Surfin' Chili 2006: American Astronaut Idol

Our first cookoff since 2003 proved that we still had what it took, despite a 2-year hiatus. And just like last year, it rained, but at least it was over quickly.

It started getting dark around 8:45, and the rain came about 10 minutes later. It rained so hard that the water was coming in through the tops of the canvas tents, so that it rained underneath. That forced everyone inside, and fortunately the ballroom was hosting the trivia game at the time, so we had the biggest crowd ever to watch space trivia. (OK, we came in second, but we almost won.)

The rain stopped a couple hours later and everyone came out to play in the sun and sing to the judges. We made 350 jello shots but decided to eat them all rather than play Jello-Shot Twister this year. Cherry bombs were good too.

Our skit: American Astronaut, skewering American Idol, John Kerry, Tom Cruise, Sean Connery, Tom DeLay, Brokeback Mountain, and Hurricane Rita.

We took first place in Showmanship, our third #1 and our tenth trophy in 16 seasons. Not bad, huh? In addition to our wonderful skit, we took first place in grapefruit pass (4th #1, 9 ribbons/trophies), first in pyramid (5th #1, 9 overall, first time we made the top 3 since 1999), second in space trivia (tenth medal overall), and third in spoons (7 medals). No wonder we do so well in Showmanship!

We'll be back next year!