Author: Joules

I’ve been dragging my feet on writing this post because it means that our trip is over. However, I do want to get everything down while it’s still fresh in my brain because I love reading back through my blog and reliving our vacation memories!

As I mentioned last month, we had planned a trip back to Tucson, Arizona that worked around Jack’s winter break schedule. We visited once before in Spring 2024, but decided that there was still plenty to do on a return trip.

Let’s get into it:

Day 1: Fly to Phoenix

Last time we flew directly to Tucson, but with only connecting flights we had the bad luck of having our flight delay so many times that we ended up spending the night in an airport. So, this time we decided to fly into Phoenix instead. We flew out late at night, arrived in Phoenix after midnight and stayed at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Airport North. The hotel was super cheap, very close to the airport, quiet and exactly what we needed for a good night of sleep.

With that being said, we did NOT enjoy our experience with the hotel’s shuttle service, as you have to use an app to call the shuttle and then when it arrived… it said it didn’t see us and left. Sigh. Rather than wait another half hour for the next possible time slot, we ended up paying for a taxi because it was late and I was getting grumpy.

Day 2: Have a Turo rental disaster, Queen Creek Olive Mill and Tucson

Due to a glitch in the Turo system, we found out our rental car was not available when we reached out for the final access information. Thankfully, we were able to get a quick refund and book a replacement car, which showed up just an hour later.

The drive from Phoenix to Tucson is a little less than 2 hours, but we decided to take our time and stop at the Queen Creek Olive Mill on the way. And we are so glad we did – the food was incredible (loved the bruschetta trio and the margherita pizza), the grounds were beautiful, and we even picked up some olive tapenade to enjoy once we got to our VRBO.

Once we got to the house, we settled in and then ran out to stock up at a nearby Trader Joes.

Day 3 – 7: All the Tucson!

We had 5 full days in Tucson, so each day we had a mix of lazing around, visiting a park, hiking, and eating. Oh, and using the hot tub and firepit at our VRBO! We tried not to make our trip *too busy* or regimented, so that we felt refreshed at the end, rather than feeling exhausted.

Here’s what we did:

• Saguaro National Park – West
• Catalina State Park
• Saguaro National Park – East
• Mt Lemmon Scenic Byway
• Saguaro National Park – West, AGAIN

We purchased a new America the Beautiful annual pass ($80), which paid for both sides of the Saguaro National park. A day pass for Catalina State Park (for 2-4 people in a car) was $20. And the Mt Lemmon Scenic Byway is free.

Once again, we absolutely loved both sides of the Saguaro National Park. There are easy driving pull-off areas, tons of hikes that you can choose from, and neither side felt too crowded. We actually visited the West side twice during the trip. The second time, Jack opted out, so Travis and I did a much longer hike and enjoyed all the cactus.

This was our first time visiting Catalina State Park and there were lots of easy hikes to choose from. It was also relatively close to where we were staying, so it made an easy day trip with plenty of time for other activities.

As for the Mt Lemmon Scenic Byway, it was an absolutely gorgeous ride up the mountain. We pulled off at many of the overlooks to give all the ‘ohhs and ahhs’ and take all the photos. At the top, we grabbed a meal and topped it off with a gigantic cookie, before heading back down the mountain.

Food We Loved:

Each morning. we would make breakfast/brunch at the house and then go out into the world to explore. For dinner out, here are some of the places that we really enjoyed:

• Charred Pie
• Seis Kitchen
• Zinburger
• Saguaro Corners Restaurant & Bar

Shopping We Loved:

We didn’t do a ton of shopping on this trip, but we did hit up a few of the nearby thrift stores. You can find my vacation haul post here. In addition to the thrift stores, we had a fun return visit to Tucson Mineral & Gem World. I also purchased a shirt at the Saguaro National Park Visitor Center, and a bracelet from Mast (a cute shop that has handmade jewelry and leather goods).

Day 8: Snakes & Lattes for breakfast, Queen Creek Olive Mill, Drive to Phoenix

On our last day, we packed up the rental car, checked out of our VRBO and made our way over to Snakes & Lattes, a board game bar, for breakfast. We had visited on our previous trip, and it was on the “must return” list for Jack.

This time we went for breakfast, which was so delicious! We also played a card game that had the three of us laughing the entire time. All in all, the place is a bit expensive but very much worth it for us.

From there we hit the road and made our way back towards Phoenix. We decided to visit the Queen Creek Olive Mill again to wander around the fruit groves and then have another delicious lunch. From there, we drove to Phoenix, returned our Turo rental car, and got situated at the airport for a late night flight back home.

All The Photos:

It was a super fun trip and I’m so glad that we decided to re-visit Tucson. The weather was great, we loved the VRBO house that we stayed in and we did ALL of the hiking!