Phoenix is a huge city by any standards. With more than four million residents it has managed to spread itself out over a huge area of southern Arizona. It is the sort of place you seem to be almost there for hours. Phoenix is dusty, flat and... well … flat. It is a favourite winter hangout for retirees from the frozen northern states and, apparently, a good place to retire generally. Our reason for going there was to have a couple of administration days before we disappeared into Mexico.

We had a short list of tasks to get through that should have taken a busy day. By the time I had plotted a novice's course between our stops it took a full day to complete half the list, and I still needed to change Elephant's engine and final-drive oil. In the end, our administration, a little tourism and a little socialising with some old and new friends located in Phoenix consumed three very busy days. Our friends Ken and Carol Duval were staying in Phoenix for a few days before taking a short holiday back in Australia. Ken did a first rate job of supervising my work on Elephant while Carol briefed Jo on important things Mexican.

So, what can you do in Phoenix? Well, Team E found two interesting diversions. The first was a visit to Taliesin, the winter retreat and architectural school of Frank Lloyd Wright. Long time readers of our blogs will know that both of us have been a fans of FLW. In the past we have made a special excursion to see the Guggenheim Museum in New York which is one of his more accessible works. We took the “long” tour and it didn't disappoint. The building itself is wonderful and the story that it holds inspiring. As we rode back into Phoenix we looked closely at the housing of Scottsdale, the Phoenix satellite city that reaches to the gates of Taliesin. For all the beauty of the FLW original, not much of it has found its way into the common architecture. The final point on Taliesin, and the reason we are FLW fans, is that Wright did the best work of his career in the last quarter of his life. So, there is still hope for those of us with more modest talents.

The second trick in Phoenix was a visit to a little diner called The Duce, located at the edge of the CBD. The Duce is a traditional trailer-diner positioned inside a boxing gym. You can eat or workout, or both, but hopefully not at the same time. There is a limited diner menu of gourmet sliders, snacks and salads, rustic seating and an interesting ambiance. Probably the biggest let down was the drinks list which had none of the new or interesting US beers that are a feature of the food (and drink) scene here these days.

With Elephant running as well as ever we pushed further south to Tuscon and enjoyed a day of touristic endeavour then on again to Douglas on the Mexican border. An early start on Saturday 9 November saw us clear Mexican immigration, and organise the import of Elephant with no problems except our hopeless Spanish. An hour later we were well down into Sonora and stopped at the first (of many) military checkpoint. We had our bags and paperwork checked and were sent on our way. By the end of the day we had found a village with a hotel and good fish tacos and our adventure in the United States of Mexico was at last underway.