1st 2 days of the tour. Hectic :)

Thanks for the updates

bfdlad said:
Thanks John, I would have felt bad if she thought I was saying those kind of things.

Anyway, we took the scenic route again today and went through the redwoods on the way to Willow Creek. Nick has been so excited about seeing the redwoods since before we left to start the tour and so JA and myself put up little fuss so as to keep Nick Happy. We actually wanted to see them too but Nick was really looking forward to it.

Nick was so excited that the first chance we got to stop at the side of the road he pulled over and jumped out with his camera, left the door open and ran across the street to where he had seen somthing of interest. JA was in the passenger seat and I jumped out too to take some video. Then I hear JA yellingg "MARK! GET OVER HERE! HE LEFT IT IN NEUTRAL" So I runback and JA is leaning across holding the wheel. I jump in and put my foot on the break. I could only just get in and even then I got in since I am 6,4 and Nick is maybe a foot shorter and had the seat pulled all the way up. We gave him a hard time over that for a while. Nick also got some grief over a conversation we were having on the drive. I told Nick that we were entering the land of "IN N Out Burgers" He just loves those things. Nick proceeded to tell JA how good their fries are, now if nick is enthusiastic about something he will let you know with passion what he is talking about. JA said "Those fries last night were great" Nick responds "IN N Out Burger fries can givethe fries last night the 5 all day long, AND they make them right out of potatoes" All went silent for maybe 5 long seconds while JA hada confused look inhis face and tilted his head like a smart dog that hears a new sound. He looks at Nick and says "Well what the hell are they gonna make em out of??" Nick didn't want to say anything at this point cos he knew what he had said and wanted it to just go away before we got hooked on it. So alittle while later we pass a lumber yard that had 2x4's all stacked up on pallets ready to be shipped and Ja turnsto Nick and says "Man, Nick look at all that wood, What you think they make that out of? Trees?" Nick just smiledand let us go on with a few more jabs on what obvious things were made of :)

So we got to our final destination. The Red Lyon Hotel, this place SUCKS. Its supposed to be 3 stars nothing works, they charge us extra for no good reason, thats a long story for another time. I set up my computer at the computer desk and there is no outlet at all near the desk without unplugging the light. Its freezing in here and the heater won't blow hot air. I may ask to change rooms. be back
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Keep the updates coming :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Willow creek is just as I remembered it from the little I saw yesterday. the people havn't changed. A mix of all types some quiet, some loud, some strange alot of normal ones. still the smell of pot wafts through the air as you stand out on the street. no idea where the small comes from its just there in Humbolt. ona very rainy chilli night a slender old man with a whispy beard walks in the pool room wearing dress shoes and black dress socks, tanned colored shorts, a tee shirt and a rasberry beret and a walking cane with a brass handle. He obviously didn't need the cane it was just an accessory. He walks up to the bar looks around and takes off again. you don't see this stuff everywhere you know.
Pete Tonkin the well known cue maker owns P&J's Billiards here along with his wife Joanna. They are very nice people and we always have a good time when we see them.
Even mire so last night during the clinic pete decided to tend bar and so we sat there witha couple of his locals chatting and telling jokes. Pete decided that we were all gonna do a shot, well I don't drink the hard stuff butI can be talked into it. I did protest a couple of times but then they talked me into it. I am not sure how many we had
by the time the night was over but I wasn't as clear headed as I was when I walked in the place. Pete seemed to take pride in giving me a buzz with his special shot called a "Duck Fart" I believe crown, Baileys and Kalhua maybe something else but they were delicious.
The clinic went well had heard a few people talking about how happy they were that they had made it to the clinic so thats always a good thing. So we headed out to get back to the hotel and its through a bunch of curves and windy roads a little scary at night for a number of reasons. Oh I got to meet wendy and her husband Metmot just fyi :) she is a very nice lady and as soon as we got to the pool room I felt I had to say something. I asked a lady if she was Wendy she said "Yes you must be Mark, pleased to meet you" I started with "Look I am Sor.." she laughed a little and waved it off and said to not worry about it.
I think we are gonna go down to the sea front today for a little while asI know Nick is wanting that salt water taffy. The last time we were hear he bought a bunch of it so should be good before we head up to Willow Creek where we will be staying tonight and doing a show at P & J's at 7.30pm.
 
