Finally made it to the Rocky Top Bonspiel after hearing how much fun it was for the last 3-4 years. And I must say flying into Knoxville TN is one of the most beautiful countrysides I have ever seen ! Green rolling hillsides with a many a huge house at one end of the property, and pastures and green green green untouched land, simply beautiful.
My cheap-o GPS got us to the ice with no problem...except for one strange intersection just off the highway. Right, left, straight (sort of) or do we do one of the curvy options ? Our skip and broom bag hauler got a little lost.
NOPE that's not the ice house.....
At this point he called the Ice Rink and they gave him directions....his GPS needs a little updating I guess.
The crew from Ice King came down from Ontario and for the cost of the entry fee and all the beer they could consume (even into Monday I hear) took arena ice and worked their magic on it, they made it flat, no falls, no ridges, no negative ice, no negative turns, predictable curl, what a great job. If you play on arena ice you know what I'm talking about and can really appreciate the hard work.
I don't have a picture of the Ice King Crew...sorry, but this was our team. Handsome Dudes ! (Picture by Shana)One of the great things about summer spiels is not having to wear long pants. Of course if you are shy or have really knobby knees and skinny legs...well Todd and I don't or we don't care, we just wanted to be comfy. My knee brace just adds to the ??? effect don't you think ?
I guess David and Don must have some of the aforementioned leg issues ???
I really need to be comfortable, and we must have been very comfortable as we seemed to really click on the 2nd game. I know I didn't miss a shot the first 4 ends, which freaked me out into missing both shots in the 5th. (Pictures courtesy of the Curling Club via their Face Book Page)Our 2nd game didn't get going till about 1015pm, so by the time we had a few beers and chatted and got back to the hotel it was 2am. Good thing we won cause we didn't have to play till 2pm on Saturday.
It's always the goal to be playing on Sunday Morning, that's the goal next to getting some hardware, too bad we didn't have time to discuss that goal cause if you are going to lose a game it needs to be game 1 or game 2 NOT game 3. We lost game 3 to some nice folks from Milton Ontario, so we were OUT ! Time to head to the chow down at the Yacht Club on the river. Lots of beer, silent auction, lots of stuff, GREAT RIBS ! and did I mention lots of beer...just making sure.
Well since we didn't play well enough to play on Sunday and our flight didn't leave till 6pm, we said goodbye to Don and his wife Paula as they headed for North Carolina. Todd and Shana were heading to Nashville, so David and I took a drive to see a little of the Smokies and some really touristy spots that I would not want to see again.
The drive in the mountains was beautiful, the scenery was just as awesome, we made it all the way to North Carolina.
Can you believe these pictures were taken with my cell phone ? There is alot of history in these mountains, including the CCC (Citizen Conservation Corps) from the Great Depression days.
The Rocky Top is a good bonspiel, well worth your time and money, and they have unlimited beer ! Did I mention that ?
Click the link at the top of the page or click HERE to jump to the Great Smokey Mountains Curling Club.
