Climbing partners, beer, guns and the best slice in America

I felt rested after a good nights sleep and I had almost forgotten about the really scary ride the night before. Feeling great we did the last climb before Phoenix and cruised into Apache Junction. Getting through the suburbs was a bit slower with all the traffic. At what may have been the busiest intersection of our trip I didn't manage to get out of my pedals and took my first and only fall of the trip. A bruise on my hip, a few scrapes, but mostly just damaged pride. The sun was hot and we were really hungry so we hit up In and Out Burger for a double double animal style, man I love that place and my mouth waters for a week before any trip out west just thinking about it.
We hit Scottsdale and detoured to camelback road to see a condo project that our friend Alan built while working for the company Del works for. The project was awesome! There was soil on every balcony and the flowers, plant, and trees growing everwhere. This place was a real treat to visit. From there we headed to my amigo Justin's house in North Phoenix. Justin had cold beer waiting and we were quickly relaxing with a few cold ones. Justin and his wife Jena's house was great. It is really well decorated and just feels comfortable. I have been to Justin's four times in the last year but never even for a whole day, so it was great to stay for two days and just hang out. I tried to take them out to dinner, but it backfired and Jena picked up the tab before I could get my hands on the check. We came back and drank some beers and watched Slammin Salmon on tv.
We woke up early today and I made banana pancakes before Justin's brother came over and we headed out to the desert to shoot some guns. No really, Del and I shot some guns. To clarify, I am terrified of guns and get pretty uncomfortable around them, but we figured we should go anyway. Justin and Eric showed us the ropes and both Del and I fired a glock and a 38 special. Even with ear plugs they seemed really loud. We took a ton of shots at a can, but never really got close to hitting anything. Del did shoot a branch off of a tree, not on purpose but still impressive. I am glad I tried shooting and it was an adventure, but it was not something I want to try again.
We ate some sandwiches and enjoyed the rest day. Justin headed to work and we went to wait in line at Pizza Bianco at 3:30 to try to get in when they opened at 5:00. This place is known as the best pizza in America and regularly has 4 hour waits. We arrived an hour and a half before they opened and there were probably 30 people on line. The place is tiny and has about twelve tables, but we were lucky and got in right at 5:00. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass was playing on the speakers and the atmoshphere was relaxed and comfortable. We had made friends in line and spirits were high. We ordered three pizza and got some strange looks. I butted in to another tables conversation about Neil Diamond and pretty some the whole resaurant was talking about how much we all love his music. The pizza was unreal and it lived up to the hype, every bite was a little taste of heaven. It probably ruined all other pizza for me but it was worth it. The hostess looked justvlike a girl in my class at dental school. The girl told me she was going to live In Phoenix for the summer with family, but I guessed it wasn't her because she didn't recognize me. As we were leaving I asked her if she had a sister and it turned out she was the twin of the girl in my class. What a small world. On the way out the people from Overland Park wished us luck and we headed back to Justinand Jena's to swim before bed. What a great stay, I love seeing those two and wish we lived closer. Good luck to Jena in the San Diego half marathon in a few weeks, I know you will do great! I had tried to meet up with another friend Nat, but just realized I missed both her calls, what a bummer. Back on the road in the morning and feeling refreshed and ready to ride.