A la Gran...

...Cañon.

Flying back from the north of the state today I suddenly remembered that my broker in Atlanta should have a copy of my passport on file: a bombilla moment according to V, when I told her. If I can get them to fax it to me in LA on Monday I will be in far better shape when I turn up at the Consulate.

There's no escape the chill-out music at FireSky. On the first night it occurred to me that it might still be playing when I picked up the phone.

Celeb alert! We have just spotted Michelle Williams, Heath Ledger's ex. It looks like she's here for a wedding that is about to get under way. They politely asked us to shift from the little circle of seats around the outdoor log fire so that they could take some photos of the family there. I warned them that the sprinklers tend to come on rather suddenly around here; yesterday one of our delegates took a direct hit in the back during our lunch break at that particular spot.

Right now, some very hospitable member of the hotel staff keeps refilling my glass with a sweet Californian Merlot called Little Black Dress, which features a discarded pair of red, high-heeled shoes on the label. Nothing like the wines that HS ordered last night. I guess I'd be feeling a whole lot better today if I hadn't cleaned my palate between the Cabernet and the Pinot Noir with that Margarita.

There seems to be a lot of PT Cruisers in Arizona...plus something from Chevrolet which looks like a bad Chinese knock-off of the Chrysler. (Made south of the border so they don't have to come far.)

Surprisingly though, it's hard to get a decent Mexican beer (Bohemia, Dos Equis etc.) at the FireSky. But there is an interesting local brew called 8th Street Ale from the Four Peaks Brewery. They're generally not too great at pronouncing Spanish words in this part of old Mexico either. (Cabeeza de Varca, press one for Espannol etc.)

Anyway, we're going out for Mexinosh tonight...The Pink Taco no less. (A review here from Chowhound). If it's authentic it will be the only thing in the southern part of the state that is.

I'd have to say that Phoenix is generally a rather dull, affluent place, in a low key kind of way. Fun if you like cafe-au-lait brunettes in tiny (but very smart) dresses; indeed, the young people in this town dress far more slickly than in towns like Houston. Much of the domestic architecture in Scottsdale is a bit 'low chaparral' and quite impersonal compared to say the suburban buildings of LA.

As for the resort hotels, it's like some over-indulgent interior designer has been let loose on the environment.

Pictures of the Grand Canyon

Pictures from the journey up there...which in many ways was just as impressive