A final goodbye....

So it's time to go home... Mixed emotions.

The bowling didn't end so good.... I felt confident going in to the final block of 6 and started OK with games of 222 202 222 & 210. The lanes played so different compared to the other 2 squads and all the bowlers found a whole load of carry down which made carry really hard. Luck was definitely not in my side in games 5 & 6 as I left five 7-10 splits from pocket shots. Unfortunately I let this affect my confidence and then missed a couple of other spares. I had games of 184 154 to finish on 1194 for 6 games making my total for 18 games 3724.

I didn't want to write my blog straight away because I don't like hanging onto negativity and I was pretty down and disappointed and that would have reflected in my blog. When I look back at the tournament at a whole I have a lot of positives to take and I have learnt more valuable lessons making me a stronger person & better bowler.

The last 3 days have been a bit of a whirlwind for Lisanne & I. Neither of us made the cut so we took advantage of being able to let our hair down and enjoy being able to relax. We did a bit more shopping, sunbathed by the pool, hit the casino tables and sampled a few cocktails!

I have met some new friends here in Reno, had some valuable conversations with knowledgable people and watched some amazing bowlers. The final last night was an experience, the opening ceremony included a choir, military, fireworks & an aeroplane! The bowling was crazy and due to the elements the oil was challenging and the ladies played the finals with spare balls - fair play to Kelly Kulick for rising above and winning the tournament! She led from day 1 and the $40k was definitely deserved.

I always have mixed emotions just before I come home. I'm excited to see my friends & family, I love England and I cant wait to come home for Fish & Chips! But I miss 'living bowling' When you're away on a bowling trip, everyone shares the same passion! I love being around people who love the sport as much as I do! It's hard to explain to people that aren't involved within bowling but trust me -it's amazing!

So it's time to come home, as always the 7 days have passed so quick and I have learnt more valuable lessons to take away ready to improve for next time!

I have a couple of weeks off now to relax and recover from the jet leg before playing the Euro Fives with Powerplay Pro Shop at Norwich! It's a Team England ranking event so equally important, we are all bowling for points to get us into the Nationals squad and hopefully selected to travel to the Championships next year!

It's time for me to get to the airport, fingers crossed for non delayed/cancelled flights :-)

Thanks for your support as always!

Much Love, J xXx

A jump in the right direction...

Lisanne & I both had a nice relaxed morning yesterday, late breakfast then took time getting ready to go to the bowl for our squad at 3pm.

Yesterday was so much better on the lanes! I found a good reaction with my Storm Crossroad after I touched it slightly with a 2000 pad. I opened up with 243 and felt happy with with how I was playing. I followed this with a 208 & 279 - damn you 4pin!! It was then time to move to the other side of the the centre and guess what... My balls hooked up early! This side of the centre is so much hotter so more than likely this is the reason for the change. I panicked and started to fish around for something new that wouldn't hook early and scraped a 181. When I moved lanes again I went back to where I was before and had 205 & 206 for a 6 game total of 1320 which puts me +130 for the 12 games!

After day 1 I was in 106th place, today I made a jump of 42 places to 64th. The cut is 50th and currently it stands at +169

We bowl another 6 games at 8pm (4am UK time) I'm hoping for a block just as good or better than yesterday to give me some chance of making the next cut!! :-)

We had a really fun night last night! Lisanne & I met up with Olivia for some fun :-) we had cocktails, gambled some and played in the arcades! Spent about $10 trying to win a smurf which is worth about $3 but she's cute ;-)

The lanes have started to be installed outside beneath the arch - its gonna be amazing!

Don't have much planned for today, just relax and prepare for the bowling later!

Wish me luck :-) Much Love, J xXx

An eventful 48 hours.....

Well Heathrow to San Francisco went good, nice flight, good food, quick & easy through customs! I turn on my phone to an email telling me my flight is cancelled - the joy. Then another email saying I was scheduled on a flight at 10:35pm the next day - Erm I don't think so!!!

After arguing with the airline and them not being able to get me on another flight my only option was to drive!! 4hr drive seemed OK til I hit San Francisco rush hour traffic - Blurgh! I did get to drive through the forest near Lake Tahoe which was beautiful though! 5 1/2 hours later I arrived at the bowl at 9:45pm so I missed official practice, which wasn't ideal!

It didn't take long to realise I was ready for bed, I met up with Lisanne after her practice and we came straight to bed! We are staying in the Circus Circus which is......... Strange! It's clean and our room is big but it feels like we are 50 years ago :-/

It is connected to the Silver Legacy & Elderado so between the 3 hotels it's huge, loadsa restaurants and lots of slots!!

I slept good last night and the car didn't need to go back until 4pm so we decided to take advantage & drive to an outlet mall! The shopping started off slow but it soon picked up! Bought myself 2 new Adidas jackets, Tommy Hilfiger polo shirt & sunglasses, some Vans and a pair of cute Vans for my nephew :-)

Onto the bowling...... The bowl is amazing, so big I could get lost ( I haven't as yet ) I started off real good 223 268 & 210. I then moved to the other end of the centre and noticed a massive change in reaction, the midland was really burnt up and my balls started hooking a lot earlier so I made a move inside and scored 190. The next 2 games were not so good, I chased the lane left but kept hitting the burn. When I got far enough left to avoid the midlane I couldn't get my ball to recover :-/ in the last few frames of game 6 I decided to make a move right and change to a weaker ball that would get through the mess! I ended up with 162 157 for a total of 1210.

Disappointed doesn't come close, it doesn't feel good to go from +100 to +10 in 3 games but I do have some positives to take!

I played the lane good at the start and I felt like I was throwing the ball good too. I missed 4 spares in the last 2 games but before that my spare game was also good! We won't play on the 'burn' again so I'm hoping I can find a reaction like the first 3 games on the fresh pattern tomorrow & Sunday!

We play tomorrow at 3pm (11pm UK time). Have no plans for tomorrow just chill out & relax :-) its nice bowling in the afternoon & evenings - all morning to take things at a slow speed!

As you're all waking up it's time for bed for me! I'll leave you with some photos of the snowy mountains from my flight & of the National Bowling Stadium!

Much Love, J xXx

The Reno adventure begins.....

So.... It's finally here! I've been excited about this trip since the seed was planted in November last year. 7 months on, I'm checked in @ Heathrow terminal 1, eating breakfast waiting for my first flight to San Francisco!!

I've been a little bit jealous cos my friend & roomie for the week arrived in Reno yesterday - I had to work! Bad Times!

So... What am I doing in Reno?! Women's US Open at The National Bowling Stadium. If you've never seen that place pop it into google - it looks AMAZING!!! The tournament website is www.bowlingsuswomensopen.com there is about 190 regular entries! It's a long format with practice starting tonight and the first block of qualifying beginning Friday at 7:30pm for me.

Today is gonna be a long day! I have an 11hr flight to San Francisco, a couple of hour connection before a 58 minute flight to Reno! I should arrive in Reno at 5pm (1am UK time) I have official practice at 9pm -10pm which will be 6am UK time! Hoping to sleep a bit on the plane!

Friday morning 10:30am I am playing the singles & doubles event in the USBC Women's Championships! I'm very excited to get on the lanes tonight for practice :-)

Reno is 8 hours behind UK time so think of me when you're all tucked up in bed tonight!!

Much Love, J xxx