Santa Fe Trip Recap

Pictures are coming one of these days, until then, from Bryan Dear…

Warning:

It’s long, It’s windy,
It goes on and on and on
Anon. (You know the self help group for people who talk a lot)

DU-RAN-GO

While it’s fresh in the mind, a huge THANKS to each of you for making Santa Fe such a blast. Durango was the place to be…. from. For my time, it was the best tourney ever. Here are some of my remaining memories – what with crs syndrome and tmi complex combining for an ugly mental combination, this could be just a work of fiction. And to be brief – hmmmm – don’t think that’s possible.

The trip started for The Van with a Pick up of Liane at 12:05 pm Friday – note the time.

Arrive on time at Dbltree at 12:30 rendezvous.

Converse w/ Liane for awhile (poor Liane) while waiting for our ultimate brethren.

Meet up with Joel, (Happy 21^st Joel) Chad and Flynn.

Get ice, get beer ….. trust me these stops take time.

Drive to Heartwood to pick up Mac, his cooler, his shot ski, his tool box and fantastic energy.

Depart Heartwood 2:05ish pm (still Friday).

In the Van: Bryan, Liane, Mac, Joel.

In Flynn’s car: Chad and Flynn – and to be picked up in Chama is Cold Beer alias CB alias Ryan – in which he is biking to S Carolina although he doesn’t want to wear himself out for the tourney so he’s stopping in Chama – got that? Flynn’s car is faster and off they go.

The Van goes (kinda of artistic saying “The Van goes” don’t you think?) at a steadyish pace. But the pace inside is very smooth as well. Of course there’s the first stop just to throw the disc. It seems that was just south of Pagosa Springs. Then on to Chama for aforementioned rendezvous which requires another great session of tossing the disc.

Isn’t it fun to stop a car and have people around you say, “Want to throw the disc?” There’s no begging, no asking for favors – it’s just that ultimate people like to throw the disc. This is one of my tribes.

All right then – it’s off to play wilderness golf in the national forest – note to self – a little further south will provide a nice canyon playground for wildiscgolf. Joel easily wins the style points with an actual golf disc and throws that are true and go forever. Happy Birthday Joel.

Ok, so now you know a little background why The Van takes a little while to get moving and why trips under 9 hours to Santa Fe are just not humanly possible. Be forewarned Ian – it’s a journey.

Happy Birthday Joel – in between the above lines were fresh drinks made from Mac’s portable, hand cranked blender, beer from our friends at Ska and other kinds of refreshments. The Van cruised easily, albeit at it’s own pace, through the roads and towns of NW NM.

So we hit the proverbial mexican restaurant in Santa Fe before arriving at Trucker’s place promptly at 10 pm ish (note the time). Liane is first in the door by crawling through this super skinny secret nook to unlock the doors where we are greeted by Otis, the great big friendly dog and Coker, his much older companion.

Disc up promptly at 9 am real time – umm, that’s 9am real ultimate time or 10 am for the rest of the world. Ok, ok, I got that now. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I think we’re building ultimate lore for Durango. 18 players at Savage with two teams (discrepid – trent, liane, bryan, mac, pakhi chaudhuri, joel, chad, ann, ian, price) and (purple guns – brian, meredith, cold beer, flynn, blair, kevin, jess, scott plus a pick-up-less kevin with a hurting thigh).

Out of the 15 dancers on the floor, maybe 2 were not from Durango. Of the skaters and scooters, Durango ruled. It’s not like we’re trying to win. We just want to play.

For discrepid or is that discstupid, we became Pink – code pink, hot pink, a-rink-a-dink, a-rink-a-dink, we’re pretty in pink and a lot of pink after the first day in the sun with just some awesome tan lines.

Some minor notes:

Trent – the field guide as it were – thanks for the leadership Trent. You looked ca-ray-zee on the roller rink.

Ann – psycho defense and best rah-rahs. Ann is one woman I can yell to “C’mon Ann, don’t let her run around you.” and she responds with a move into a higher gear.

Chad – up, up and away for the catch. Chad challenged so many throws while playing D – it was great to see him sky. And thanks Chad for being a guiding presence on the hotel scene when it got just a little awkward.

Joel – some sick Ds as well as big throws. Hang on to those knees – that’s what keeps ultimate fun for me now – healthy knees. And Joel’s smile can light a sideline up like no other – “Happy Birthday Joel”.  Joel’s glide around the roller rink on a scooter was so fun to watch. I remember trying to follow him on the skates

Mac – “The Catch” in the endzone, great skirt, plus major sideline gifts including the Bubba Keg. After almost every point in every game we had a water break along with the Bubba break – great sideline support and a HUGE thanks to Mac for bringing accessories, ingredients, portable cooler and great spirit for making our team so fun to play.

Pakhi Chaudhuri – at least one very nice pull down in the zone for a score plus yoga sessions that left me refreshed and not nearly as sore as what could have been. And there’s always my lost Hangman game on spelling your last name. I’m ready to play again.

Liane – some great heaters to the endzone for scores and geez what’s left to say – It’s all good? It’s all about honesty? Nah – you got da presence. And for whatever reason which I can’t at this time figure out, I’m missing the point.

Ian – too bad about that last score – see I call a foul on a play like that which makes you a much greater player with all kinds of great spirit. Be ready to ride next year.

Price – good to have the solid playing on the team – word to the wise – be sweet to all you meet, including hotel security guards.

Bryan – happy to be here, there and everywhere.

7-4 was our record. One of my favorite games was our first game on Sunday against Purple Guns. It felt competitive and spirited. Thank you Durango for showing up.

Thank you park hotel for the pool and hot tub.

Thank you private parking area for allowing the van to chill after our security guard boot out.

Thank you once again park hotel for pool and hot tub after our games on Sunday.

Thank you Trucker for allowing some ungodly number of people to crash at your place on Friday.

Thank you Van for running smoothly.

Thanks Joel for having a birthday.

Thanks Jamal for running an excellent tournament.

OK, for some the 5-2 format is not ideal and for that I wish I could make it better, but I think it’s out of my control. Thanks for going through it anyway- maybe there’s a better “O” we could work on to effectively use all of us in the game. I loved almost every minute of my experience – truly loved it. And I hope I get to go next year.

Great happy ending for the borrowed scooter – it was returned to the roller rink and we got to thank the proprietor for running such a fun program.

Special thanks to Jess jumping in the van for the return trip (that takes guts) and for keeping the banter up – I’m all about banter. It made for a very easy return trip. And great throw, Jess, on the Dgo / Dgo game for score. “Is anyone using the shower?”

Happy Birthday Joel

On the docket: Punk / Geezers

With lots of love, spirit and yee-ha,

Bryan