The “Horton & Hill - 800 Miles to Sobriety Tour” conclusion

[Horton]

The “Horton & Hill - 800 Miles to Sobriety Tour” has come to an end. It turns out that 800 miles may have been a poor estimate. I think it was more like 1400 miles and Shane’s truck looks like we put 140,000 miles on it last week.

 

The raw stats for me were: 6 lakes, 18 rides including 5 tournaments. @ShaneH skied almost as much as I did. What skiing Shane missed was made up for in beer consumption.

 

I want to say thanks to the folks at Cedar Ridge, QuickSet, Cottonwood, Cypress, Utopia and SMRR for the hospitality.

 

I always enjoy meeting Ballers around the world (even Leach). I can’t count how many Ballers I met last week. I also ran into a few old guys who asked me to give my regards to my dad - the real Original Baller. I was lucky enough to also get to spend a little time with some celebrity Ballers like Regina, Billy, T$, Hot $, The Chad and that super tall albino Canadian kid.

 

I have to confess what I was not even watching when Regina broke the world record. I was looking for a bottle of water and thinking about my skiing.

 

I will get some pictures up in a few days. All the funny ones are already in my Instagram / Facebook feed.

 

One last thing - Shane you are the man. Thanks so much for driving my around all week. (Don't Counter!)

[klindy]

Good to see you @Horton! Great trip! Enjoyed the time together at Utopia and SMRR!

[ForrestGump]

I thought a lot about this on the drive back to Houston. This trip reinforced my ideas of some of the things that are so right about our sport. Our sport is truly a fellowship of skiers. The hospitality shown to a couple of schmucks like Horton and I is humbling. 5 short years ago I was a 15 off skier trying to get to where I could shorten the rope. Today, the important thing is not that I can run a bunch more buoys(on days where I don't drink like a thirsty fish the night before). The important thing is I get to hang out with some awesome people. From normal Joes like Todd Leach, Mike Erb, Darwin, Keith Lindemuler, Jeff Greathouse, Dave West, etc. To Big Dawg skiers like Lonnie Harris, The Chad, Seth, Ward, Jerry Goodson, Marc Austin, Bruce Butterfield, the Kuykendahl brothers, etc. To pros like Regina, Billy Susi, and Trent. And every one of the skiers out there reading this can make friends with these same people. If you were a kid growing up with the dream of being a pro baseball player, you didn't have the option to call or email Alex Rodriguez. But we can all reach out to pros like @TFIN and @Sethski for coaching. And just as friends. I shared a bottle of wine with Regina Friday night, only hours after she set a new world record. Ok, maybe it was a couple of bottles of wine. ;) And last night Horton and I hung out with T$, T$'s adorable wife(now I know why T$ is so happy) and Billy Susi. Raise your hand if you think you could call Drew Brees or Tom Brady for cocktails after a football game. I think not.

 

A new pb is an awesome thing. But I meet new friends in this sport everywhere I go and that's an even better thing.

 

And for what it's worth............1693 miles from my door to my door.

[skidawg]

"Bottom of a Beer Glass"!!!

[MAD11]

Stop it Shane, I'm getting misty.

[Razorskier1]

@ShaneH nailed it. I always tell people new to tournament skiing that it isn't about winning, it is about skiing your best. Furthermore, I tell them that everyone on the dock and onshore is rooting for you to PB every time you hit the water. I remember my first ever tournament -35. I was down at the far end and the boat pulled up and went around the island. People were standing up leaning in to watch from down at the start dock end (of course my brother, wife and kids telling them all that this was the big one didn't hurt!). Ran it, came out the end gates and people were whistling, cheering, etc. I felt like I just set the world record! It is the friends and buddies you meet along the way that make the sport so much fun to be a part of. It is also fun to go to clinics and ski with great coaches. So far I've only skied with a few including Wade, CP, Jodi, Chet and AM. All of them were helpful, funny, and patient (well, maybe CP wasn't quite as patient, but man was he funny!). Great sport, great people - period.