Aloha Gang,
It all started three months ago with a phone call to South at Stalker Recurves...
At the time we were discussing the Static Stalker. I had mentioned to him all the positive feedback that I was receiving from those that shot my bow. I also stated that there were some who owned and preferred the the original riser but wanted the performance of the static limbs. That's when he mentioned that after returning from his Colorado backcountry hunt, he'd be working on developing static limbs for the original riser. Immediately, I told him that I wanted to be #1 on his waiting list!
Jokingly, I told him that I'd love to be able to see what goes into the R&D process of building a prototype bow. He mentioned that as long as he was in his shop, I was more than welcomed to come and visit.
After I got off the phone, I quickly checked my schedule and saw that I had a one week break in October. With high hopes I emailed South my available dates for travel. He confirmed that he'd be there during those times, so I immediately booked my airfare.
Fast forward to this past Friday. I left on the "red eye" to San Francisco. Everything went smooth and the plane was right on time. It was only one more quick transfer flight and I'd be in Eureka! Half an hour before departure, the airplane agent announced over the loud speaker "due to the weather flt. 2636 to Eureka/Acadia is canceled". CANCELED! "What do you mean canceled?" I thought to myself. I immediately ran to the agent and asked what I could do. He told me that "I'll put you on standby for the next few flights but I can only confirm a flight for tomorrow morning". Tomorrow morning, and what if the weather's bad again!, I thought to myself. Boy was I in a pickle!
Being from an island with little experience in the mainland, I felt like a fish out of water! With things looking as gloomy as the weather, I sat down to think about my options. Fortunately, I was sitting near others who were stuck in the same situation. I overheard that the were planning on renting a car and making the five hour drive. With nothing to lose, I went over to ask if there was room and if I could join them. Fortunately there were the nicest group of people and graciously offered me a ride!
"The Bridge" fogged in
Sausalito
Passing time, scouting for bears
Final pit stop
Thankfully, last night I reached my final destination with the help of my new friends from Maine, New York and Texas.
I'll be sure to give the gang a semi-live update with pics and information. South already has a couple "roughed out". I'll get to shoot those tomorrow morning and hopefully I'll get to lend a hand in building my own bow. Let me know if you got any questions about the new static limbs for the original Stalker riser. I'll be in South's shop till Thursday!!!
Aloha from Fortuna! :D
Ryan