Off the Interstate 10 Freeway, in the Mojave Desert, the sun beats down on an outlet mall. In route to Arizona, Beagle and the boys stop by to do some shopping when a gap-to-rail is spotted. A young Lizard King, who was in-between board sponsors, thrives in his natural environment. A few clips and its back in the van and back on the 10 East.

In the backseat of the Skate Tank, while the rest of the crew is preoccupied with “Fitty Joints”, Theotis Beasly watches skate videos and listens to Cam’ron. Dreaming of a skate/rap lifestyle… “I see your headlights, they looking dead nice. They got me saying D-D-D-D-D-Damn.”

Arriving in downtown Phoenix, the crew meets up with Kenny Hoyle to skate the Jefferson Gap. Off the top rope, Kenny lands a switch backside 180 with his smooth signature style. Lizard backs him with a 5-0 gap-out.

For many early migrants to Phoenix, the city was the difference between life and death. By 1900, tuberculosis was the second leading cause of death in the U.S., and Valley newcomers often came at the recommendation of their doctors, who prescribed Arizona’s sunshine and dry air for recovery. Tuberculosis patients, also known as “lungers” lived in squalid encampments north of the city in Sunnyslope. Fast forward a 107 years, at a ditch in Sunnyslope, Lizard King dump trucks off a fence to ditch grate. Circa 2007 – BEAGLE