Valley of the Sun
Last night I touched down in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm here for my nephew's wedding in a week's time so I've got a few days to do a bit of a road-trip before meeting up with family. The heat is fierce! I was in the car about 9am this morning and even at that stage it was 78 degrees fahrenheit and it's up into the high 90's this afternoon. This morning I went to a diner for a v. yummy breakfast of French Toast, syrup, blueberries, egg & sausage (heck, I'm on my holidays!) and sat outside, thankfuly under the shade of an umbrella but I was intrigued by the misters surrounding the outdoor seating area - even when you walk through them, you don't get wet because the water is evaporating so quickly in the heat. Northern Ireland's misting system has been a little over-enthusiastic recently...

I couchsurfed last night with Phoenix's Couchsurfing Ambassador, Larry. Dead on guy, has a parrot called Corona and is very well set-up for couchsurfers - he basically has a room set aside for anyone passing through the city which includes a refrigerator!

I had a bit of an adventure when I arrived in Phoenix as my luggage didn't come with me. Apparently I was supposed to pick it up and re-check it in at Newark. But the last time I went through Newark on the Texas trip I only had carry-on baggage so it didn't enter my head that I would have to pick my bag up this time in Newark. And actually I did check at a customer service desk if my bags would be checked all the way through to Phoenix and they told me yes.Anyway that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. My bag came on the next flight and I picked it up from the airport this morning so it was all good.

Okey-dokey I'm hoping to drive out to the edge of the city now and get some views of the desert then I'll head up to Flagstaff. Adios!