We had a great time last night at the show, everyone had a good time and I was able to side step the shots thank goodness. We decided to leave the car at the pool room and stroll back to the Coho Cottages where we were staying as it was a wonderful warm night andnot a long walk back. The Chevron got me again though across the street cos I was hungry and nothing is open after 9pm. The actually had reduced the price of the burritos to half price still $3.00 but they were reduced because they had been there under the heat lamp for 4 hours, thats what the guy told me who works there. I also wasn't sure how good it was gonna be so I got a can of Chef raviolis at the low price of $4.50. Whoo hoo. Living the dream. Well the chicken in the burritos was as hard as bullets and managed half of it and went to bed. Speaking of bed, I strongly reccomend the Coho Cottages in Willow Creek ifyou ever happen to be through that way or just facy a weekend away. They look like like wooden huts but inside is amazing, plasma tvs, Little kitchen, really good beds, great views from your clawfoot bathtub, Showers that are massive with like rainfall shower heads a heated bathroom floors. Great place and great town. We were out andon the road to Redding, Ca around 11,30 with a 3 hrs drive head ofus.

Well we finally got to Redding, little bit of a scary drive, its mostly on the edge of a very high drop off with tight twists and turns. This is not like if you run offthe road and hit something and you are probably gonna be ok. If you go off the road you are DONE. Very pretty though and would advise anyone to do it that has a driver that is willing to ignor the the view and focus on the road.

We began trying to bid on rooms for Redding a couple of days ago and kept getting turned down and so if you make an offer and get turned down you haveto either up your price by so much or select a different type hotel or area. So we have kept trying and upping our bids by $5 a day and finally today we had to get the room and so we bid $95 wich is unheard of with us and still got declined, well it turns out that here in Redding there is a weekend called "Cool April Nights" its like hot august nights in Reno I think with all the cars. SOOOO just about all the hotels are full and the ones that arn't are charging whatever they want. So we decided to just get a room the normal way and pay the riciculous rate. Well at this point we are just happy that we even have a room for the night and so wehead overto the pool room (Hot Shots Family Billiards, Redding, Ca.) Say hi to the owner and he seems like the Car show/cruise tonight may affect the show but who knows until we get there. After visiting fora few we decide to get to the hotel and rest for the show that starts at 7.30pm. As we check in we are told that as of 5pm all the roads surrounding the hotel will be closed for the cruise and that after 5pm we will not be able to get outside the area in a car. Great, so what do we do? We have to leave for the show 2 and 3/4 hrs early. Well we had a better idea, Nick dropped off the car 3 blocks away beyond the area that is closed so we will have to walk to get there. I just hope that the show gets a good attendance but with roads closed and this being a big deal here we shall see. We have a small clinic tomorrow at Hot shots at 11am ti 3pm and then we head right out to San Ramon, Ca. I am sure I will be reporting more later.
 
The car show hurt us in Redding for both the show and the clinic. I guess it happenes, The owner of Hot shots is a good guy and so is his wife. He knows he spaced it with the car show and booking us at the same time. However he was still happy with the turn out for the show as his hard core customers came and he was able to give them a treat. The show went great and all enjoyed it. The clinic was low but like I said Shit happens sometimes.
We left the hotel later than we wanted today and wanted to go to the Lumberjack for breakfast but with all the car people in town by the time we sat down it was already 10.35 am. We had not even put in our order yet and it didn't look goodto make it on time for the clinic so we ended up leaving and headed over to the pool room.
We got donewiththe clinic on time and usually we hang around a little after and BS with whoever but this time we had to get to The S.F Bay Area ready for a clinic at 11am and so we got out of there and got some McD's on the way out of town. Its about a 4 hr drive and we talked about all kinds of things from how to win the Mosconi Cup to clam chowder at Fishermans Wharf in S.F. The time actually flew by, but I took about an hour nap on the way. We arrived at the hotel, no problems all is good. JA and Nick wanted to goto the movies and I am not a big movie goer so I will stay behind and maybe visit the bar downstairs in a while.
So ifthere is anyone inthe S.FBay Area, please head overto CrownBilliards tomorrow for the clinic, its stealing at $200 a person for 4 hours. Also on Monday night we do the greatest show in pool starting at 7.30 pm also at Crown Billiards in San Ramon.
Someone asked me last night in the show, how come ot seems everyones who is selling shirt are charging $20? "The pool room do it they said and you guys are doing it, I know that t-shirts don't cost that much" I told them "You are right, I was thinking the same thing when I had to pay $170 for a hotel here last night and I was also thinking about it when the hotel wanted to charge me $10.95 for internet access and I really thought about it when I filled my gas tank inWillow creek and it was $4.35 a gallon. It crazy hey?" She said "Yeah it is, can I get 2 shirts please" :)
Ok, I hope everyone is doing well in their lives, I am ready to get home to my family. Not that I am not enjoying myself and not that my heart is not in this but its a long time away from loved ones. So if My Jessica, Brad and Maddi are reading this at all I love you and miss you.
Really looking forward to the next few stops, obviously here in the Bay Area, then Reno, then Riverside, Ca. Thats to the peoplewho have been so supportive through this thread and hope I am not dissapointing you too much or getting depressing. its just the real deal. Not all laughs and giggles but maybe a different side of things.
Thank you to Rubyron who is a great guy and helps us with shirts forthe tour, we can't do without him. Also thanks to all the people who have written me PM's and emails encouraging me to keep jotting down the days as they happen. I'm sure I will be back in the morning.
 
