Road Trip 2002

Tournament Website

Photos

Results

Well, we're off. Only an hour behind schedule...I guess that's not too bad. I got 3-1/2 hours sleep...think it'll be a caffeine-fueled morning.

Have a great Fourth !

We're in Lakeland ! I'm too tired and too buzzed (4 amber bocks @ Chili's) to do anything. I'll upload photos and re-cap the last 4 days tomorrow.

Had a great time in Chicago and Indiana. Later...

The competition begins on Monday at 8:00 am. There are nearly 1000 boys and girls competing for $50,000 in scholarships. I had under-estimated the number of YABA members. There are 140,000 and just over 1000 qualified for the national championship.

We stopped in Chicago to visit Ryan and Amanda. They live very close to the lake, and seem to enjoy the area. It was a short visit-we went to lunch at Bar Louie's.

We arrived at Portland Mills, IN just after 8:00 pm, 13 hours after leaving home. Mom, Dad, Taffy (sister), Stevie (brother), and Paulie (nephew) were happy to see us.

I got up at 6:00 am to go geocaching. There was supposed to be a cache in Raccoon State Recreation Area, 4 miles away. It was last found in April, but a later post stated that it couldn't be found. I looked for an hour, then decided it probably wasn't there. Of course I had to leave one of my own.

I checked out the beach and drove through the campground. The place has certainly changed since we raised hell there in 1969. I went to take a look at the boat ramp in Portland Mills, and noticed a sign stating 'Portland Mills historical marker'. Drove down what appeared to be somebody's driveway, but it was the entrance to a little picnic area. It seems that there used to be a thriving mill in the area, and a covered bridge. The bridge was moved a number of years ago.

There was a marker on the site, which is the corner of four townships. I took the coordinates of the sign, and I will enter a 'virtual' geocache, asking who the site is dedicated to.

When I got back, the sleepy-heads were waking up. Later in the day, Billy (brother), Julie (sister-in-law), Victoria (niece), Pam (sister), Tony (brother-in-law), and Nikki (niece) arrived. It was a very hot day, but Dad had just put in a new air conditioner. Well, of course the power went out.

Kris, Kollin, Paulie and Stevie had gone swimming at the beach. Micki and I wished we had gone too. The power came on before the evening, so it was cool enough to sleep.

Paulie lives in Florida (!) with his mother, so he's staying with his dad (Stevie) for the first time in three years. He's 8, and I don't think we've seen him for five years. They seem very close, and happy.

Mom and Dad are spending most of their time in Portland Mills. I think they go home (Indianapolis) to do laundry, then head back. It seems like a nice bunch of people, and all are very friendly. The chosen mode of transportation is golf cart. Evidently, some restrictions were put into place, and there was nowhere to go for a 'ride'. So they built a bridge over a large chasm, hauled in $800 of rock, and cleared some trails. Sonny bought land for breeding horses, and Cecil is creating his own zoo, for the neighbors' enjoyment. He has a number of goats, 4 llamas, and two burros.

A neighbor made a birthday cake for Kollin (7/8) and me (7/5). It was a double size cake, one half chocolate and one half white. Very rich, and very good.

We were up at 6:00 and on the road by seven. My plan was to drive to Dalton, GA because it was about halfway to Lakeland. I found out almost immediately that nobodydrives the posted speed limit. I was going 10 over and getting passed by everybody. I decided to join the crowd, and cruised most of the way at 80-85. We were in Dalton at 2:00 (actually 3:00 due to time zone change). I decided to continue to Atlanta, then Macon. When we got to Macon, I was tired of driving, so we stopped at a Best Western (Free breakfast!). No rooms available-there were 17,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in town. Back on the road to Byron, GA-got a room and crashed.

Kris helped drive today. I'd been getting a runny nose, sneezing and feeling crappy from the temp changes-100 degrees outside to 60 degrees in the car and motel. Plus the Tavist was kicking me in the ass-snoozing is not good behind the wheel.

We didn't get to Lakeland in time for the 1st scheduled Minnesota check-in, so we decided to go to the open check-in at 5:00 pm. What we didn't know was that they were three hours behind, because someone broke into the Orange Dome, and trashed the place. All the vendor displays were wrecked, bowling balls were thrown thru a TV and glass doors, etc. A 30 minute process took 3-1/2 hours.

One hour official practice was scheduled at Interstate Lanes, then we went to the

Opening Ceremony, which was held at Cypress Gardens.

http://websports.8m.com/graphics/roadtrip/

Very hot, which was expected, but rare, overpriced bottled
water was not. The program was too long, but the ski show was pretty good. I don't know about it being the top draw in Florida, tho.

http://www.bowl.com/bowl/yaba/common/news/record.html?record=5696

During the athlete march-in at the opening ceremonies at Cypress Gardens, competitors from the Minnesota delegation wore specially designed shirts in a touching tribute to their late friend and bowling competitor Jamie Tischer. Tischer, an Alexandria, Minn., native, was killed in an automobile accident two years ago on her way back from the USA Junior Gold National Bowling Championships in Las Vegas.

http://www.lakelandledger.com/local/local/08fir.htm

Polk County's first golden arches was opened in 1958 by Herbert Bradstreet, who had moved from Aurora, Ill., to start the venture. The restaurant was the 100th McDonald's in the United States, and the first in Florida to have a drive-thru window.

I've been holding back on criticizing, but just about everything to do with this tournament is f*cked up. The maps and directions suck. The lanes and scorekeepers at Interstate Lanes were from the Twilight Zone. Some bowlers had to wait up to 40 minutes between games, when 5-10 is normal.

We had planned to go to Daytona Beach after bowling, but the rain was pouring down. We took Kollin to the Roadhouse Grill for his 16th birthday, and he had a 16 oz. Prime Rib. We decided to go to the dog track in Tampa. They also simulcast horse racing. It is the oldest track in America, and looks it ! LOTSof interesting characters tho. After three horse races and three dog races, we'd had enough. Back to the hotel for cake.

Oh yeah, the scores.

Kollin:

When it rains here, it rains hard and long. Then it gets hotter.

Kollin:

Kris is 495th and Kollin is 577th out of 706. They've both had some tough luck, but really weren't able to find their shot. We have one more day of qualifying, but expect to be in the second-chance tournament which starts tomorrow. A number of the MJBT bowlers are still in the top 100, including Josh, a friend and college teammate from Mankato.

...but tomorrow is a new start. A second chance tournament for 320 boys, and Kris and Kollin are both entered.

Kollin:

After bowling, we went to St. Petersburg, ate at Bennigan's, then spent three hours at St. Pete's Beach. It was our first time at the Gulf of Mexico, except Kollin was there when he went to San Antonio with school band last year.

A good time was had by all. Will we make it to the Atlantic? Time is running out.

Kollin:

and it's great to be home again. Daytona Beach was a blast !

More later ...

a 1994 Plymouth Voyager. A little cramped in the back, with 11 bowling balls,

cpu, monitor, printer, (all packed in original boxes),

luggage for 4, and a cooler.