Wow. You wouldn't believe what I've been through the past few days.

I tried leaving Laughlin (the place 100 miles south of Vegas with the free hotel room) at midnight on Monday so I could roll into Phoenix Tuesday morning and still be a couple hours early for the start of the PDGA Summit meeting at 8am. I started up the Winnie and drove off. After a few miles she began to sputter and stutter while I was climbing a particularly nasty hill. The hill was pretty steep and it only took about 30 feet to slow to a dead stop. This wasn't the first time this problem had come up. Eight months ago the ole Winnie was having similar problems and I had traced the bug to the fuel selector switch on the dash. The switch is used for choosing which of the two fuel tanks are to be used. There was a short so I had secured the 'hot' wire in such a way that it made a better connection and had since forgotten about it. It would seem that now -- 12,000 miles later -- my temporary repair had given out.

I decided that this wasn't the best place to get to work on the problem since I was on the side of the highway on a steep incline and in the dark. The last time I had this problem I could still start the Winnie and she would run, but at about 30 miles per hour there wouldn't be enough gasoline coming through the system to keep the engine running. I started her back up and crept down the hill back to Laughlin. I'd fix it in the morning and show up to the board meeting a little late. Oh, but wait, I'm getting way ahead of myself...

Disc Golf Saved My Life Brian 'MadDog' McCree was putting the finishing touches on his plans for joining the PDGA National Tour. He had saved up some money and honed his game to a degree that he hoped would earn him enough money to survive on the road. He would work his last days and head out for adventure on the open road with his dog and two friends who also had dreams of fame, fortune, adventure and success... sound familiar? Smartly, Brian had made an appointment with the doctor to get himself checked out before he lost his medical insurance as a result of being unemployed. The doctor questioned him about a discoloration of the skin on his left forearm. Brian stated that it had been there for awhile but it didn't hurt and he wasn't worried about it. The doctor performed a biopsy and the results came back... Cancer. Skin cancer to be exact, but completely operable. Brian had outpatient surgery performed (they took a pretty deep slice out) and still has to have stitches removed (now that's hard core). He'll be getting checkups while on tour. Now... if Brian had never gone on tour then he wouldn't have had a doctor check him out. Disc golf saved his life. How about that?!?!

We got back to Innova from Texas on Tuesday night with a bit of help from Al and Sue. Al picked through the plant for some of his 'stroke shaving' Birdies and the Winnicrew got back to work. That night we finally met up with "Team Wendell."

Who the heck is Team Wendell? Well... I'll tell you. Remember when we were in Raleigh/Durham over the past few years (has anyone been reading these for three whole years?) we would stay with Brian (MadDog) McCree, Brian Schweberger, and Dave Mansfield? Well, guess what.... Brian and Brian just couldn't stand seeing us have so much fun from year to year that they quit their jobs and bought a motorhome. Yep, it's true... the Winnicrew has reached out and converted two otherwise upstanding American citizens to a life of gypsyhood.

They bought a Dolphin, made by Toyota I believe, and packed up their stuff (MadDog also packed his dog, Yukon, a fine Siberian Husky. They quit their jobs after banking some cash and seeing the doctor for the last time (see Disc Golf Saved My Life) then picked up Billy Crump (who helps run the USDGC each year) and headed for Texas to meet up with Brian Mace for a quick visit on the way to Innova West to meet up with us.

Now, you know, our national law enforcement must have been in a tizzy when the word hit that there was yet another motorhome crammed full of disc golfers driving all over the country and messing the place up. The efficiency of our tax-supported police force was put to the test: within 24 hours Team Wendell had been pulled over, searched, and generally harassed to such a degree that they'll think twice before breaking any laws. The police were forced to let our heroes free in the end due to the pesky fact that they had done nothing wrong.

So, with their travelin' cherry now popped, Team Wendell continued on to California where they parked for the night behind the Innova plant with us. We figured that since we had sort of contributed to their delinquency away from the almighty work force, had stayed at their house quite a bit over the past few years, and they're top notch golfers and pretty cool guys, that we would do what we could to get them on the team with Innova. Six hours later it was a done deal. Welcome to the team guys.

MadDog grew up in the L.A. area and had some friends in town. They fired up the Dolphin (which is in much, much, better condition than the Winnie) and headed for a friend's house near the course. We worked another day and headed out to Pasadena for the Wintertime Open.

Wow, I've done quite a bit of typing and still haven't even gotten close to getting caught up. I've gotta take a break here. I'll write some more in a couple days.

-Todd and crew

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