Sun City, Arizona

Terrain // Driveway | Discovered By // Family

An Unintentional Extended Stay

With the holidays approaching, Michael and I planned to meet back up with some of my family in Sun City, Arizona, for Christmas. After four weeks on the road, we were excited about unlimited access to hot showers and a laundry machine. We had a wonderful stay spending time with family and eating great food.

We had planned to head back out the first week of the new year but ran into some unexpected engine trouble on our Toyota Tundra. After taking it in for an oil change, they found metal shavings in the discarded oil and had to reconfigure the bottom part of the engine completely. Long story short, we ended up staying in Sun City for two weeks longer than we originally planned.

It put a bit of a damper on our schedule, but the silver lining is we got in a ton of extra family time. Plus, we were able to explore the area more in-depth between hiking and new food spots.

Thank you, Cathy and Dan, for opening your home to our dirty laundry. We very much appreciated the hot showers and clean clothes. You helped make a shitty situation pretty darn enjoyable. We very much enjoyed meeting your friends. Our days were filled with laughter and joy. That said, we’re glad to be eating dinner at a “normal” time again. 😛

Sun City is located just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. It’s an age-restricted community (most residents aged 55+) with many shopping outlets, restaurants, and bars to choose from. My aunt and uncle bought their house in 2019 and share there time in Arizona between here and their Prescott house. Since moving in, they’ve made friends with many of their neighbors. Much of Michael and I’s time was spent at one house or another, meeting people and sharing a homemade meal.

Highlights

• ALL the gorgeous sunsets

• One delicious homemade meal after another

• Learning and playing the Name Game

• Christmas Tom Collins

• Cathy and Dan’s home renovation progress

• Toasting Ted and Barbara’s first-ever s’mores

• A nightcap at Joe and Loretta’s (even when Cathy & Dan were in Florida)

• Secured a future destination spot in northern Utah. S/O to Makia and Lynette!

• Brianna’s chocolate/peanut butter dessert

• Delicious shrimp and steak with Colleen’s Murphys family

• Tony Bognanno world famous authentic Italian spaghetti recipe

Food & Drink

Sunset Bistro – We had to visit this fun little bar again. We tried the alfredo, gyro, and fried fish. All excellent choices!

Jack In The Box – Last year, we visited an unnecessary amount of times 😅 We love their tiny tacos!

Paulie’s Little Bite of Italy – This spot is a catty-corner to Sunset Bistro. We were obsessed with their chicken parm and bruschetta!

In-and-Out – Of course, we had to get a couple of double-double burgers after one of our hikes.

Twist Hot Chicken – OMG, their hot honey chicken sandwich was so good!

Homemade Goodness (HMG) – We ate and cooked a ton of delicious home-cooked meals. We definitely prefer working in a full kitchen vs. a camper kitchen.

Freedom Trail #302

On the last day of 2023, we hiked Freedom Trail #302 in Phoenix. It was a four-mile loop trail with 1,100 ft in elevation gain. It loops around Piestewa Peak in Pheonix. We were quickly humbled on the steep incline at the beginning 😅 Luckily, we stuck it out and were rewarded by meeting a pet BIRD further down the trail. Learn more about this trail on All Trails.

Fat Man’s Pass via Mormon Trail

We love a good rock scramble. This 3.7-mile loop features a nice incline at the very beginning, along with tunnels, cacti, petroglyphs, and a squeeze through Fat Man's Pass. Once you get to the loop part, there are tons of huge boulders you can climb up and roam around. Learn more about this trail on All Trails.

Excursions

After getting our truck from the shop, we wanted to take it on a little test drive before towing the camper. We had heard some good things about Bisbee, Arizona, and asked my brother Caleb and his girlfriend, Maddy if they wanted to tag along. Bisbee, Arizona, is about 40 minutes outside of Tucson, Arizona. It has an extraordinarily well-preserved early-twentieth-century downtown. It had such a cool vibe, with restaurants, bars, and shops stacked up in the mountains. We wish we could have spent a few days here! I may have partaken in one too many drinks as I attempted to give Caleb a piggyback ride and ended up tearing something in my knee 😅

Where We Stayed

Hotel La More at The Bisbee Inn – This is the second largest hotel in town, containing 20 rooms. We stayed in their Euro-style rooms, aka, we had a shared bathroom. Like much of Bisbee, The Bisbee Inn is haunted. According to their website, “their ghosts are very friendly, and have taken care of our hotel for over 100 years.” That said, we did not experience any paranormal activity.

Food & Drink

Screaming Banshee – I love their chaotic menu design. Paul’s Screaming Dip was delicious, as was their SECRET Bruschetta.

Old Bisbee Brewing Co. – Not my favorite beer, but they have a great outdoor patio.

Chuckleheads – This is a great bar to play pool and shoot some baskets. Bras everywhere! lol

St. Elmo Bar – This is the longest continually run bar in Arizona. It is the definition of a dive bar. If you’re lucky enough to visit on a Thursday night, you can get a chance to bowl for dildos!

Room 4 Bar – The Smallest Bar in Arizona! There are also a shit ton of stairs leading up to this bar. Michael had to piggyback me up to the top as we visited post-knee injury 😅

The Quarry – They emphasize locally grown meats and produce, creating high-quality comfort food with an artisanal flair. I was a little drunk by the time we got here, but the BLT sandwich and fries we got were delicious.

Gene’s Place – We had our last drink of the night at this bar. I remember they randomly gave us a gingerbread cookie.

Bisbee Coffee Company Cafe & Roasters – Walking here (for me) in the morning was a struggle. The breakfast bagels made it worth it though!

Kafka – After Michael plopped me in a chair at Bisbee Coffee, he walked over to Kafka for a couple of delicious iced and warm chai lattes.

The House On The Hill was the first house Cathy and Dan bought when they moved to Arizona. I love this house so much and first came here for my 21st birthday. The morning sunrises are some of the best, and downtown Prescott is so much fun. We came up here for one night to attend their friends’ Christmas party. I also got to see the House On The Hill sign that I designed for them last year. Fun fact: I drew the Native American portrait in high school.

Highlights

• House On The Hill sign

• Talking about cats with Suzie and Kim

• Lunch at Fujiyama – The Yaksoba stir fry noodles were fantastic, as was the Hawaiian roll.

Caleb is my youngest brother by four years. He officially moved out to Arizona in 2021 with zero plans of ever returning to Ohio permanently 😅. We were able to get some much-needed quality time together at his place in Gilbert, Arizona. We had a low-key night helping him assemble his National Parks Christmas puzzle and dinner at Walk-Ons. We finished off the night watching Saltburn.

Food & Drink

Walk-Ons – S/O to our server, Ryan, for making me a sangria no longer on the menu. The Bayou Past and Cajundilla were pretty tasty.

Los Favoritos Taco Shop – We had a couple of breakfast burritos in the morning. They were okay. They could have used some more sauce.