Reno Recap

Fly or drive? Drive or fly? That was the question this year regarding my annual trip to the national bowling tournament in yet another attempt to assert dominance on the hardwoods while minimizing the inevitable embarrassment that goes with this sort of challenging territory.

This year’s event was in Reno. And because I’d be travelling with my doubles partner (BowlingBob) and his wife (Sharon) we ultimately decided to cram ourselves, our clothes, and our bowling equipment into his Toyota Tacoma Crew Cab and try our luck on the freeways, highways and byways.

It’s around a 13-15 hour trip each way, depending on which way you choose to go, so we decided to spend a night at a Super 8 Motel in Roseburg, Oregon each direction. For the uninitiated, Roseburg is an Oregonian word meaning “clusters of budget chain hotels that surround clusters of budget chain restaurants.”
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BowlingBob and Sharon Show Off the In-N-Out Goodie Bag

On the way down it was unanimously deemed to be really, really important to find an In-N-Out Burger place in Northern California. So what if it’s a couple of hours away? It’s against California state law NOT to stop at an In-N-Out Burger establishment when the opportunity presents itself. And the opportunity happened to present itself in Chico.
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BowlingJoe: Caught in an April Donner Pass Flurry

Chico also happens to be the home of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, but because of time constraints and the fact that we had several more hours to drive to Reno, we settled for the burgers. And they were damn good.

The rest of the trip there was pretty smooth except for some snow flurries on Donner Pass that were easily negotiated. [Okay…….time for a joke that’s klassy with a “k”: Overheard at a restaurant near Trukee in the Sierra Mountains: "Donner, party of eight..." (pause) "Excuse me, Donner, party of seven. Your table is ready."]
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Bowlers Rick, Brian, Tommy, and BowlingJoe after a fine Mexican Meal

We checked into the Sands Regency when we got there. Such a deal. $20 a night! And the place had a completely free happy hour for bowlers and dollar beers the rest of the time. I think I could afford to retire there. I mean NOW, at age 49. Big thumbs up for value with the Sands. Not the nicest place in Reno but dollar for dollar the best buy in town.

As far as any gambling activity it was confined pretty much to the Sports Book, where BowlingBob and I made some “sure thing” bets on things like the World Series and the Super Bowl. Because the event will be in Reno once again next year I have no doubt that we’ll be collecting thousands of dollars in 2011. Other than that, I watched BowlingBob rolling dice on the craps table for a while, and doing quite well until his luck imploded and he was handing chips back to the dealer (or whatever they call the guy who runs the craps table).
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BowlingBob: Pounding the 1-3 Pocket for his Family

Bowling? Oh yeah. For me it was a shimmer of greatness with a lone 222 game while spending the rest of the time wallowing in the mire of what my friend Brian refers to as “Junior League Hell”. As for BowlingBob, he got off to a pretty good start on day one, but suffered a tendon injury on the second day that ultimately forced him off the lanes for an appointment with Mr. Ice Pack.

BowlingJoe on Webcam: Hoping the Scoreboard is Wrong

When the dust finally settled and we performed our primal screams of frustration in the parking garage it was time to pack up and hit the road. But we’ll be back again next year. Same time, same place. Only next time it’ll be different. Really.

Reno Bound!

It's now the eve of a road trip to Reno with my doubles partner. As always, I'll try and bowl the best nine games of my life. And in my mind, I just did that! More to come....

(Photo: National Bowling Stadium in Reno, NV)

A Touch of Asia in Edmonds, Washington

I love going to Asian supermarkets. There’s nothing quite like live lobster tanks, piles of fish heads on ice and 30 different kinds of Kimchi for sale. We used to have to hit the road for nearly an hour to get this kind of experience some 45 miles away in Seattle’s International District. No more.

Jim and BowlingJoe hanging out by the crab tank

We’ve known about the 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds, WA (much closer to home) for some time but never really got around to checking it out until today. I’m wondering why it took so long. This place has an incredible selection of produce, fish, noodles, rice, sauces and everything else under the Eastern sun that I’m incapable of pronouncing correctly. It’s Mecca and Xanadu combined for those who are passionate about canned quail eggs (I’ll pass, thank you very much). And all of this at very reasonable prices.

I’m thinking that we probably spent 90 minutes today roaming the aisles with our friends Jim, Stephanie and their "cute as a bug's ear" 2-year-old daughter Katie. I wanted to buy everything that caught my eye: ginger sauces, dumplings, green tea drinks, and so on. But BowlingWidow was effective in containing my out of control enthusiasm.

We escaped with around $20 worth of groceries including some healthy Asian fragrant apple pears. But then there was also that $1.99 bottle of Taiwanese beer that may or may not be the deal of the century. That remains to be seen.

Hello Boss canned coffee drink: where do they come up with these names?

The afternoon ended with a delicious and plentiful family style meal at the Chinese T&T Seafood Restaurant that was next door. I didn’t keep track but I do believe that the net weight of what we took home in boxes exceeded what was consumed at the table. And that’s something you’ll never see at Denny’s. Nor would you want to.

Finally...The Elusive 800 Series

BowlingJoe With His Weapon of Choice: The Columbia Full Swing

After a lengthy hiatus it's time to write about bowling again. I figure that I've been bowling regularly for around 30 years when you take away the years that I was either (a) a baby/toddler or (b) unable or unwilling to come up with the discretionary income that's required to participate in league bowling.

A couple of weeks ago I was able to, through a combination of dialed-in shot making and plain luck, bowl the highest scratch (sans handicap) three-game series of my life. At 801, it was just above the water-mark of 800. Games were 278, 268, and 255.

