16 Things You Have To Do Before You’re An Official Arizonan

Apart from a few crabby people, Arizona's 6.8 million residents are proud to call this area home. It's easy to fall in love with this land, but what do you think it takes to be considered a Zonie? Here are a few suggestions to get started:

1. If there's any park you must visit, it is the Grand Canyon.

2. Hike one of the state's beautiful trails.

3. Drive the stretches of old Route 66 and visit some of the tourist spots, both abandoned and still .

4. Tube down the Salt River.

5. Enjoy a night out on Mill Avenue or in downtown Scottsdale.

Just once and this usually works best if you're in your early twenties. Otherwise, enjoy a day at one of the festivals out here.

6. Spend a day out on one of Arizona's lakes.

7. Eat a chimi.

Actually don't just eat one. Make one.

8. Camp along the Mogollon Rim, the White Mountains, or near the San Francisco Peaks.

9. Spend a weekend in one of Arizona's small towns. The culture there is quite different from what you get in the city.

10. Survive a summer in one of our hot regions: Phoenix, Yuma, Tucson, among others. Props to those who use swamp coolers to cool your home.

11. Don't forget to visit Arizona's former state capitols, Prescott and Tucson.

12. Attend a Suns, Cardinals, or Dbacks game.

13. Or for those looking for something more traditionally Arizona, attend a rodeo.

14. Pay a visit to a spot that highlights Arizona's Old West past, like Tombstone.

15. Also be sure to check out a place that gives an accurate representation of the lives of Arizona's Indigenous peoples, like the Heard Museum or one of the tribal museums.

16. Spend an evening stargazing under some of the darkest skies in the country.

This list could go on but I had to end it somewhere. What other activities would you add to this list?