The last few weeks have been brutally hot.
Not just normal Arizona summer hot. The kind of hot where you open the front door and it feels like someone pointed a blow dryer on high directly at your face, or like you opened the oven and forgot to move out of the way. It is that immediate wall of heat that makes you question whether whatever you were about to leave the house for was really necessary.
By the end of August, I start feeling a little trapped by it. There are only so many days you can go from the house to the car to another air-conditioned building before you just want to get out and do something.
For me, one of the best ways to do that is to find water.
We started going to the Lower Salt River to tube, and we all pretty quickly upgraded to paddle boarding. It gives you a lot more control on the river, which makes it easier to slow down, stop when you want to, and actually take in what is around you.
One of the best things about it is that it really is not that far from the Phoenix metro area. You can get out of the city, be surrounded by water, trees, mountains, and wildlife, and still have it feel like a very manageable day trip. It makes it accessible to a lot of people in the Valley without having to plan some huge getaway.
During the hottest part of summer, it has become one of my favorite ways to get out of the house and break up the routine. We bring the boards, something to eat, a ton of water, and spend a few hours out there when we can.
It is not complicated. It is just a really good way to do something different and get outside for a while.
It Barely Feels Like Arizona
That is probably my favorite part.
Obviously, you are still in Arizona. The mountains are right there. But once you are on the river, everything feels completely different.
There are trees along the banks, cool water underneath you, birds everywhere, and actual green things growing that do not look like they are fighting for their lives.
And yes, it is still hot out there. Very hot. You absolutely need sunscreen, plenty of water, and probably more sunscreen than you think you do because you can get burned fast on the river.
But somehow the heat just feels more bearable when you are out on the water.
Sometimes we paddle, sometimes we float, and sometimes we just stop and let the river do the work for a while. There is usually music playing somewhere, people yelling back and forth between boards, and at least one person who is far more interested in looking around than actually keeping up.
And that person is me.
Honestly, that is kind of the point.
More Than Just Paddle Boarding
A lot of what I love about these river days really has nothing to do with paddle boarding itself. It is being together.
It is laughing over something stupid, floating for a while, stopping to look at wildlife, eating lunch, listening to music, and making the kind of memories that probably do not feel all that important in the moment but end up being the ones you remember later.
It is also just nice to get away from the normal routine for a few hours. No errands, no chores, no running from one thing to the next. It is just you and nature for a while.
After a few hours on the water, we are usually sun-kissed, hungry, tired, and very ready for air conditioning again. But it is the good kind of tired.
The Wildlife Is Half the Fun
One of the things I love most about being out there is that you never really know what you are going to see.
There are birds along the shoreline, fish in the water, and plenty of other little things moving around if you slow down enough to notice them.
And of course, there are the Salt River horses.
Seeing them never really gets old. Sometimes they are farther back near the trees. Other times you come around a bend and there is an entire group standing in the water like this is the most normal thing in the world.
Meanwhile, everyone on the paddleboards immediately stops what they are doing and starts taking pictures.
That is another thing I like about being on the river. You actually pay attention.
You notice the birds, the mountains, the trees along the water, and how quiet it gets every once in a while. And you remember just how beautiful Arizona can be.
It is easy to forget that when it is 110 degrees and everything around you feels dry, dusty, and sunbaked. Then you are out on the river with the mountains in the background, trees lining the water, birds everywhere, and wild horses standing in the river, and you remember.
Arizona really is beautiful.
Sometimes you just have to get out of your normal routine long enough to notice it again.
Getting Away From the Routine
I think that is really what these days are about for me. It is not about trying to escape Arizona or pretending it is not hot. It is about getting away from the normal routine for a little while, spending time with the family, making memories, and just being outside in nature instead of constantly thinking about what needs to get done next.
The desert is still there when we come home, and so are the chores, unfortunately. But for a few hours, none of that really matters.
Sometimes that is all the reset I need: a paddleboard, some water, a little wildlife, and the people I love around me.