Thanx for the update:thumbup:
I know of what you speak about being away from home. . .been in az since July of 2010 . . .home is Seattle.

gotta do what we gotta do.
 
Scott Lee said:
Yikes! Talk about the long way from SF to LA! LOL Hope you guys have all great shows and clinics Mark! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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Thanks Scott, its actually worse than that its gonna be Reno to LA. I think thats a little longer. Just happy its with the 2 guys I am with, It couldbe the Earl show in the car for 10 hours lol :) Just kidding, Earl is one of the greatest players who ever lived. I know this cos he has told me many times. Thanks for the support.
 
thommy said:
Thanx for the update:thumbup:
I know of what you speak about being away from home. . .been in az since July of 2010 . . .home is Seattle.

gotta do what we gotta do.
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Thanks Thommy, Seattle is a cool place but the weather is better in Az :) However Family are the best to have around even in the worst of weather they seem to stick by you.
 
riverside

Mark-

When do you guys get to RIverside?

I owe you and Nick a drink(Ok-JA too) from last year. Thanks again for the time and lesson last fall.

Is there an APA related show scheduled there?


Travel well
 
3RAILKICK said:
Mark-

When do you guys get to RIverside?

I owe you and Nick a drink(Ok-JA too) from last year. Thanks again for the time and lesson last fall.

Is there an APA related show scheduled there?


Travel well
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We get to Riverside late on Thursday and the show is on Friday. I am the only one that drinks really but I have no problem taking their drinks too :) As far as there being an APA related show, The Riverside APA League Operator is who has booked the guys for the show and is going all out to make it successfull. She is doing it for her league members but it is open to the public so you are welcome to come to the show. Look forward to seeing you there,
Mark
 
Yesterday was beautiful here in the Bay Area, the sun was shining and just a very slight breeze. We arrived at Crown Billiards around 10.30am and we had a couple of people waiting to get in for the clinic but they were not open yet. So wehung out a while just chatting and a few mins later someone arrived and let us in. I guess a group of people are putting together a documentary of some kind on Jay Swanson and they wanted to interview JA as he was good friends with him. I also got a few mins in the sun too as they did a little interview with me on the Legends and Champions Pool Tour. So we did that and I met with some people that I knew from before, one of which was Paul. Paul is a big guy and I remembered him from the Bar Table Championship in Reno a couple of years ago. He played Earl and Earl began to talk during his shots and just do what Earl does and this guy stopped in mid stroke and walked over to Earl and stood over him and told him "Earl if you want to act like a clown the circus is down the road, don't start your shit with me when I am playing" Earl never said another word but ran out the rest of the set as soon as he had a shot. so I hung out a little with the guys from the pool room anf JA played some 10 ball I think to begin getting ready for The U.S Open 10 ball and the match with Shane.
Today is overcast again but we do not have to do anything until tonight at 7.30pm. So weare going to head over to S.F and JA has never been to Alcatraz so we plan on doing that and then maybe having some seafood on Pier 39 and be tourists :) I will be back in touch later and recount the day on the Bay.
 
