It’s far too often I hear the skewed perception of how ugly and horrid Arizona is; that it’s filled with dead grass that won’t grow, ugly desert plants, and no greenery, water, or beauty.

Interestingly enough, Arizona’s one of the first states that I’ve traveled more in while living there than going to other states. When I lived in the midwest I always took weekend trips to other states when I traveled. I’ve only traveled out of the state for leisure twice in nearly two years. Most of the time, I find the state I have made home a land of so many different types of scenery and people that it always feels like I’m traveling somewhere new, when I’m in fact staying in my backyard.

Look at all the lakes that are miraculously stuck in the valleys of mountains, and you don’t even have to travel outside of Phoenix to see them either, although I did here in this gorgeous picture of Lake Havasu. Lakes are beautiful anywhere in my opinion, but in the middle of the desert they just seem to have so much more awesome beauty. How can you possibly say this is not a place you’d love to visit frequently? Hell, I want to retire here.

Water isn’t your thing? Looking for something more normal? Some good ol’ woodlands scenery? Maybe even some snow? Look no farther than Flagstaff. Mountains, snow, pine trees, all within a day trip’s distance from my house. You won’t even have the heat of Havasu or Phoenix, promise. On average, it’s 20 degrees cooler at any given time!

Not to mention, desert plant life is just beautiful so I’m not sure how people can claim otherwise. Take a trip down the highways, especially during the spring wildflower season, or head to Boyce Thompson Arboretum where you will see just how glorious desert plants can be:

I rest my case! Arizona is the awesome!

Yesterday morning I woke up at 7:30 to prepare for the Four Peaks / Four Peaks Adventure my friends Eric and Kerri and I were setting out on at 8am. Packed my gallons of water, my snacks, a fleece jacket in case it got cold, sun glasses, charged camera, charged cell phone. All I needed was coffee. Mostly because pre-sustinence I looked like this:

Out mission was to go to Four Peaks and hike a couple trails, then head to Four Peaks Brewery for a post hike celebration. While this wasn’t exactly what ended up happening, we had a fantastic adventure day!

After Starbucks, we started our journey for Four Peaks. After driving for an hour or so, we turned onto this dirt trail that said it was route 143, which was supposed to lead us to the trailhead we wanted to start with. And just how long were we supposed to be on this dirt road? Only 12 miles. What started off as a fine dirt road ended up being this winding, continually elevating death trap. I got some great pictures such as this with my BlackBerry, but we decided to head back to the main road:

After a scary turn around, we evaluated further if any roads could possibly be the 143 we needed to head to the Four Peaks trails. However, we were needing a break for food and a place to get out of the car for a few so we headed to a campground. After resting we started to look for a place to eat our lunch. It was then we were approached by a ranger. He asked us if we were just getting in or if we were ending our stay. Eric tells him that we got lost in the mountains and were looking for a place to eat. The ranger thought we were seriously distraught starving people and informed us that if we asked maybe some of the campers might have some food for us. After we explained, he said there was a vineyard a couple miles away that had free picnic areas to eat.

Vineyard? Yes!

On the way to the “vineyard” we passed “Bachelor’s Cove” only the cove was closed and I suspect there were no bachelors. Bummer. I need to find me one of those. I suspect this is where they are all locked away forever from any worthy women.

Were we at the vineyard now? Yes. Was it a vineyard? No! Sure, the sign said vineyard, but we were actually just on a gorgeous view of the lake and amongst some fishermen. Nevertheless, it was a gorgeous view and gave us a chance to eat some lunch. It was now around 11am.

After lunch, we decided to trek to up around Globe, and hit 60 all the way back home. We would see what we found along the way. Our next stop was at a scenic overlook point a few miles past the non-vineyard. We made our way to just about the edge of the lake which was surrounded by mountains and saguaros. I took some GORGEOUS shots:

Afterwards we stopped at the Roosevelt bridge and dam. Gorgeous view:

Next stop? The Tonto National Monument. Silly me for thinking it was actually going to be a monument that was meant to be stared at and admired. Well in that respect I was right. However, it was a cliff dwelling with a trail leading up to it. So we did actually get some hiking in.

Once we hopped back on 60, we found the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and decided to check it out. It was a trail too and so beautiful. I saw some great cactii, breathtaking scenery, and an Australian section to top it off! I even discovered my birthstone is mined in Arizona! Here are some gorgeous photos:

Even though we didn’t hike Four Peaks, we sure as hell ended up there at the end of the day:

After our adventures, all we wanted was a hot tub. When we got to ours, it was cold Hot tub FAIL! Luckily I remembered I had been given a key for the other community across the street because of all the issues we’ve had with ours. We headed over and got to enjoy a nice relaxing dip.

To top off the night I walked to a local bar with Kerri, enjoyed a drink and some UFC fighting and then passed out on the couch with my teddy bear while watching a movie.

Saturday was a great success. I want to thank those that kept me company via Twitter and text while I was on my adventures as well

For more photos, I have the full set uploaded on Picasa and a smaller set on Flickr.

Here you go, the third photo portraying why everyone should come visit me. This is a photo of the Scottsdale Waterfront where you can see a gorgeous view of water, palm trees, and mountains all in one shot.