona…
1 – Cactus
Tim is in love with the saguaro cactus. I know what you are thinking, and yes – it surprised us both. Although by the time we had to leave he wasn’t discriminant about which type of cactus he loved, he loved them all.
It took me a little more time to become enamored with the desert, but I did and I was sad when we had to leave. Tim’s favorite, the saguaro cactus only grows in the Sonoran Desert. I was amazed at how slowly they grow. When you see one that is about 20 feet tall it’s about 86 years old.
We were fascinated at how birds can land on these “spikey people posing plants” without being impaled by the barbs shooting out of them. The birds and other animals will actually build their homes inside them.
The Cholla cactus is another type of cactus that Tim admired. But I wasn’t as crazy about these as they have little babies that fall to the ground and attach themselves to unsuspecting bare feet in flip flops. It requires pliers to remove them.
2 – Warmth
Together we chose Arizona for our first travel nursing assignment because we figured it would be better to go somewhere warm to get our moves down. We were just finishing our Sprinter build and would be living in our van full time for the first time. The second thing we loved about Arizona was how warm it was. We were bopping around in shorts and t-shirts perfectly content with the temperatures.
Sometimes though, I would catch myself saying out loud, “Whoa, is it hot!”, as sweat was pouring down my face and dripping down the inside of my shirt. I would quickly look around to see if anyone heard me and say instead “I love the heat” or “I love it hot”.
However, It wasn’t always hot December through February – There were a few times when it got really cold. I remember one particular night riding home from a 12-hour shift at 1:30am. I would alternate my hands behind my back and in between my backpack just to keep them warm enough to hold onto the handlebars. I changed back to my winter riding gloves and pants after that ride. I was happy it never snowed, in Mesa that is.
3 – Sidewalks
Our third love of Arizona was the sidewalks. Seriously!! They are everywhere and are easily 6 feet wide and I would expect with the nice weather and all that room that they would be used more. But we rarely saw people on them, which may be because of the distance they span. Being in Gilbert and Mesa was like being in Las Vegas, it looks like you can just walk from here to there without realizing it’s going to take you a half day to get there.
We’ve lived in Friday Harbor for the past 20 years where sidewalks are coveted. They are so hard to come by we practically have a gala when one is put in. So you can imagine when I saw these sidewalks here I was ecstatic.
The other thing is that I have always frowned on people who ride their bikes on sidewalks but Tim convinced me it was safer if I could especially around the automobile traffic of these cities. So I did. The sidewalks were safer than the bike lanes.
4 – Canal Multi-Use Trails
We discovered that I could bike to work 12 miles through urban sprawl without using the roads. Most canals run North and South and there were some that ran East and West. We found them all over Gilbert and Mesa and we used them all the time.
We’d go out to breakfast on our bikes and run errands using these trails. They seemed to have a lot of traffic on them as well. But it was funny to hear locals say they didn’t even know they existed.
The only bad thing about them was that you would have to cross a busy street without crosswalks or lights. Sometimes I would try to make it my whole commute without getting off my bike to wait for traffic when I’d cross the streets. I was able to do that once or twice when it was late at night or early in the morning.
5 – Parks
Arizona’s State and Regional Parks made it to fifth on our list. The Phoenix area is literally surrounded by parks. It was amazing that most of these parks were only an hour’s drive from the city. What we should have known was how busy they would be this time of year. Duh! But we were always able to stay at least one night if not two without reservations.
Our favorites are McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Lost Dutchman State Park, White Tank Mountain Regional Park and Picacho Peak State Park. These parks are so beautiful and clean. All of them offer hiking, and some of them we were able to mountain bike. I think it was the parks that made me fall in love with the desert.