Just got back from out little tourist outing. On most of the times we have been out on the Legends and Champions Tour I keep the schedule pretty well filled and so we don't have time to go sight seeing and so to go and actually do something like this was fun. Nick just dropped us off and he went shopping in Union Square and said to just call him when were were ready to be picked up. So we get to the Alcatraz Ferry and the next one that we could get tickets for was in 2 hrs time at 1.10pm So JA an I walked down to Pier 39 and went to see the sea lions and eat some lunch. We ended up at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co and time flew by to the point that we had to hurry to catch the boat to Alcatraz. We had decided that our best move was going to be to leave S.F around 2.30pm -3.00pm to avoid the traffic on the Bay Bridge. So we didn't have alot of time to play with and so once on the Rock we headed right to the cell house to take the audio tour that takes 45 mins. I have donethisbeforea number ofyears ago but I totally forgot that to get to the cell house you have to walk a way and its all up hill. So by the time JA and I got to the top we were both panting and the back of our legs were hurting.

The tour was good and has alot of interesting info if you get the chance to do it I recomend it. Cos you get a couple of boat rides out of it too. The sun ended up coming out and so I think I may have caught a little sun and the fresh sea air always makes me a little tired. Anyway The next boat to leave is at 2.45 and it was 2.30 when we got done with the tour. So this time we ran down the hill to get there and see that there is sooo many people in line for the return ferry back to S.F. It didn't look good to us that we would be able to get on this one and may have to wait now til the next one. Amazingly enough we got on and old Nicky was there to meeet us. Great timing, we also got over the bridge and back to the hotel in good time that also surprized us. I do feel a little tired from all the excitement and fresh air. We have the show tonight at 7.30 at Crown Billiards so if you are in the area please come see us and say hi. If I think of anything else I will come back.
 
fathomblue said:
Keep it up, Mark. There are lots of us reading this and living vicariously thru you 3 guys.
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Yeah it sems the number of Views are always moving up. Thats the only reason I keep going.
Well we are getting close to the end of the tour, just Reno and Riverside left after tonight. Not sure if setting up tours that are this long is the right move. As much fun as it is exhausting. I saw a pic ofmyself at the start of the tour and then one from a couple days ago and it is ageing me :) Thanks again for your support.
 
Just got back from the San Ramon exhibition. It was a great time with an enthusiastic audience (including the tipsy girl). Mark, Johnny, and Nick are great guys, nice, and personable, and stuck around afterwards and talked to anybody and everybody as well as signing autographs. The show was very insightful, getting to hear Johnny's thoughts as he worked his way through racks and Nick's quips during his trick shots and the open Q&A session. It was definitely worth the time to make it out there for me.

Thanks for putting together the great tour Mark! And thanks to Crown Billiards for hosting this stop!
 
1hit1der said:
Just got back from the San Ramon exhibition. It was a great time with an enthusiastic audience (including the tipsy girl). Mark, Johnny, and Nick are great guys, nice, and personable, and stuck around afterwards and talked to anybody and everybody as well as signing autographs. The show was very insightful, getting to hear Johnny's thoughts as he worked his way through racks and Nick's quips during his trick shots and the open Q&A session. It was definitely worth the time to make it out there for me.

Thanks for putting together the great tour Mark! And thanks to Crown Billiards for hosting this stop!
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Well thank you 1Hit1der and it was great to meet you too. I wish I had more time to chat but I was trying to de a few things at the same time.

