159!

I am not a good bowler, but the one day that I really needed a strike on a particular frame, I got it. It was the day that the chain bowling alley was offering a "lucky strike" pass good for free bowling from Labor Day through Halloween. All you had to do was wait to get one of the three colored pins in the hopper to show up in the front spot and then bowl a strike. That one frame with the colored pin in the right spot was one of only two strikes that I bowled in two games that day.

Well, armed with free games, I headed over to the bowling alley in my spare (ha ha) time a few times, bowling four games in a row in an effort to improve my technique and accuracy. I've had a longtime goal of bowling 150+, but my high was around 125-130, with an average just over 100.

Today being Halloween, and with my dad and brother visiting, and the kids having the day off from school, we headed out on the last day of my lucky strike card. I took one lane with four games, and the four of them took the lane next to me with two games each. My first game was lame, 87. Second one was not bad, 125. Third was okay, 111, though disappointing because I had 70 through the first five frames before falling apart.

The fourth game started off pretty badly, as you can see, with 19 through the first three frames (i.e., sub-100 pace). But wow, those last 7 frames! I've never had anything close to a streak like that. I think I've had two strikes in a row before, but not 7 strikes or spares in a row. That is a cool 140 points over 7 frames, which over 10 frames would be an unthinkable (for me) 200!

Over on the next lane, my family members were only about halfway through their second game, so I had time to bowl one or two more games, if I wanted to go back to the front desk, but I figured I'd had enough, and it was better to end on a PR than to sink back to my usual mediocrity.