“Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride”
– Hunter S. Thompson
Well folks, it’s been a whirlwind. Within the last 24 hours of me living in Tahoe:
- It snowed 2 feet
- I finished my last day at my job and said farewell to all my coworkers
- I had packed everything that I could think of
- I got a ride to Sacramento to see my new home for the next 9 months for the first time
- We packed up the trailer and truck and drove to Las Vegas
And after a week of processing my new life all while learning to drive with a trailer, competing and failing to make the cut in my first tournament, and feeling uncertain about many aspects of my life; I finally find myself having a moment to reflect and I ask myself is it worth it?
Hell yes.
“Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant.” – Hunter S. Thompson
While my trepidation and fear are still present they slowly are fading with each day. But the only feelings that I have while disc golfing are excitement and happiness.
The Las Vegas Challenge is the first National Tour of 2019. The tournament is comprised of 3 disc golf courses spread out over the Wildhorse Golf Club. Starting on Thursday February 21st, all of the competitors played a different course each day through Saturday, and then the top 40% of the field would continue to play in the final round on Sunday.
The conditions were windy and cold for a majority of the tournament, and the competitors even woke up on Thursday to the first snowfall accumulation in Las Vegas since 2008.
My disc golf game for 2 of the 3 tournament rounds were, to put it lightly, dog doodoo. But, while frustrating at times, I still had a smile on my face the whole time as I met great people from all over the world and got play the game that makes me always feel like I’m home.
“Put on some golf shoes! Otherwise we’ll never make it out of this place alive. Impossible to walk in the muck. No footing at all!” – Hunter S. Thompson
The tournament was fun, but the week was wild. This 10 month journey starts and will end with my good friend Armando. We started to get settled into our new trailer for the first 3 nights in Vegas before Andy was able to come and hang out with us for our first tournament. When Andy showed up, we got the opportunity to stay at the “Blu – Las Vegas”. This is a house in Northwest Vegas and it has a very specific theme…
Have you ever seen an oven with a blue inside? Blue lotion, shampoo, conditioner and soap? Embroidered and logoed towels, wine glasses and mugs? A blue pool table? It’s very discombobluelating but it’s also incredible. It also had a Star Trek Pinball machine which drew my attention immediately upon entering the house.
After missing the cut for the final round of the tournament the three of us hit the Vegas strip and had enough fun to not want to return to Vegas for at least a year. Vegas is a weird place, but incredible with the right people.
“You better take care of me Lord, if you don’t you’re going to have me on your hands.” – Hunter S. Thompson
This past week has been a roller coaster. It snowed, I golfed, I lived in the world of Eiffel 65’s “Blue” for a few days, and I learned a lot about myself. This has been a wild first week to a life changing and incredible journey. As always, I am so grateful that I am living my dream and have friends and family to share my stories.
Discy Business 
Kevin’s Aunt Dianne, here in Tucson. The guys pulled in last night and were thrilled to sleep in our house after eating a lot and wolfing down some fresh brownies. We woke up to a walk to our breakfast place, continued the walk. Then I brought out my 12-string acoustic guitar which Armando instantly put to use for a couple hours. Kevin did some good tunes on his flute with him for awhile. We then turned our attention to painting some pretty cool pictures for their trailer…called acrylic flo. (See Kevin’s comments.) It’s been fun to be a part of the journey. Next will be a big barbecued steak and baked potatoes before they fly this coop tomorrow. Of course, if we treat them too well, they may never leave!!! Livin’ the Dream! Dianne
PS Hope they remember their clean clothes in the drier.
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