Earl and I finally got to Tacoma, WA and we met with Deb and Larry who had kindly opened up their house to us for the 2 days that we were going to be there. It was around 2 in the afternoon and we were tired of driving but we still had to pick up John atthe airport at 5pm. Nothing against John but nobody wanted to get back in the car after the drive from Phoenix to Tacoma and on top of it traffic was terrible. We made arrangements and met John at the pool room that was alot closer than the airport.
We got back to Deb and Larry's and hit some balls on their table for a while until dinner was ready. A wonderful steak with corn on the cobb mmmm. Earl wasted no time after dinner to get into the usual routine of explaining how unattractive I am and that if he were a woman he would never sleep with me. This banter started with Archer and him about three years ago and had continued on since. Tonights fav slam was my feet, I like my flip flops and as a result of wearing them my feet are a little rough and I admit that. However Earl took this to a whole other level, "You could scare children with those aligator feet" I'll bet you have to wear your sock in bed when you are with a woman so she won't leave" These are the polite comments. Meanwhile John just sits and laughs as we go back and forth because I just respond to Earl with stupid comments like "Women love my feet, they say it makes me manly and sexy" John knows that this sends Earl on tilt and find it funny the more animated that I can get him.
So the next day we have 2 pool schools and had a great time at both. We started at full splice Billiards in Tacoma and I got to see some old friends like fellow azer "Rubyron" on here and Joe Moyak. Once the clinic had started I got to vist withCraig the owner aka "Manwon" and got to play a set that I think I won if I remember right.
We then headed over to Malarkey's for the 2nd clinic and again got to see a few people that over the past 3yrs of doing something there I have gotten to know.
We head back to the house and chat some more while John fell asleep on a air mattress bed that was set up for us down stairs in the game room (Big game room) So there was 6 of us playing and someone suggested that we mess with john while he was asleep. It went from the old hand in warmwater to antiquing, I felt a responsibility to stop these and so decided that I would just get intobed with him and spoon him and see what he did.
I slowly got in and put my arm around him he makes a "mmmm" sound. O have no idea who he thought it was but he seemed happy. Then opened his eyes and realized where he was. Then realized that there wasn't anyone in the house who should be snuggling up to him. He sits up and turns over and seem me. "WTF Man???" with a serious look of confusion on his face. At this point I am hoping he does not start swinging. Thankfully everyone in the room began laughing at this point and he realizes that he just got tricked. He falls back with his hands over his face saying "Oh man you F%@king As*%&holes" I wish someone could have taped the look on his face.
We leave the next day for Black Diamond Billiards in Spokane, WA where we have a exhibition that night. You learn alot about people while on these long drives and here is what I have learned about John Schmidt. Rightbefore we got in the car he said "Man, I wish I was on a Harley driving this trip, the scenery is gonna be awesome you know?" From that point on every bike we passed or that even came near us john would tell us the make, year, model, top speed, engine size and his evaluation on theoverall performance of the bike, followed by Man I wish I was riding this trip instead of being stuck in a SUV. This goes on the whole trip and is still going on as we continue. He knows his bikes thats for sure. We suggested that he stick his head out the window and make bike noises and get the same effect but he didn't think that was the same.
We got to Spokane and met with the owner Steve who has only had the place a few weeks and is working to do some remodeling and changing a few things. Its a real nice place and friendly so if you get a chance stop by. The Exhibition wasa great success and everyone in attendance was awesome and had a good time. The only downfall tothis part of the world at this time of year is that its tourist season and the hotel rooms are all about $120 per night and thats for a Motel 6.
We did the clinic the next day that went very well also and then began the drive to Vaughn, Mt and got in later than expected as we kinda took our time looking at the scenery. I tell ya Montana is a very pretty place and although I am not sure if its the place for me to live I could for sure handle a couple weeks a year on Vacation.
We arrived in Great Falls (8 miles from Vaughn) and finally got a room after trying 3 or 4 different spots and the cheapest was $120 again but we had a plan for the next night set up. After a good nights sleep we headed tothe clinic in Vaughn and arrived at The Silver Spur Saloon. The Silver Spur is a small bar in a small town and you can't help but wonder what you got yourself into when you see it. Its amazing how wrong you can be We had about 9 students waiting for us already who were just about as nice as you can get. We waited for the owner to show who had the list of people paid and got going. Meanwhile I checked into the "Office" the office is a bar across the street that has a 4 room motel attached to it. I tell ya this place was a differnt experience but it served our purpose. No Phone, to coffee, no internet Its hard to explain.