6 – Mercy Gilbert Medical Center Cafeteria & Emergency Department
Ok, I know what you are going to say, “Are you kidding me?” And no I am not. I don’t eat cafeteria food for a reason. It’s not really food. It just looks like food. However, at my new assignment, Mercy Gilbert Medical Center they had the most amazing Cafeteria, at least when I was there. Maybe I was only there out of necessity one morning but I was blown away by my made-to-order breakfast burrito. The woman behind the counter piled on the spinach and mushrooms, green peppers, stir fried them into some eggs, potatoes and cheese and wrapped it into a large warm tortilla. This monstrosity was a mountain on my plate, but it was so good I couldn’t quit eating and I stuffed myself. So I went back other times for soups, salads and pizza. So Delicious! Yes Friends, I took the risk and it was all so very good.
I just got to say that working at Mercy Gilbert Emergency Department was a really good first travel experience. I had been feeling “burned out” from Emergency Nursing and wasn’t super excited to take this gig but there was such a good vibe there. What a fun group of people to get to know and work with. I’m hoping I get a chance to go back.
7 – Broken Yolk Restaurant
Now that I have you thinking about food, and you love breakfast, you must try the “Broken Yolk” restaurant. They are only open for breakfast and lunch. It was kind of a treat on my days off to go out to breakfast. I always got a short stack of pancakes. Cuz I LOVE PANCAKES! Broken Yolks pancakes are so good you don’t need syrup with them. I just smeared on the butter and all that mouth-watering goodness fills your taste buds like never before. Mmmmmmm!! So Good. And Tim would get the “American Breakfast”: two eggs, hash browns, sausage and toast. He usually tells them to “hold the toast”. Well Tim was astounded that his hash browns were made fresh from real potatoes!! WHAT?! I know right. It’s true, we asked our server. Real potatoes. And when they gave him a choice of blueberry muffin instead of toast he had a new favorite. If you get a chance, go to Broken Yolk on your next visit to Gilbert or Mesa.
8 – Sprouts Farmers Markets
Both of us fell in love with Sprouts Farmers Market grocery stores. So Sprouts made it to 8th on my list. Sprouts grocery stores are smaller than your chain grocery stores like Safeway or Fry’s, but that was one of the things we loved about them.
We also loved their huge bulk section, organic produce and fair-trade items. They have a full service deli, quality items and even though their selection is smaller by quantity their quality was excellent. But if you are looking for Ruffles or Cheetos you won’t find them at Sprouts. They carry lesser known brands but good healthy food. Natural Grocers was another place where we found our staple of dried currants that we love to put on our oatmeal in the morning for breakfast.
9 – Good life RV Resort
I feel a little sheepish saying that I loved a 55plus RV park. After all we were supposed to be stealth camping and boon docking but here we were amidst the 27-foot trailers and 48- foot long motorhomes. It was like being on a cruise ship only we were on land. Occupants of this park were heading to shuffle board tournaments and driving around the park in their golf carts or riding their bicycles with their lap dogs front and center in the forward basket. But it was heaven to be able to take a shower in a clean bathroom and wash our clothes on whatever day suited us. We had such nice neighbors who cared for our packages that were delivered while we were away or brought in our garbage can from the curb. I loved that community of people. I felt safe there. It was a nice place to come home to everyday.
10 – Traffic Lights and Crazy Drivers
We loved that there weren’t more car accidents. People in Arizona drive like maniacs.
We saw a few accidents happen right in front of us. One happened while I was on my bike waiting to cross a street. The sound of vehicles crunching into one another shook my body from the inside out, especially being on a bike.
I was fascinated by the clean up crews we would see at a crash that had happened some time before. The area would be orange coned off. Police cars would be positioned around the site like a covered wagon train ready to stand off a native attack. And one lonely man or woman would be in the street with a broom sweeping up broken glass and debris into an empty truck bed.
We wondered if it was that the speed limit was fast enough between traffic lights that it’s hard to slow down so mostly people run the yellow light and even into the red light.
Now we’re off to my next assignment In Iowa but we’re already planning on coming back to finish what we got started. More love in the desert.