Justin, Tim, Ben and I did our first ever international disc golf tour on Saturday. It made for a long day, but, as the kids used to say, it was way cool.

We left before 8 am. On a Saturday. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Our first stop was the Little Mountain 9-hole course at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, B.C. Justin won the course by 2 strokes; Ben held on to Tim’s belt as Tim fished his disc out of the duck pond. I was doing well until the 8th hole when I threw the disc into the only real hazard on that hole—a 10-foot wide wall of cedar bushes that I nailed smack in the middle. For the rest of the day I was extracting my disc from trees.

The next stop was Tim Horton’s. They didn’t take Visa. Weird.

The next disc golf stop was Passive Park in Langley, B.C. It’s an 18-hole course with lots of brush, thick trees, and blind lines of sight. Justin and I tried this course a few weeks ago, and I lost my (then only) disc on the 14th hole. We all put $5 on the line for this tour, and it was obviously all Justin’s by the end of this round.

Next stop: U.S.-Canada Border. The digital read-out on the approach to the Pacific Highway truck crossing estimated the wait time at 50 minutes. Peach Arch’s estimate was 120 minutes, so we took our chances. Our actual time was closer to 75 minutes. Sure, it was a nice and sunny day and everything, but seriously, don’t any Canadians ever want to stay in Canada? (Jacquie says, “we are a people with cabin fever at all times.” I guess that explains that... now what about those funny accents?)

The last stop on our tour was our ‘home’ 9-hole course at Cornwall Park in Bellingham. Tim confidently says, “This is my home” just before launching his first disc 10 feet into a tree. “Welcome home,” I say. Both Ben and Justin parred this course; I stopped keeping track of my overall score, except that I knew that I had last place wrapped up midway through Passive Park.

Final Finish: Justin (+6), Tim (+10), Ben (+16), James (+22).

Yep, I got my disc handed to me. Despite that, I’m hooked. See you on the course.