While I mostly share the "DIY " home renovation stuff, on AZ DIY Guy,  I like to show off the "AZ" part of the story from time to time. Arizona is our adopted state and we're still discovering awesome places.

While February is still brutally cold around most of the country, it's absolute paradise for getting outside around here. 

The Boyce Harbor Arboretum is about an hour east of Phoenix, and well worth the trip. 

If you want to read about it, here's the link, but I'm going to let the the photos do the talking for this post with a few galleries. I enjoyed the opportunity to work on my photography skills. 

Plant Life!

It's hearty desert stuff, beautiful and sometimes a little dangerous. I'd keep a hand on toddlers to keep them away from the spiney stuff. 

Animal Life

The place is alive with birds and beasts. I didn't get my camera up in time to capture the little herd of javelina that crossed out path.  I would have liked to get a better photo of them in the wild than the one I shot with a cell phone in our neighborhood. 

Trails, Vistas, and stuff to look at

The trails are pretty easy, although there's a point that wheelchairs and the like would no longer be viable. There's a little bit of hills to climb, but nothing difficult. There are plenty of places to sit and rest.

The views are gorgeous at every turn. 

It was a fun day with plenty of great photo opportunities.  We saw people taking pictures with everything from cell phones to high-end DSLR's with lenses the size of mountain howitzers. 

All my shots were done with a Nikon D7500 with my walkaround lens, a 16-80mm.

Thanks for visiting. Back to DIY next time, I promise.

Here's the visitor's video from Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park if you want to learn more: