Did I mention that I love visiting Arizona?

Red rock mountains. Canyon lands. Natural wading pools. Dr. Seuss like-trees. Cholla cacti. Supervolcanoes. Prickly Pear ICE CREAM. The best horchata in the states. Beautiful sunsets. And a surprisingly great music scene!?

What’s not to love? (Don’t answer that, I am aware that their politics are atrocious:)

I reached Arizona by late November just in time for the Thanksgiving festivities. The boyfriend flew down for a long weekend, and we set off to hike the Hieroglyphics Trail in the Superstition Wilderness Area to see the Petroglyphs. The sun was out in full force, as were the tarantulas. The desert trails gradually meander up the side of  Superstition Mountain following a stream of clear runoff. From half way up the mountain you can already see most of the surrounding city. The petroglyphs decorate the walls of the perfect resting spot, with cascading pools carrying water from above and red rock shelves providing ample seating space. It is a great place to take your shoes off and walk around admiring the prehistoric drawings.

The Superstition Mountain Range is my favorite place to visit when in the Phoenix area. It is tranquil and quiet, and left pretty undisturbed. The streets signs look straight out of an old western and cowboys are commonplace. During the day you can see families of quail scurrying across the desert with their head plumes flapping in the wind, and at night you can see nearly every star in the sky. My ideal winter place… if only there was a beach.