Snow, Smoke & Slight Panic
If you ever want to test your sanity, your marriage, and your ability to push heavy equipment uphill… I highly recommend procrastinating to pack till the very last possible minute.
Our Men’s Expo weekend started out with what we thought was a solid plan. Thursday night, Austin got home ready to load everything up. Smokers, tables, gear—the whole shebang. And then… we made a decision that would come back to haunt us:
“Let’s just do it in the morning.”
Cool. Great. Love that for us.
Cue Friday morning… and Mother Nature absolutely showing off. Snow was dumping. Not cute, light snow—no, this felt aggressive and personal. Now don’t get me wrong—the snow doesn’t scare us. But, there we were—two grown adults, raised in the North, fighting for our lives trying to push 300+ pounds of metal uphill… on ice… before coffee? That’ll humble you real quick. Also, word to the wise, those cow print slides may be cute, but not ideal for 8 inches of snow and icy ramps.
Somehow, we survived, loaded up, and made our way to Pasco—only slightly questioning our life choices and already needing a nap.
once we arrived, let's just say the weather was a culture shock for for sure! We arrived to wet ground but sunny blue sky's. Just what we needed to set our minds at ease, and maybe give us a little to much fails hope that things will start to go our way!
The next day we got set up next to my in-laws (Freedom Works BBQ), which honestly made it feel a little more like a backyard hang than a full-blown competition… until it very much wasn’t.Inspection time rolled around, and this is where we earned our first official “rookie move” badge: we got docked for pre-made BBQ sauce.
So there we were—smiling, nodding, and internally rewriting our entire understanding of competition rules. Lesson learned. Loud and clear. Shout out to Kelsie from Pit 71 for the guidance at the end. “It’s for competition, not for vending” is our new motto- should I put that on a sticker?
Let’s talk about the real chaos: trying to compete and hand out samples at the same time.Because nothing says “we have everything under control” like glazing ribs with one hand while passing out samples with the other and mentally tracking six different timelines in your head.It was a lot. It was chaotic. It was slightly unhinged.
At one point, people started coming back telling us we had the best wings and food out of all the teams- And instead of feeling confident like normal people, we immediately got nervous.
As my dad always says:
“People’s choice is the kiss of death.”
So naturally, we’re like—cool, great, we’re doomed.And to be fair… we had our concerns. I thought our wings were a touch salty. Our ribs were a little overdone. But competition BBQ doesn’t exactly give you a redo button. Once you’re in it, you’re committed. You turn in what you’ve got and hope it lands.
Somewhere in the middle of the chaos, we actually got a tiny break—like, blink-and-you-miss-it kind of break. My mother-in-love Kim, my littlest brother-in-love Daniel (6)-yes your math is right… that’s a 25 year difference between my husband and his littlest brother- and I ran inside to check out the Expo.And let me tell you—while they were completely sucked into the cool cars and vintage arcade games… I had my own priorities.
I found therapy dogs.And let me tell ya- I was OBSESSED.
Nothing says emotional stability in a time of need like petting and cuddling a bunch of good boys in the middle of a BBQ competition meltdown. Honestly, 10/10! Exactly what I needed.
Back outside, things were heating up—literally and figuratively. People had started picking sides. It became a whole thing- Us vs. my in-laws.
By the time awards rolled around, there was a crowd. People were invested. They wanted to see how it would shake out.And shake out it did…
Freedom Works BBQ (aka the in-laws) took Grand Champion.
And good thing they brought the big trailer—because apparently they planned on winning everything that weekend.They also somehow walked away with a full-on vintage Pac-Man arcade game they won with only a handful of tickets put into this HUGE bucket.
Honestly? We couldn’t even be mad. They showed up and absolutely crushed it. We were over there like proud kids and slightly salty competitors all at the same time.
How did we do? Consider us officially kissed.
6th in chicken.
6th in ribs.
6th overall.
If consistency is key, we absolutely nailed it.But here’s where we got our win—sampling.
Tickets were $2 each, and it’s a 75/25 split, meaning we kept 75% of what we sold. By the end of the day, we made about $200, which helped us make back a good chunk of the trip. And honestly? That—and people coming back for seconds—felt like a win in its own right.
Because trophies are great…but people choosing your food? That hits a little different.
