Arizona Salt River Tubing

River tubing : to float down a river on a tube for 4-6 hours in hot weather while drinking

Sounds like summer vacation right? Well, it was the beginning of mine. Memorial Day weekend consisted of 2 days of tubing in the Arizona salt lake river. I was lucky to have been invited by my great friends Emily and Mike who are experienced tubers that thanks to their preparations, helped make this an easy and fun experience.

When tubing, you have to think about your parking pass, what part of the river you will start and end, transportation out of your river exit, foods and drinks to bring, coolers and cooler tubes, music, tube hole glue, designated drivers, etc. As a tuber, you have to plan how to get there, where to stay, what tube to use, and buy river shoes and 1 bottle of spray sunscreen a day. Tip, apply cream sunscreen first and that will help the spray stick. Also, re apply every half hour instead of 2. I don't know how much of a difference it makes but I didn't get very burned .

The Arizona river scenery is very picturesque. It's wild west desert meets Arizona red rocks. You have dry land with cacti and large red square shaped walls. I tend to zone out when I get very relaxed, so the large crowds, marshmallow fights, and loud noises didn't bother me because they occur sporadically. What is uncomfortable was the random water shooting because the river is icy and it was an 80 degree day (if it was 97+ I would have been ok). The river can be relaxing but don't fall asleep as the current occasionally brings you to the sides where the rocks and trees and crocodiles are. The crocodiles only nip lightly at your butt, don't worry. Just kidding.

During the evening we were able to enjoy what Tempe has to offer. Tempe is 45 minutes from the river and 15 minutes from PHX. It was very easy and convenient flying in and the car rental service process is remarkably easy and comfortable, and fast drop off process. I used Enterprise and got a 3 day rental for $75. Here are my restaurant reviews:
-Z Tejas Tempe . Good quality Mexican food! So good I actually took the leftovers to a club and was dancing with it (holding it not to it, well, maybe a little). Make sure you try the Antioxidant Martini .
-Robbie Fox. Nice attractive crowd, decent music and dance space.
- courtyard Marriott. Convenient location to the bars and restaurants on Mill St. Their breakfast sandwhich is pretty good but on the pricey side at $7+
- Basha's . This grocery store saved me with its $5 (but should be $12) boat shoes.
-Tavern on Mill . Sports bar with really delicious mouth watering carnitas and interesting pineapple beer (heard it was good, did not try it).
-Gordon Biersch . food is cool. Amazing Martzen Beer. Smooth rich amber ale that makes you feel like you're in Munich.
-Hyatt . The rooms and hotel must be newly renovated because everything is so intuitive. The location of the towels, sink, suite couch, breakfast plates are impressively convenient. The breakfast area was a few steps up from continental without crossing the fancy schmancy line. The room balcony offered a beautiful 180* unobstructed view of Tempe and Phoenix. It helps that Arizona is pretty flat. I would stay here again. It does not have a nice hotel or pool hang out area though.
-Sheraton. I'd probably not stay here again, but they do have a nice pool and bar area. So if you're not planning to stay in the room too much, this is a great group location .

This was a very enjoyable vacation and I had my great friend Rhiannon alongside this whole journey which made it all the more memorable. It's not just where you are, but who you're with. :)