Stop #13: Tucson Lazydays KOA Resort, Tucson, AZ

It was time to leave New Mexico and as much as we loved all we experienced in this beautiful state, we were ready for Arizona. One of the perks of RV life is that you always have something to look forward to. A feeling I’m sure we will miss when our trip is over.

Our first stop in Arizona was Tucson, an almost 5 hour drive from White Sands. We arrived on Easter Sunday and the first thing that caught our eye as we drove in were the incredibly big saguaro cacti. They looked so majestic on the side of the road. We knew then, that a trip to Saguaro National Park was a must.

Following 4 nights of boon docking we wanted to stay at a nice and clean campground (you know the feeling, right?), so we booked at Tucson Lazydays KOA Resort. This KOA was bigger and nicer than the one in Albuquerque, NM. It has nice amenities including: two pools, a small gym, an onsite restaurant, a tiny library, pickle ball courts, dog park, laundry facilities, and more. Sites are paved and they offer different configurations depending on your needs (for example some offer dog pens) and budget. Ours had a small patio with a table and four chairs, but some even have two story decks. Our favorite thing about this campground were the grapefruit trees they planted through out which gave off the best aroma (like jasmine). These trees were in full bloom and covered in fruit which we enjoyed whole, in salads, and margaritas. Sunsets were also amazing from this location. However, while early mornings and evenings were nice and cool, the temps rose quite a bit during the day so we didn’t spend too much time outside. We did do morning and evening bike rides within the campground which was nice since it’s so big.

But I digress, after setting up our RV in our site the first order of business were our Easter activities. The kids woke up to their Easter baskets in NM which contained some arts and crafts so we got started on those, did some egg decorating, the kids used their bubble wands, and then later in the day set out to find a good location for an egg hunt. Sure, we had done the egg hunt in Santa Fe which was grand, but we wanted to keep our traditions alive even while on the road and one thing we usually do on Easter is our own little egg hunt. We used the same eggs the kids collected in Santa Fe and while some were filled with candy, most were empty and simply counted for extra iPad minutes (they already had plenty of candy so no need for more!). We found a quiet little park near our campground close to sunset. Laid out the eggs and the kids had a great time collecting them. The kids then cracked a couple of the confetti eggs they decorated - boy these are messy but fun! Lol Didn’t want to get the evil eye from our campground staff so we kept it at that and made sure to vacuum after. Then the kids activated pretty much all the neon bands they got in their baskets while I was in the shower 🤦‍♀️ so a neon party ensued.

Our main goal for our time in Tucson was to do some housekeeping. We had a tire to fix following our puncture while leaving NM, we wanted to get our truck and RV detailed (they were both in dire need), and I wanted to get a facial (my skin was begging for it since leaving Colorado). We did include time for some adventures though, because there’s quite a bit to do in this area. One day we drove towards Saguaro National Park, did a short hike (it was hot and that was as much as we could manage) and then drove over to Tucson Mountain Stables for some horseback riding at 4:30p. This is a family operated ranch and they have the most beautiful and sweet horses. We booked a one hour tour that took us through saguaro cacti… some times so close we felt we had to pull up our feet in order to avoid getting scratched. We had the mountains in the background and saw some wild life during our ride, including a dove, a rabbit, and a rattlesnake which was in the middle of our path and therefore had us taking a short detour. Only the guide at the front and our daughter (who was on the horse behind her) got to see the snake but we all heard the rattling sound which was a first for us. The cost for this tour was $50pp which we found to be very reasonable in comparison to the prices we saw at Palo Duro Canyon in NM. This tour does not require previous horseback riding experience and even our 6 year old daughter got to ride on her own horse (not a pony!). We were all going at a slow pace with one following the other along the small path and the terrain was pretty flat, so it felt pretty safe overall. Following our ride we returned to the visitor center of Saguaro National Park which was already closed but has an outdoor sitting area from which you can see thousands of saguaros stacked up on the hills behind.

The other site we didn’t want to miss out on was Sabino Canyon. We visited on the weekend so the visitor center parking lot was pretty packed (vehicles need to be left here and cannot be driven towards the trail heads) but we still enjoyed this visit a lot. We had read about the trolley ride and planned to fit that in but decided to do a hike first towards the Sabino Dam and Lake. This hike is only 1.5 miles each way but there’s little to no shade. We got started close to 12:30p so the sun was feeling strong. We had water, our hats and tried to get distracted by the many wild flowers and saguaros in the area. You can do part of this trail on a paved road which might be easier but it also feels hotter.

When we arrived we were delighted by the cooler air coming off of the small water fall (overflow from the upper part of the lake) and the nice shade given off by the surrounding big trees. This felt like an oasis following our hot walk over. Something we didn’t see on the park’s site was that this place acts as a swimming hole. There were plenty of people enjoying the water and kids playing in the sand. We didn’t go prepared for that but as good parents, we improvised. The kids took off their shirts and proceeded to slide on the rocks and splash around in their shorts (we figured they’d dry off during the walk back). On the other hand, Paul and I were content with taking off our shoes and cooling off our feet in the water.

We had a great time exploring all areas of this lake (while not large, there’s three levels). We had our packed lunch under a tree and stayed for two hours while the kids built little dams in the sand and enjoyed the water. By the time we returned it was close to 4p so we had little to no time to do the trolley plus we were also feeling exhausted. This was a bit of a bummer because we were looking forward to seeing more of the canyon from the trolley, but we all still left very happy. Our recommendation is to arrive early, to ensure you have time for both the trolley ride and a hike.

Since Tucson was so hot during the day, we looked at possible indoor activities and we came across Rocks and Ropes climbing gym. These gyms offer equipment and shoe rentals so no worries if you don’t have these and want to give it a shot. We booked a lesson since none of us had been and had about 1/2 hour with an instructor teaching us how to put on our equipment, how to use the auto-belays, and taught both Paul and I how to belay. We purchased a day pass so following that lesson we could stay in the gym as long as we wanted. We all had a great time climbing, rappelling, and I even used the gym equipment in between climbing sessions. We loved it so much we returned a second time before leaving Tucson.

Our weeklong stay in Tucson was productive and quite lovely but we were happy to be heading north towards cooler weather. Next up was a short stint in the northern suburbs of Phoenix!