After the clinic the pool room owner decided to hold a tournament until the exhibition that was to start at 8.30pm. I said what the hell and decided to play in it. I ended up splitting 1st with the other guy who made it. So I came out a winner .The show was a success again so we are doing pretty well on this trip as far as getting good crowds.
We leave for Denver early the next morning as we have 770 miles to cover. The drive was good as we were constantly pointing out wonderful views wildlife such as deer, and antelope. Hundreds of them really cool but the only thing that would have made it cooler would have been if John was riding a Harley we were told AGAIN
We got into Denver around 10pm and went right to Billiards INK to meet the owner Bobby. This guy I would not want to mess with, he looks like a UFC fighter and scares the crap out of me but he is a really nice guy and I think will do some great things for the pool scene in Denver and already has begun. He says to me "this is a great weekend, we got you guys here, Gabe is here and Mellissa Little" I say "Gabe who?" "Gabe the US Open Champ Gabe, hes right there" I like Gabe he always makes me laugh So I go over and say hi and he fills me in on who the good action players are in case we have time to get into something.
We leave and get to our hotel and get some rest for the next day (Today) and get up for the pool clinic. We see Sam Diepp and I challenge her to a 1 rack AZB bragging rights match. She breaks and runs down to the 9 and dogs it. Not only does she dog it she leaves the 9 hanging. I make the 9 and raise my arms like I just won the US Open. She wants to go again and I refuse I am gonna retire the winner.
We just got back from Perkin's, there are alot of them in this part of the country and something we all like. We have the exhibition tonight and so we are gonna get some more rest.
I now want to thank all the pool room owners, league operators and friends especially CSI, Mark Griffin, David V, Holly Ryan and the resat of the CSI crew for their support and for helping us get the word out and supporting Team CSI.
We look forward to tonight and then off to Albuqueque and Las Cruses, NM then Tuscon and Phoenix AZ for the BCA event there. I hope I didn't ramble on too long but I am covering a few days.
We got back to Deb and Larry's and hit some balls on their table for a while until dinner was ready. A wonderful steak with corn on the cobb mmmm. Earl wasted no time after dinner to get into the usual routine of explaining how unattractive I am and that if he were a woman he would never sleep with me. This banter started with Archer and him about three years ago and had continued on since. Tonights fav slam was my feet, I like my flip flops and as a result of wearing them my feet are a little rough and I admit that. However Earl took this to a whole other level, "You could scare children with those aligator feet" I'll bet you have to wear your sock in bed when you are with a woman so she won't leave" These are the polite comments. Meanwhile John just sits and laughs as we go back and forth because I just respond to Earl with stupid comments like "Women love my feet, they say it makes me manly and sexy" John knows that this sends Earl on tilt and find it funny the more animated that I can get him.
So the next day we have 2 pool schools and had a great time at both. We started at full splice Billiards in Tacoma and I got to see some old friends like fellow azer "Rubyron" on here and Joe Moyak. Once the clinic had started I got to vist withCraig the owner aka "Manwon" and got to play a set that I think I won if I remember right.
We then headed over to Malarkey's for the 2nd clinic and again got to see a few people that over the past 3yrs of doing something there I have gotten to know.
We head back to the house and chat some more while John fell asleep on a air mattress bed that was set up for us down stairs in the game room (Big game room) So there was 6 of us playing and someone suggested that we mess with john while he was asleep. It went from the old hand in warmwater to antiquing, I felt a responsibility to stop these and so decided that I would just get intobed with him and spoon him and see what he did.
I slowly got in and put my arm around him he makes a "mmmm" sound. O have no idea who he thought it was but he seemed happy. Then opened his eyes and realized where he was. Then realized that there wasn't anyone in the house who should be snuggling up to him. He sits up and turns over and seem me. "WTF Man???" with a serious look of confusion on his face. At this point I am hoping he does not start swinging. Thankfully everyone in the room began laughing at this point and he realizes that he just got tricked. He falls back with his hands over his face saying "Oh man you F%@king As*%&holes" I wish someone could have taped the look on his face.