As our friend 1hit1der stated the show went off well and everyone seemed to have fun. including Ja and Nick. Well it was kinda late when we ended up leaving the pool room and I was starving hungry. So I asked JA to stop by a McDonalds or BK actually anything would have worked but I guess all fast food ends in San Ramon and Concord after midnight but we didn't know this and so the we stopped at every McD's and anything fast food that looked open. Seems that these places leave all the lights on and signs on etc even though they are not open so we had no way of telling if they were open or closed without going up to the place and either driving through the drive through or getting out and checking the door. Someof the places didn't have drive thrus. So after about 6 of these attempts I can tell that the guys just want to get back to the hotel and not be driving around town all night but I am still hungry. This is one of those times where being on the road with a couple of guys for such a long period of time can start to grind on everyones nerves. Driving for hours together, eating together, staying at the same hotel and working together. Its easy to get impatient as everyone counts on the other for something and everyone has their own needs and wants but in this situation you have to give up alot for the others and do the things they want to do when they want to do them as we are all in one car. I will give you an example, the other day we were driving to S.F from Redding. JA and I just wanted toget there but Nick had this addiction to Lifesavers mints. He likes to buy the big bags that you can only really get a CVS or Walgreens. All of a sudden he says I need to get some mints and proceeds to check on the GPS where the closest CVS is. Well ot turns out its 5 miles down the freeway the direction that we just came from. He didn't think there was gonna be another coming up for a while as we were going into the country. So we turned around and drove 5 miled back the way we came to buy a bag of mints. so it wasted all told 30 mins. Man I could not believe it but hey its what he wanted to do and so we did it. Its just one example of having to give and take. So let me get back on where I was. So they are getting more and more frustrated with me wanting to keep driving around and checking. Finally they say "you got 2 more shots and then you are gonna have to get Chevron food". I was pissed at them and they were pissed at me and I was even more pissed when after the next 2 places I am still without something to eat as everything was closed. As I thought about it on the way to Chevron it was late, they ate before the show and I had every chance to eat then and didn't and they did try about 9 different places at like 1am. So I went with the old Staple of Vienna sausages and a tuna sandwich. All worked out and we are all still friends and also we all know that at this point anything that is said or if someone gets inpatient with the other that its just the road gremlins trying start a fight. We laughed about the mints and the fast food search. As we were driving Nick had his bag of mints in his lap and soI reached over and said "I gotta have one of these Mother F&*$@#S they got to taste like angels dancing on your tongue or something, I just got to know what what it is about these things" We all laughed, even Nick I think realized it wasa bit of a goofy move"
The next morning we headed out, by the way JA is not addicted to the mints and so has been eatingthem like crazy too, now Nick watches his money real close and won't try to get more than his fair share but he ain't gonna let anyone take more than their fair share and Before we leave town JA asks Nick if he needs to stop and get mints before we leave. He says he does and its about time that JA bought a bag or 2. So they get into a negotiation based on how many mints are in a bag and what percentage JA has actually been eating. Obviously JA's opinion was he had only had a couple and Nicks stance was that JA had eaten most of the last 3 bags. Well after a couple of mins JA got a smirk on his face that told us "Ok, I have been eating them, you win" so off he went and bought a couple of bags. Its actuallya nice drive up to Reno from the Bay Area. You get up into the mountains and there is still snow up there. We arrived in Reno about 2.30 and got into our rooms, Nick wanted to go to the pool room and setup some of his shots for the show that night and I needed to go and meet the owner and go over the game plan for that night to make it the best enviroment it could be. After doing a few hundred of these I kinda got an idea of what works the best. Nick wanted to eat before we went over there and so we didn't actually leave until 4pm. The GPS took us the shortest route but also right through downtown Reno andso it took us another 30 mins to get to the room which is only 8 miles away. We spend over an hour there and leave. So by the time we get back tothe hotel we had a little over an hour to rest and get showered and ready for the show, so as you can see we are a little rushed for time again. Mean while Rodney Morris calls and says he is in Reno for the night and heading downto the Western Challenge in Mountain View and was gonna come by and say hi. So we found a way to put him in the show and had him play a challenge match against JA. So he came we all chatted and had a drink or 2 after the show was over and went our separate ways.
This was last night and since we are staying at a casino I was all set on getting something to eat at whatever time I wanted :) I played a little roulette ate and before I knew it it was 3am. I was committed to sleeping in today for as long asI wanted as we have clinic at 6pm. Guess what? 8am comes along and I am awake CRAP! I tried to get back to sleep but no dice. So hopefully I will get a nap this afternoon.
JA just called and wants to go to "China Diner" Ja and Tony Ellin used to go there together before he died and they were good friends. So I think I am gonna do that at 12.30. I will be back with more asit happens. Stay tuned to T-Wheels TV :)
 
I guess I am not done. After tonights clinic we then drive down to Riverside on Thursday. Thats the drive we have all been dreading. Hopefully we have built this drive up to be a terrible nightmare enough that when we actually do it it won't be so bad.

Riverside is out last tour stop on this Western Tour for 2012 and so it won't belong before we are all home with our families again. Although we are getting a little tired, missing our families and all that comes with a trip like this we are still enjoying ourselves and enjoying meeting so many new people. Its like we may be sat around before the show and being quiet and just slouched in a chair and then we get to the show and BOOM! its like someone injected excitement into our vains and we are back in the game. Itsa strange feeling but in a good way. Anyway Just thought that I would mention that we are getting closeto the end. I am not sure what Iam gonna post about when this all gets done. Probably have to do something on aiming systems :)
 
China Diner was awesome. a hole in the wall place that has been there 50yrs with great food. Just sharing that :)
 
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