Our final week of the tour in Phoenix was hectic, but we made time for a hike in McDowell Mountain Park, in the lower Verde River basin near Scottsdale. It’s a pretty big area, and elevations in the park are up to 3000 feet at the base of the McDowell mountains. It’s possible to see wildlife such as deer, javelina, birds, and coyotes. We just got lucky on birds and reptiles.  We did some geocaching along the way, and were able to drop off a Jeep travel bug we’d picked up in Texas. It wasn’t a strenuous hike, but Phoenix afternoons are still over 90F/35C, so it was a warm one. On the way home, we stopped by Fountain Hills and saw (supposedly) the world’s largest man-made fountain.

Another highlight? We seriously doubted we would be able to find great sushi in Phoenix, but we were wrong, wrong, wrong. Yasu, sushi chef at Yasu Sushi Bistro was a master working with fresh, high-quality ingredients. Along with our standard tekka (tuna) and Kappa (cucumber) rolls, we ordered a soft shell crab roll, plus nigiri or sashimi: octopus, chu–toro, mackerel and salmon. Specials included striped jack, fluke, and Kumamoto oysters. I think my favorite of the night was the fluke. It was served with ponzu instead of soy sauce, allowing the light, subtle flavor to shine. Check out the full review on yelp.com or click here to get there directly.