It was particularly special since an 800 series is statistically at least three times harder to get than a perfect 300 game (of which I have just one from a very good night in May, 2003).

In fairness, professional bowlers usually have multiple 300 games and 800 series'. And they do it while bowling on lane conditions that are a lot tougher than what we bowl on in league. But for a 49-year-old guy who bowls once a week.....not bad. I'll happily add that to my bowling resume.

Chile Verde a la BowlingJoe

It's no secret that I enjoy cooking. Especially when I'm cooking something that originated in the Southwest U.S. or south of the border. The results are normally not stellar enough to warrant a blog entry but last Sunday I think all of the culinary lottery numbers were present and in the right order.

I used a few different recipes that I found online and attempted to take what I felt was the best from each of them. I present to you....my rendition of Pork Chile Verde. The chiles I used, by the way, were fresh roasted Hatch chiles obtained from the Everett Farmers Market last fall and frozen for occasions such as this.

If there are any other fans of Southwest cooking who happen to read this and try out the recipe, let me know what you think.

BowlingJoe’s Pork Chile Verde

2.5 lbs pounds pork butt or shoulder or loin (with fat trimming optional), cut into 2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup canola oil
2 small to medium white onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper roughly chopped
6 Hatch (or Anaheim) chiles (roasted, skinned, seeded and chopped)
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped or run through a garlic press
1 pound tomatillos (peel off the husk, quarter and put in blender process so still chunky)
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
2-1/2 cups chicken stock

Directions

Add salt and pepper to flour. Put the pork into the flour and coat lightly.

Heat oil, and brown the pork on all sides. Remove from pan and put into a Dutch oven
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Drain the oil from the frying pan and add the onions and green pepper, cooking until onions are translucent, 5 mins or so.

Add the Hatch chiles, jalapenos and garlic and cook 2-3 mins. Put this mixture into the Dutch oven; add the tomatillos, spices, cilantro and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 2 hrs or so, until the pork is tender. Serve with warm tortillas.

Yield: 3 to 4 servings

Weighing In on Bowling Averages

It’s been rough going for BowlingJoe on the lanes this year so far. My 2009-2010 league average is currently at 197. Down from a career-best 213 that I posted last year. There are probably a lot of reasons for this ranging from physical glitches in my release through the mental anguish that can snowball after weeks of not striking and missing easy spares.

While I’ve been trained to understand that correlation does not imply causation, I find it very interesting that my bowling average this year has dropped at roughly the same rate that pounds have dropped from my body. Is there something to this? And if there is, should I compromise my health and well being, gain 60 pounds and become the greatest bowler in the history of the sport?

A Weekend in Centralia

There’s something about taking a short trip on a train that just feels right. In the past, BowlingWidow and I have taken weekend jaunts both north to Vancouver B.C. and south to Portland, Oregon. A couple of weekends ago, Al Stewart and Dave Nachmanoff were playing a concert at Centralia Community College, creating the perfect opportunity to take Amtrak from Everett, WA to Centralia, WA, a small town around an hour south of Tacoma.

Along with our friends Leftynemesis and InteriorMaven (I met the left-handed one many years ago in my bowling league and in fact officiated the wedding between him and InteriorMaven…..but that’s another story), we boarded the train and settled in for the three and a half hour ride.
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InteriorMaven and Leftynemesis in front of the hotel

From the Centralia station we walked a short block to our hotel: the refurbished Olympic Club Hotel and Theater. McMenamins (a Portland based group well known for buying old schools and other buildings and converting them to cool getaway places) bought this old relic several years ago and refurbished it just enough to make it comfortable yet keep its rustic uniqueness.

Rooms are basic. No TVs and no private baths, though they do have sinks. Want to take a shower or use the toilet? There are a few of those on each floor which really didn’t present much of a problem. Besides, where else can you get a room with a queen sized bed on a Saturday night for 60-bucks and NOT have to call the police at some point.
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BowlingWidow: Lost in a Sea of Antiques

Did I mention that McMenamins brews their own beer and serves it in their restaurants and pubs? Yep, they do. Plays right into my hand. Hammerhead Ale. Terminator Stout. Sunflower IPA. And so on. They have something there for any beer lover.

The first thing we noticed while walking around downtown Centralia is the number of antique stores that are there. They’re everywhere. Centralia has more antique stores than there are Starbucks coffee places in Manhattan. None of us bought anything of any significance but it was a nice day just walking around.
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After the show (L-R): Dave Nachmanoff, InteriorMaven, Leftynemesis, Al Stewart, BowlingJoe, BowlingWidow
In the evening, we made the short walk to the concert venue, a comfy small theater where Al and Dave put on yet another splendid show. The difference in this show is that our seats were actually front and center. I skillfully took advantage of this windfall by shamelessly stealing the set list on the stage just before the encore. Al (who said he wouldn’t need it anymore) and Dave were glad to autograph it for me.

After a night that was interrupted a few times by train whistles – we knew that would happen being next to the train tracks – we awoke to rain. No problems, though. We met Leftynemesis and InteriorMaven at a nice little restaurant called The Berry Fields and ate well.
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The Concert's Set List: Shamelessly Stolen from Al Stewart

It became time for our friends to catch an earlier train back home, and with the rain BowlingWidow and I decided to hole up at The Olympic Club bar and watch some NFL playoff football with some appetizers and beverages. A fitting way to conclude what was a pretty nice little birthday weekend in Centralia.