Arizona Vacation Home Rentals Blog

The smallest bird you’ll observe zipping around or hovering within gardens and parks in the Sonoran Desert is the hummingbird. Southeastern Arizona hosts more than a dozen species of hummers as year round residents, seasonal visitors or accidental tourists during migration. Their wing speed of 80 beats or more per second is remarkable which, along with their flapping tail feathers, accounts for the buzzing noise you may hear as they flit...

AVHR Fall Newsletter 2021 First edition Welcome! Our quarterly newsletter will give you the scoop on what’s new and different with Arizona Vacation Home Rentals as well as what’s happening in the greater Phoenix area. It will include: guest discounts details on new listings upgrades to our rental properties travel tips upcoming local events links to additional details on related topics We encourage you to browse and find what you need to customize...

By providing links to other sites, AVHR does not guarantee, approve, or endorse information or products available on these sites.   Mesa is the place to be if you’re looking for adventures and activities for the whole family. Check out the Mesa Parks Spring 2023 Activity Guide, Jump In, for classes, activities and special events:  https://www.mesaparks.com/sports-programs/activity-guide.   Registration is required for some activities and classes. Most are open to both residents...

Diamond Spirit Ranch celebrates the life of Diamond, a gentle, courageous and much loved horse. Of the many animals in the animal kingdom, few compare to the horse with its strength, grace and nobility. Horses often symbolize freedom, invite wild imaginations and manifest power of mind and spirit. Yet when we gaze across a pasture and watch horses grazing peacefully, our heart rate slows as we crave that sense of...

  Do not dismiss the desert as dusty and barren. The Sonoran Desert is lush with bold and barbed cacti, colorful and fiercely armed to protect the species as well as the water they hold in reserve. While there are many cacti to celebrate, this blog will identify and highlight the features of some of the more common cacti found in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Favorite destinations to see a variety of cacti are...

The greater Phoenix area which includes the East Valley is the shangri la for golfers with public and private courses at every turn. We’re also a paradise for the avid or casual hiker, biker* and horseback rider with miles and miles of trails extending in every direction.   The Biodiversity of the Desert You might envision only flat terrain because our home is a desert. The Sonoran Desert, however, is...

  My golfing experience is limited to miniature golf, called putt-putt by some. Yup, that’s it! You might think I shouldn’t write this blog but I’m writing it anyway because, despite my lack of golfing experience, here’s what I do know: Mesa is the shangri-la for golfers! With our almost perfect weather, blue skies and mountain vistas, Mesa ranks at the top of premiere golfing destinations in the Southwest.  ...

With the arrival of spring we leave the quiet and cold of winter behind to enjoy the splendor of the earth’s awakening and all that spring embodies. For baseball fans this includes spring training and the unique opportunity to enjoy informal, behind the scene encounters with favorite teams and players.   Baseball’s spring training typically begins in February when catchers and pitchers report to camp to begin workouts, and lasts...

An Owling We Will Go… If you appreciate owls Arizona should be on your list of places to visit. Our state has 13 different species: Great Horned, Barn, Western Screech, Burrowing, Long and Short Eared, Saw-whet, Whiskered Screech, Ferruginous Pygmy, Northern Pygmy, Flammulated, Elf and Mexican Spotted Owls. A few of these owls migrate south during the winter but the majority live here year-round. Most Arizona owls are creatures of...

    Service animals are dogs that are trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of these tasks include assisting individuals who are visually or hearing impaired, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving items and alerting the individual to safety hazards. Only dogs are considered service animals; other species do not qualify. Providing emotional support, well-being or companionship are not approved tasks under the legal definition of service animal....