It was my first weekend back in Arizona in August of 2020 after spending quarantine back home in New York. My soon-to-be roommate Rita picked me up from the airport, surprising me with our friend Lexi in the car! Naturally, we drove straight to Target to start stocking up on essentials for our apartment. Afterwards, we headed back to Rita’s home for the evening. It was amazing to catch up with them as soon as I returned because it made me feel instantly at home again.

The thing you need to know about Rita and I, is that when we are together, we can never just sit still and hangout on the couch. We always need to be doing something. For example, the following morning, her and her brother got up before the sunrise to go dirt biking. Unfortunately, I had to pass on this adventure since I was exhausted from traveling the day before and I desperately needed to sleep in. But this clearly shows that we are always doing something. I still need to take Rita up on dirt biking!!

We didn’t have any plans for that night, so I immediately texted my mentor from Wildjoy Experiences, Lacy Cain, and asked if she wanted to meet up! We had already planned on meeting in person for the first time the following week when were to hike the Bob Bear Trail, but I figured why wait!

We met up at a Walgreens on the way to the Salt River, and Rita and I hopped in her car. It was almost surreal meeting Lacy in person. I had been a fan of hers on TikTok for a few months by then, and I was also in my last month of my internship with her company Wildjoy! We connected very well with our initial interview over the phone, and our friendship had continued to blossom over the course of my internship and on our adventures.

Lacy and her boyfriend, Ian, were basically our own tour guide for the Salt River! I had never been before, so this was definitely the perfect way to experience it for the first time.

We drove about as far down as we could, parked, and made our way to the river. It was still pretty hot out – it was around 5pm so probably between 95 and 100 degrees! However, the water was chilly!! But once our bodies adjusted to the water temperature, it felt perfect. We decided to float down the river and let the water take us with it.

The Salt River is known for having wild horse sightings, so I was really hoping we’d be able to spot some! Unfortunately, we didn’t come across any. However, I did see a bunch of bats! I had never seen a bat in person before so that was super cool. There were about 15 of them flying around, and I tried taking a picture of them but, as you can imagine since they were flying around, the picture came out quite blurry.

Since we went to the Salt River in the evening, we were able to catch a beautiful sunset over the river and the desert. No matter how many sunsets I see, I will always geek over them because we do not get sunsets this mesmerizing in New York!!

This was the perfect way to spend my first weekend back in Arizona. It was so relaxing, and this adventure allowed me to destress since I was moving into my new apartment the next day and starting my sophomore year of college four days after.

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What is your favorite way to cool down in the Arizona heat? Let me know in the comments below!!