Thank you guys very much for the hospitality! (Should've known a couple Southern boys would be first to chime in, huh?)
Yo' Sparky - don't know what city/town you're in, but we're in Redding and, just FYI, up here we consider "real" NorCal to be north of Sacto & the Bay (aka, the State of Jefferson), so hope you're up here too. Which, of course, includes Lincoln... right rwalters?
With all the BBQ & smoking fans in these parts, one question I have is why is the only competition BBQ event around is in Susanville (of all places)? Seems like we should have at least one somewhere in the valley.
Regarding rwalters question - yep, around March 2017 (as I vaguely recall). And oh, BTW, I'm supposed to get a call back from Mak next week about replacing the riveted grease tray with a solid, welded one under warranty. Grease leaking into the cookbox through the rivets has been my only complaint about the Mak, but they've evidently recognized and fixed it.
ronman451 - Thank you for the welcome! Have a great business relationship with a guy in ABQ and hope to get there soon. Maybe you can suggest a "must" place to have a good meal???