Joe & Mikey's Excellent Adventure

[Joe Valencic]

Well, it was a really nice show put on by the Penns Woods West TU Chapter in Pittsburgh yesterday. Ohiotuber (Mike) drove so I was held captive both ways for the ride in the "Tubermobile," following a huge breakfast at o-by-God-early in the morning. Boy, can that guy eat! I'm almost twice his size but Mikey ate twice as much as I did, then kept looking at the toast scraps and five potato shreds left on my plate. I forgot what his breakfst special was called, but they delivered it to the table in a 1.5 gallon galvanized pail, and there were no prisoners left behind.

The show had all the usual suspects from the area, including Hook & Hackle (FAOL Sponsor) who are now based outside of Pittsburgh. Got to meet Ron and his staff, and picked up a $60 fly line for $20 (show special). Really nice folks who work very hard to provide good quality at fair prices. They had people packed around their booth all day long.

It was really nice to see a large contingent of kids who were affilitated with Family Tyes ( http://familytyes.com/ ). My FFF Club is going to start working with this organization in the near future, and I was able to get a picture with some of the kids who are mentoring other kids in this effort. Check out their website if you think you would like to do something to help kids. These kids are really good fly tyers and you should see some of the rods they've built as well. The kids built and donated two rods that TU used in their fundraiser raffle, and they were very well done.


This was my first field trip with Mikey and his longtime friend Paul. Mike is a great guy who has a good sense of humor. It really showed when we left the show to get some lunch at a local eatery, and were faced with a bit of a dilemma. You see, we all hail from the land of Orange and Brown (Cleveland Browns fans), and we found ourselves displaced in the land of:


So, did we act like visitors should when in the camp of the enemy? Noooooo! First thing Paul did was to ask the waitress if she could bring us something in Brown & Orange to replace the black & gold pom-poms. This is NOT something strangers should say BEFORE their food order goes into the kitchen, but it was done and now we had to try to get out of that joint in one piece.

We got our food, but were pretty much ignored the rest of ourtime while the locals watched a Black & Gold hockey game on the tube while sucking down Iron City Lagers and watching us from their bar stools. I finished my sandwich and then "Lunch Hooks Flannigan" kicked into gear eyeing the remaining french fries on the table.


Once the food fest was over we ambled back to the show so Mike could continue to work his "bucket raffle scheme" with his friend Paul. Paul would send telepathic messages over the ticket bucket of the item Mike wanted to win, and then Mike would strategically toss his ticket into the bucket in hopes of winning said item. They spent a lot of time putting the "WAMMY' on the bucket for the pontoon boat and tossing tickets into the "corners" of the round pail.


At the end of the day we managed to get out of Pittsburgh without being beaten up, and sans the pontoon boat and other prizes as well. We laughed once we crossed the border back into Ohio, and made all the expected remarks about the Iron City crowd we left behind. I fell asleep in the front seat of the Jeep, and life was good once again.

Thanks for the fun trip, Mike. Sure wish you were going with me to Warren Michigan for the show this weekend. We could try to get thrown out of that town as well.

Joe

[ohiotuber]

YEP! It was a great trip & we had a ball! The breakfast I had is called the "Killet Skillet" from a restaurant called "Yours Truly"...they have 7 & we stopped at the one in Hudson, Ohio. The dish is hash browns, laced with green peppers, onion & cheese, topped with 2 eggs "over easy", with 2 strips of bacon, 2 large sausage patties, & 2 thick, well buttered slices of ciabatta bread toast...OH BOY!!!
At the show, I got my TU membership "special" for just $17.50 from Rick (from FAOL & TU), & visited with many friends, including Chuck McKinney from Family Tyes & Ron from Hook & Hackle. BTW, if any of you are interested in a Downs Chest Pack, PM me & I'll put you in touch with Chuck. His price on these things is BY FAR the best you'll find, & the proceeds benefit kids fly fishing & tying...it doesn't get any better than that. Ron is a great guy, & he is so eager to provide excellent service to FAOLers, AND everybody else. He has experienced growing & moving pains, but you CAN'T question his desire to provide outstanding product, price, & service. Give him a shot folks...I certainly will endorse him. The only disappointment of the show for me was that when I went back to buy a couple of those $20.00 lines, he was GONE! I DID, however, pick up a 6 wt Wulff Triangle Taper for $40.00 at another shop, & that was a super buy.
Joe...I MUST correct you...it was ME that made the orange & brown remark, & I MUST say that our waitress was nicer to you guys than she was to me. Some people just have NO sense of humor!
Seriously, as Joe & I have both stated, it was a great show, well worth attending. I applaud Penn Woods TU for all the hard work they put into this, but DOGGONE IT, I had BETTER win somethin' next year!
Mike

