In my own backyard...

I was reminded this last weekend that it is really easy to take for granted the places and sites we live in everyday when constantly looking abroad for the next "it" place. I spend much of my day trying to figure out when I'll climb Kilimanjaro, visit Bagan, or backpack through the Middle East again. As I drove home to Tucson, AZ last Thursday, I forgot what a beautiful landscape it becomes during the monsoons; as the sun sets over red tinted mountains, the mourning dove sings at sunrise, and that unmistakable smell of the desert after a short downpour.

There's probably no better example of overlooking what's right in front of you than this: I've never been to the Grand Canyon. Yes, I spent the first 18 years of my life in the Grand Canyon State, and I've never been there. In retrospect, a "vacation" always seemed to insinuate leaving the State or country. In turn, I never thought about visiting all of the amazing places the State had to offer as if it wouldn't really constitute having gone somewhere. Does anyone else do this? I must be mad.

So in an effort to begin to right-size my transgressions towards the great State of Arizona, I thought I'd give a shout out to several locations worth visiting if anyone will be passing through any time soon:

1. The Grand Canyon: It can't be listed among the seven natural wonders of the world alongside Everest, the Great Barrier Reef, and Victoria Falls without merit, right? Though, as stated above, I'm the last person to talk it up....

2. Kartchner Caverns: This one I can vouch for, and it's incredible. This cave is one of the few large cave complexes in the country that is unspoiled, and a living functioning cave. The cave is protected by the State, and apart of its own National Park. Tours of the "Big Room" are limited from October to April so as to allow the thousands of bats that reside there for part of the year, to do so in peace.

3. Canyon de Chelly: A miniature Grand Canyon with its own South and North rims, but the rock is even more red and picturesque. The Canyon is also home to some of the most spectacular Native American ruins in the country, within a landscape that is one of the longest continuously inhabited in North America.

4. Lake Powell: The Northern part of Arizona is home to an incredible area with over 2000 miles of shoreline, rosy sand beaches, and days upon days of canyons, blue water and ancient ruins.

5. Tombstone: In 1881, the likes of Doc Holliday, Virgil/Morgan/Wyatt Earp, Ike Clanton and others were a part of arguably the most famous gunfight ever: The shootout at the OK Corral. This site and the rest of the still original ghost-town can still be visited today. Need I say more?

6. Kitt Peak: For you astronomers out there, a little known fact is Tucson, AZ is home to Kitt Peak: The world's largest collection of optical telescopes, and some of the largest in the world.