Happy birthday Nevada

We are celebrating our state's 150 anniversary of statehood today, 10/31/2014.

All year, there have been many events around the state to commemorate this event.  We are celebrating this day at the Logandale Fall Festival.  It's an officially sanctioned event celebrating Nevada's statehood. 

We'll be part of the barbecue contest going on out there Saturday.  Come on out, there lots going on including a car show, carnival, lots of bluegrass music, trunk or treating and more.

Happy birthday Nevada!

Best Dam BBQ in Boulder City

This year is flying by...it's all ready time to head to Boulder City, NV for the Best Dam Barbecue Challenge.  The Rotary Club hosts this event every Memorial Day Weekend and they do a fantastic job.  We're hoping for great weather and a prize winning cook.  We've had a few calls at this event in year's past but this event seems to be our nemesis when it comes to getting a top 5 call.  This year we have Tracy, a KCBS certified barbecue judge cooking with us as she works for her master certification.  This should be a great learning experience for her and we're honored she chose us to cook with.  Hopefully, she will be good luck for us. 

This is a great family event with lots of stuff to do including a Kid's Que contest, kids zone full of fun activities, a beer garden, great BBQ meals for sale, a vendor's market and more.  Be sure to come out on Saturday to check it all out.  

Nevada BBQ Association is once again hosting a team/judge potluck dinner Friday evening.  Should be even bigger and better than last year from what I hear.  

Awards are supposed to be at 5:00om on Saturday.  We're hoping to hear a name...several times would be amazing.  

The Road To Bentonville...Day One

We hit the road early this morning because there was a lot of road ahead of us today.  After a brief stop at McDonalds we saw sunrise east of Kingman, AZ.  It was gorgeous.  



We stopped at a rest area outside of Holbrook to a much needed stretch.  Cassy climbed on the rocks, sniffed and explored...her favorit things to do.

 This time we were able to stop at the border and got the state border photos.  There are also some tourist attractions there as well with teepees, indians, dinosaurs and more.



Lunch was at the continental divide.  A couple of residents came out to check out the trailer. 



 

 

Timm and Scott did all the driving today.  We had to pay $4.25 a gallon for diesel...yikes. 

Our first for the night is Tucumcari, NM.  After 13-14 hours, the beds are comfy and the Pizza Hut was delicious.  Good night.

Our Summer Schedule

Things heat up in the BBQ world over the summer and many events are scheduled all accross the United States.  Here's where we'll be:

May 25,26     Best Dam Barbecue Challenge
                      Boulder City, NV

June 15,16     Northern Arizona BBQ Festival
                      Williams, AZ

July 6,7         Ace in the Hole BBQ Contest
                      Holbrook, AZ

August 31, Sept 1 
                    Smokin' in Mesquite
                    Mesquite, NV

October 12,13  Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Finals
                   Bentonville, AR

We hope to see some of our friends and family at few of these events. 

ACM BBQ Throwdown at Mandalay Bay

One hundred twelve teams came to Vegas to compete for $50,000 at the Academy of Country Music BBQ Throwdown the laste weekend of March.  They energy was high, everyone had a a good time, and the winds never did kick up like they were predicted to be.

We took out the new BBQ trailer and the toyhauler on Thursday to set up.  I'm glad Timm bought extra space for us...we were all packed in like sardines.  We had plenty of space and were able to set up without overlapping the two trailers.  The new trailer worked well just like the debut weekend prior in Mesa.  It's very efficient. 

Many of the Nevada BBQ Association teams were there competing, inlcuding Voodoo Zombieque.  They were having fun with their space.  They drew chalk outlines of people, pig, cow, and chickens infont of their space like a crime scene...awesome.  Congrats to them too...they got a top twenty call and won some moola!

Steve and Shirley of Sin City Smokers were there too.  They always set up a cool space with their flags, pig, and more.  Shirley does an awesome job with t-shirt sales.  Congrats to Steve...two, count them, two top twenty calls!

This time around I tried to get pictures with other teams, people, etc.  It seems that often we only end up with photos of turn in boxes.  Here's Timm with Kathy (Best Dam BBQ coordinator) and Bill from The Smokin' B.A.R.  They were our neighbors.  BBQ Junkie was right next to them.  We also met a few new local teams including We Love Racks, Smokin' O's and Black Hole BBQ.  Leon with Squat and Gobble judged this event. 

Before awards, we got to see Gloriana perform.  That was cool.  Aparently, the blonde gal isn't part of the band anymore. 

We thought it was going to be a nightmare getting out of there but...we were able to pull both trailers out of there before awards, parked them at the office, and was able to make an easy getaway when all was said and done.

No calls for us this year.  Our best was 26th in brisket, and 33rd in ribs.  The judges were tough, that's for sure.  Congrats to all the teams that made the call.  Congrats to Harry Soo for taking 1st overall and winning the $10,000 big check.

Mesquite Newspaper Write-Up

We are so pleased to have a feature on our little BBQ team in the Mesquite newspaper today.  They are featuring several teams I understand as a way to promote Smokin' in Mesquite over Labor Day weekend.  Today was our write-up.  Please check it out and we hope to see you in Mesquite to root us on to victory.  You can view the official website http://www.mesquitebbqchampionship.com/ for event details.  NOTE:  The big day for teams competing is Sunday...that's when we will all be cooking, turning in boxes and attending the awards ceremony.  We hope to see many of our family and friends out there.