Californians Tackle Tickfaw
When I caught up with Rick Bowling yesterday by phone, he was just leaving a Love’s truck stop in San Antonio, Texas, with his 37-foot Gone Again Talon catamaran in tow and heading home to Alamo, Calif. A likeable, longtime performance boat owner and well-known former offshore racer, Bowling and a couple of his friends spent last weekend exploring the Louisiana Bayou and Lake Pontchartrain in the 37-footer and making new friends at the Tickfaw 200 Poker Run. With some 600 miles behind them, Bowling and company still had 1,700 miles to go before arriving in home in Northern California.
For a pair of first-timers from the Golden State, last weekend’s Tickfaw 200 Poker Run in Louisiana was more than worth the long haul it took to get there. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
What inspired Bowling and his pals to make the long trip?
“Well, I was originally going to the Desert Storm Poker Run but I’ve done that like 20 times,” he said. “When they ended up being on the same weekend, I decided to go to Tickfaw instead because I had never been there before.
“We had a great time,” he continued. “Everybody is so friendly—everybody is always trying to help you anyway they can. It’s that Southern hospitality thing. The bayou and Blood River Landing, where it’s based, I guess the closest thing I can relate them to in my own experience is the jungle ride, without the hippos, at Disneyland.”
and then