Life happens. I guess that is all I can say about being lax in updating this blog. If there are people out there that really look forward to reading this blog, I apologize.


The Up in Smoke BBQ Bash in Mason City Iowa was just that, a huge bash. The crowds were perhaps the biggest we have experienced to this date and we had a ton of fun. Ruth Miller really knows how to roll out the red carpet for the cooks, and she knows the art of Nordic Cheerleading. Thanks goes out to her for putting together such a well-run and fun contest.


For some reason there are a lot of competition cooking teams from Ames, Iowa. Almost all of the them were there, and even more interestingly we were all placed next to each other for the weekend. One of those teams is Meadow Valley. It was great to get to know them and banter back and forth the whole weekend.


Once again, everything we turned in was solid. Solid enough in fact for a 5th place finish overall in what was probably the toughest field we have faced yet. We were very happy with the finish. Congrats goes out to Bare Bones BBQ, another Weber Smokey Mountain team who took home the Grand Champion. Also congrats to Darren and Sherry Warth of Iowa Smokey D's for the Reserve Call.


The best part of the weekend was after the wards ceremony we decided to stick around for a little bit and meet some of the other stragglers. We happened upon the Twyfords BBQ camp to find a crowd of people haning out. We decide to join them spending the next few hours having the most fun I have ever had at a bbq competition.

One of the reasons for this was the I was taught a new game by Randy Twyford. It is called "Here's To". Essentially, a bottle of Gentleman Jack is passed around to everyone participating and each person takes a turn going "Here's to (insert comment regarding your experience that weekend)". For instance one person, from what I can remember said "Here's to beating The Heat is On and winning my bet with him" The Heat is On is a one man team consisting of Mark Born who just happened to be there playing the game as well. This game went on for at least 2 bottles of GJ, and stopeed pretty much when everyone had their fill. You know, come to think of it it really isn't a game at all, but an excuse to drink a lot of whiskey. Fortunately, I was able to keep my wits about me to remember most of it. Once again it was an example of the wonderful comraderie that exists between all of the great people in the bbq world. "Here's To Randy and Marla Twyford for all the great advice they gave me that evening!" and "Here's To Darren and Shery Warth for the delicious pizza!"