We leave the next day for Black Diamond Billiards in Spokane, WA where we have a exhibition that night. You learn alot about people while on these long drives and here is what I have learned about John Schmidt. Rightbefore we got in the car he said "Man, I wish I was on a Harley driving this trip, the scenery is gonna be awesome you know?" From that point on every bike we passed or that even came near us john would tell us the make, year, model, top speed, engine size and his evaluation on theoverall performance of the bike, followed by Man I wish I was riding this trip instead of being stuck in a SUV. This goes on the whole trip and is still going on as we continue. He knows his bikes thats for sure. We suggested that he stick his head out the window and make bike noises and get the same effect but he didn't think that was the same.
We got to Spokane and met with the owner Steve who has only had the place a few weeks and is working to do some remodeling and changing a few things. Its a real nice place and friendly so if you get a chance stop by. The Exhibition wasa great success and everyone in attendance was awesome and had a good time. The only downfall tothis part of the world at this time of year is that its tourist season and the hotel rooms are all about $120 per night and thats for a Motel 6.
We did the clinic the next day that went very well also and then began the drive to Vaughn, Mt and got in later than expected as we kinda took our time looking at the scenery. I tell ya Montana is a very pretty place and although I am not sure if its the place for me to live I could for sure handle a couple weeks a year on Vacation.
We arrived in Great Falls (8 miles from Vaughn) and finally got a room after trying 3 or 4 different spots and the cheapest was $120 again but we had a plan for the next night set up. After a good nights sleep we headed tothe clinic in Vaughn and arrived at The Silver Spur Saloon. The Silver Spur is a small bar in a small town and you can't help but wonder what you got yourself into when you see it. Its amazing how wrong you can be We had about 9 students waiting for us already who were just about as nice as you can get. We waited for the owner to show who had the list of people paid and got going. Meanwhile I checked into the "Office" the office is a bar across the street that has a 4 room motel attached to it. I tell ya this place was a differnt experience but it served our purpose. No Phone, to coffee, no internet Its hard to explain.
After the clinic the pool room owner decided to hold a tournament until the exhibition that was to start at 8.30pm. I said what the hell and decided to play in it. I ended up splitting 1st with the other guy who made it. So I came out a winner
.The show was a success again so we are doing pretty well on this trip as far as getting good crowds. We leave for Denver early the next morning as we have 770 miles to cover. The drive was good as we were constantly pointing out wonderful views wildlife such as deer, and antelope. Hundreds of them really cool but the only thing that would have made it cooler would have been if John was riding a Harley we were told AGAIN
We got into Denver around 10pm and went right to Billiards INK to meet the owner Bobby. This guy I would not want to mess with, he looks like a UFC fighter and scares the crap out of me but he is a really nice guy and I think will do some great things for the pool scene in Denver and already has begun. He says to me "this is a great weekend, we got you guys here, Gabe is here and Mellissa Little" I say "Gabe who?" "Gabe the US Open Champ Gabe, hes right there" I like Gabe he always makes me laugh So I go over and say hi and he fills me in on who the good action players are in case we have time to get into something.
We leave and get to our hotel and get some rest for the next day (Today) and get up for the pool clinic. We see Sam Diepp and I challenge her to a 1 rack AZB bragging rights match. She breaks and runs down to the 9 and dogs it. Not only does she dog it she leaves the 9 hanging. I make the 9 and raise my arms like I just won the US Open. She wants to go again and I refuse
I am gonna retire the winner. We just got back from Perkin's, there are alot of them in this part of the country and something we all like. We have the exhibition tonight and so we are gonna get some more rest.
I now want to thank all the pool room owners, league operators and friends especially CSI, Mark Griffin, David V, Holly Ryan and the resat of the CSI crew for their support and for helping us get the word out and supporting Team CSI.
We look forward to tonight and then off to Albuqueque and Las Cruses, NM then Tuscon and Phoenix AZ for the BCA event there. I hope I didn't ramble on too long but I am covering a few days.
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