The Phoenix trip is now a part of history. For some reason I'm feeling pretty crummy this evening. I don't think there's a connection with the trip. This post is going to be relatively short and then I'm crashing.
Mostly I want to offer a public thanks to Lucky. He is a Prince Among Men!
Sunday evening found me in Phoenix. Lucky and I had made tentative plans to go find some trouble once I blew into town. We made connections by telephone and set a plan. Our group was booked into the Phoenix Grand Resort. This is an absolutely beautiful place. Needless to say, the G11 got a workout. To my surprise, almost all my photos turned out really nicely. I'll share a few later.
Lucky went well above and beyond what I would consider to be an offer of friendship. Phoenix is a very large city in the area it covers. I was at the resort with no wheels, having taken a cab from the airport. Lucky came and picked me up at the resort. Then he played tour guide in showing me some of the area. We traveled on some roads that comprised his ride to work. It's always interesting to read in a person's blog about their commute. Especially about roads that are troublesome. Once you travel them yourself you can really relate to their writing.
We ended up at a place called the Red Devil Italian Restaurant. With a name like that, how can two troublemakers go wrong? We certainly felt right at home!
I entrusted my gastronomic soul to the pizza maestro. This is what we ended up with. Sort of a house special. Lucky took over the G11 and snapped the photo for us. That's my elbow in the top left corner of the frame. This pizza was quite good. None of the ingredients took over center stage. Rather, they all worked as a team to provide an excellent blend of tastes. The crust may have had a touch of sourdough in it. It was slightly crispy where it should have been and had a great texture all the way through.
All too soon we were full. It would have been nice to enjoy the taste of the pizza longer but there is only so much storage space. Things always taste better when eaten in good company, don't they? Lucky and I made a valiant effort but there was still pizza left. Here the extra pieces are snugly packed in preparation for a visit to Lucky's house. In the interest of equal time, I included Lucky's elbow in the photo. Now both of us are represented in the official record!
After the meal we saw some more of the city at night. Lucky actually delivered me back to the resort, which I greatly appreciate. Safe and sound, I might add.
I'm amazed how we can build such relationships with others that we very seldom see in person. This was actually only the second time we had met face to face. Once in Oregon and now in Arizona. Lucky and I were together for hours. It wasn't that we were chatterboxes, but we also never lacked for conversation. Lucky's a very intelligent guy with a great sense of humor. Taking the opportunity to spend some time with him was very rewarding. Thanks, Lucky, for the friendship and effort extended on my behalf.
Here's a photo I took that sort of wrap things up. I notice there's a similar photo in the slideshow for the resort's website. I didn't know that when I took the photo as I just now looked up their site to link it here. I think my picture is better.
If you look at the tower just right, you can almost see a face with a somewhat toothy grin. This grin's for you, Lucky!
Miles and smiles,
Dan
