Arizona is home. It’s where we’ve built our lives, raised our family, and created countless memories over the years. Two of our three children were born here, and much of our extended family still calls Arizona home. Those roots run deep and are one of the biggest reasons we remain tethered to the Grand Canyon State. Even after all these years, however, there is still so much of Arizona we have yet to explore. Like many people, we’ve spent much of our time living life rather than seeing all the incredible places right in our own backyard.
We’ll be honest—lately we’ve found ourselves wondering if another state might someday become our home. Perhaps it’s because we’ve been here so long, but sometimes it’s easy to overlook the beauty around us. Arizona is, after all, a hot—and we mean HOT—dry desert. There are days when we miss the lush green landscapes, rolling hills, forests, and waterways that other states seem to have in abundance. As we’ve gotten older, the extreme summer heat has become less appealing, and retirement has given us the freedom to escape to cooler destinations during the hottest months of the year.
But Arizona has a way of reminding us why we fell in love with it in the first place. After a desert rainstorm, the landscape comes alive with a beauty unlike anywhere else. The rugged mountains, dramatic scenery, and breathtaking sunsets are truly unmatched. We may not have hurricanes to prepare for, tornadoes to outrun, or snow to shovel, and those are blessings we certainly don’t take for granted. And for golfers like us, it’s hard to beat the ability to play on world-class courses nearly every day of the year.
Whether Arizona remains our forever home or simply the place where our story began, it will always hold a special place in our hearts. Its beauty may not always be obvious to us, but it is there, waiting to be rediscovered with every mountain view, every desert bloom, and every spectacular sunset.