Day 6-Day 8, July 8-10: Phoenix

Family time in Ahwatukee/Mountain Park Ranch. This was the point of the trip: My infant sister, Jennifer, is turning 30. Jacqueline and I had always thought that summer was the worst time to be visiting Phoenix, but this time there was an epiphany: There's something very satisfying about staying somewhere with a private swimming pool when it's so damn hot that swimming is practically a necessity.

There was also a certain amount of Mexican food. My family, for the most part, is indifferent to the stuff, but I was able to drag siblings-and-such to Guedo's Taco Shop in Chandler. And, not too long afterward, brother Terence didn't have to be persuaded too much to accompany me on a green-chili-burro run. Serendipity: We were on our way to a good but slightly distant place, and at rush hour, when I spotted the name of a place I had read about in the New Times restaurant listings. It was a second location of Tempe's Casa Reynoso. It was good, once we got things straight with the waitress about how "green" doesn't mean "red." (I managed to sign a few books at the Ahwatukee branch of Barnes & Noble on the way back.)

And then there was nephew A.J., son of sister Jenn. He's almost 2, and very active. Quite a cutie. Mom says the serious look he gets when he starts positioning the Hot Wheels cars is reminiscent of a certain son of hers.