[DShock]

Well, it was a really nice show put on by the Penns Woods West TU Chapter in Pittsburgh yesterday. Ohiotuber (Mike) drove so I was held captive both ways for the ride in the "Tubermobile," following a huge breakfast at o-by-God-early in the morning. Boy, can that guy eat! I'm almost twice his size but Mikey ate twice as much as I did, then kept looking at the toast scraps and five potato shreds left on my plate. I forgot what his breakfst special was called, but they delivered it to the table in a 1.5 gallon galvanized pail, and there were no prisoners left behind.

The show had all the usual suspects from the area, including Hook & Hackle (FAOL Sponsor) who are now based outside of Pittsburgh. Got to meet Ron and his staff, and picked up a $60 fly line for $20 (show special). Really nice folks who work very hard to provide good quality at fair prices. They had people packed around their booth all day long.

It was really nice to see a large contingent of kids who were affilitated with Family Tyes ( http://familytyes.com/ ). My FFF Club is going to start working with this organization in the near future, and I was able to get a picture with some of the kids who are mentoring other kids in this effort. Check out their website if you think you would like to do something to help kids. These kids are really good fly tyers and you should see some of the rods they've built as well. The kids built and donated two rods that TU used in their fundraiser raffle, and they were very well done.


This was my first field trip with Mikey and his longtime friend Paul. Mike is a great guy who has a good sense of humor. It really showed when we left the show to get some lunch at a local eatery, and were faced with a bit of a dilemma. You see, we all hail from the land of Orange and Brown (Cleveland Browns fans), and we found ourselves displaced in the land of:


So, did we act like visitors should when in the camp of the enemy? Noooooo! First thing Paul did was to ask the waitress if she could bring us something in Brown & Orange to replace the black & gold pom-poms. This is NOT something strangers should say BEFORE their food order goes into the kitchen, but it was done and now we had to try to get out of that joint in one piece.

We got our food, but were pretty much ignored the rest of ourtime while the locals watched a Black & Gold hockey game on the tube while sucking down Iron City Lagers and watching us from their bar stools. I finished my sandwich and then "Lunch Hooks Flannigan" kicked into gear eyeing the remaining french fries on the table.


Once the food fest was over we ambled back to the show so Mike could continue to work his "bucket raffle scheme" with his friend Paul. Paul would send telepathic messages over the ticket bucket of the item Mike wanted to win, and then Mike would strategically toss his ticket into the bucket in hopes of winning said item. They spent a lot of time putting the "WAMMY' on the bucket for the pontoon boat and tossing tickets into the "corners" of the round pail.


At the end of the day we managed to get out of Pittsburgh without being beaten up, and sans the pontoon boat and other prizes as well. We laughed once we crossed the border back into Ohio, and made all the expected remarks about the Iron City crowd we left behind. I fell asleep in the front seat of the Jeep, and life was good once again.

Thanks for the fun trip, Mike. Sure wish you were going with me to Warren Michigan for the show this weekend. We could try to get thrown out of that town as well.

Joe

[DShock]

That was my first attempt to highlite a quote.
I'm glad you guys aren't in the hospital!
Doug P.S. (Pitt. Hospital)

Joe;
You have survived a road trip with 'tuber and will soon receive the coveted RTWM award (Road Trip With Mikey) I have one with double clusters for a 12 hour trip to Tennessee and 12 hours back!! At least he waits untill you are through eating before swooping down on the remains!!
He is banned from an "All You Can Eat" resturant in Tullahoma!!
Tell me, how did you manage to fall asleep? Was he asleep too?
Nice photos and great post!! Now I have another face put to a name!
See you in warren!!

[Joe Valencic]

Joe;
You have survived a road trip with 'tuber and will soon receive the coveted RTWM award (Road Trip With Mikey) I have one with double clusters for a 12 hour trip to Tennessee and 12 hours back!! At least he waits untill you are through eating before swooping down on the remains!!
He is banned from an "All You Can Eat" resturant in Tullahoma!!
Tell me, how did you manage to fall asleep? Was he asleep too?
Nice photos and great post!! Now I have another face put to a name!
See you in warren!!

You would have to know Mike to be able to ask that question. I spent 4 years in the service and learned to sleep through ANYTHING! I proudly accept the RTWM award and look forward to displaying it proudly in my office.

See you in Warren. I will be there Saturday, but not sure of the time yet. I'll post the approx time when I get back from my FFF meeting on Wed night.

Joe