Today is the bitterest of bittersweet days. Today marks my last batch of shows and demos on this tour. There couldn’t be a nicer place to wrap up than at Disney World but, it just stings to know that it has to end for me.

The Heritage Tour has been nothing but, the best times in the best places with the best people. Before we even got out here, I considered Drew Tetz, Hank Freeman, and Takeshi Kamisato among my family. But, I like to think that getting out there and doing shows, demonstrating, blogging and throwing contests has let the rest of the world in on how special the bond within Duncan Crew is. There really is nothing like our crew anywhere and I appreciate it more now than I ever have.

We rocked our shows like we rocked every single stop on this tour. We showed the Disney audiences how much joy and love we have for our craft, them and each other. We went the extra mile to throw some special moments into our last shows. And we put the finishing touches on a tour we will be proud of for a long time to come.

A huge thank you goes out to all of the yo-yo legends, retailers, players and nonplayers that allowed us in your places and hearts, or came out to the demos and made this all very special. You are a part of the legacy we are building and you will be remembered.

Duncan Equals Love. Never forget that.

Everything is bigger in Texas! This video is huge on good times. You are going to love it.

We do not have bad days. Duncan Crews with the best times in the best places. That is all there is to it.

We had two demos today and they were awesome. The first was at Brilliant Sky in Highland Village, Texas and it was….well….Brilliant! The store is cool and has some of the fanciest decor ever. It’s like a walk through a fable forest with a toy store in it. How could that be bad? It even gets better when you realize that everyone there is also as cool as they come. They have an excited helpful staff and the people who came out to be a part of the demo were equally awesome. Great times all around. It was a bitter pill to swallow but, we had to cut out of there to make it to the next demo.

Fortunately, the next demo at Constructive Playthings(Plano, TX) was as sweet as it could possibly be. Jack and the crew out there are right on time! They did everything they could to make sure that we had an awesome time. They definitely did not fail. We had a great crew of players come out. Some familiar faces and tons of people eager to get in there and learn some tricks or dust the old skills off. And let me tell you, that cliche’ about old dogs and new tricks, whoever said that has never been to Dallas.  They know how to pick up a yo-yo and make it fresh no matter how long it has been since they’ve played. There is a reason why so many world level players come from here. I am out to find out what that reason is.

Today was fantastic! We started our day off with a nutritious meal but, were lured in by some fantastic cupcakes to ruin how good we’d been. We stopped into the newly opened Meringue Bakery and it was awesome! Out here on the road we’ve had a few things as constants in our stomachs. We’ve had a lot of pizza and a lot of cupcakes. As it turns out these were some of the best cupcakes we’ve had anywhere and they happen to love Duncan yo-yos. It’s awesome to have someone say, “I was checking out your van and I had no idea that Duncan had an entire crew but, I love it!” Tack on the fact that we also got cupcakes out of the deal and it was a great day to be a professional yo-yo player and it was just starting!

We finished up feeding our sweet teeth and and headed on out to our demo. Toy Maven is such a great store. Dallas is lucky to have them for sure. It had been a solid year since I had been in to visit them and they have kept the home fires burning for us. They still have one of the best yo-yo selections anywhere and they have expanded their store in the last year to make it bigger and more of what we love to see in a toy store. There is now more space and more toys and more fun crammed into the room. Who could ask for more?! We had players of all levels come out and swap tricks with us and learn a bunch. It blew our minds to see how much people can learn in the short time we have to demonstrate for them. It really is amazing to see kids learn what took me months in the matter of two hours. I can’t say enough how much I love it. I love being a Duncan player and knowing that we have a shot and being nearly as important to future generations of players as the Legends we’ve met have been to us. It’s the best thing ever.

Today was right on with the good times. We spent a good chunk of the day chatting with our dear friend, Dale Oliver, and discussing the days of Duncan yo-yos past and the events that have gotten us to Duncan yo-yos present. Dale and his wife, Valerie Oliver, are some of the coolest people I know and they have some of the best perspective on the modern history of yo-yo. They have both been players for decades and they have witnessed the transformation from basic ten tricks with a wood axle to five styles and off plain tricks with unresponsive ball bearing yo-yos. Needless to say, the times have change and they have embraced evolution and adapted to be a part of it. I thank them both massively for allowing us in their home and spending the time to talk to us. It was enlightening, to say the least.

As much as we could have gabbed along with Dale and Valerie all night, we also love doing demos so, we wrapped up and headed out. Our demo was at the Learning Express store in Frisco, Texas this evening. What a great time it was. We had some friends old and new show up and throw down with us. The best part is that some of them even brought along even newer friends to learn to play and get involved with throwing. You have to dig it when people you meet bring their friends along simply because they are so very excited about what you do. Word of mouth is the greatest medium for growth and the Dallas area is already showing that it is a great place to grow and with stores like Learning Express, Dallas will have plenty of help.

Today was right on point! Drew and I started the day off with a demo on television, bright and early. The folks at KDFW 4 here in Dallas were really good to us. We got a few separate spots throughout their morning show and got a chance to share some screen time with Jason Castro from American Idol. No matter how you feel about the show, it’s pretty cool to hang out with that caliber of fame and realize that you harness the same energy. We are the power from which the universe was created for sure!

After we wrapped up the news spots, we regrouped with Takeshi at the hotel. We ran some errands and had a fantastic lunch to power ourselves up for our evening demo. It turned out to be a great one. We had a gig at the Learning Express in Plano, Texas. They did it up right. We had a really cool mix of older and younger people interested in learning some yo-yo tricks. Most of the crowd was beginning players and we love that. Sometimes, it’s easy to light a fire in their hearts, simply by making a little spark in their minds. Everyone was as stoked as could be to see us play and learn to do it themselves. Our lives are just way too fantastic for words.

If you aren’t living a similar one, perhaps it’s time to pick up a Duncan yo-yo and get to it.