Episode 22: So Long, Stars on Ice

[Music] Hello and welcome to Unlaced with Trockin Bates. I'm Madison Trock. And I'm Evan Bates and we're Olympic Ice Dancers for Team USA. If you're into sports betting, bet online is the fastest and easiest way to bet all your favorite sports. Head to their new updated desktop or mobile website to sign up today and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Just use our promo code Believe50 to receive your bonus. Alright, we are in a Boise Idaho. Woo-woo. Yes, woo-woo is right. This is the last weekend of our Stars Are Nice tour, if you can believe it. I know it's so bittersweet honestly. I'm gonna miss everybody so much. It's been honestly one of the best experiences of my life. Yeah, mine too. I'm sad that it's ending but happy that it happens. All good things must come to an end. Oh, yes. Dr. Sous, Evan Bates. So last weekend we did three shows in Phoenix, Anaheim, San Jose. It was completely incredible. Thank you to everybody who came to those shows. We heard that it was the San Jose and the Anaheim show in particular were the best attendance that Stars Are Nice in the US has had in 10 years. I think my family populated a lot of the Anaheim show. Thanks to the Chucks. So thank you, friends and family for coming out. It was so fun seeing all of you. We had just the best time and. Oh, yeah. It was just such a fun show. There's so much energy and the arena. There are a lot of people there. A lot of people and a lot of people we know and love. So even more special. It was awesome. And then after the San Jose show on Sunday, we got together with the US Olympic Figure Skating Team. Yeah, that was a fun event. So we had a nice like formal dinner put together by US Figure Skating. It was incredible. It was a great idea of just the team and all of the people behind the Olympic athletes, the team that you don't see, but the team that makes everything happen at US Figure Skating. And we literally wouldn't be able to do any of our events or skate the way we do without their support and their help. So it was a huge celebration of them. And yeah, a lot of people moving on to new chapters. So it was another kind of bittersweet moment. Yeah, it was emotional. It was emotional. There were a lot of tears. There were a lot of nice speeches. It was nice to get to thank these people in person and for everything they've done for us. As well as the coaches, there were some great tributes to some coaches. Obviously, unfortunately our coaches weren't able to be in attendance, but when we see them, when we see them, we'll definitely cheer us to them. But it was so nice. They sent us off with like framed photos, posters, autograph posters by all the skaters. So we have some momentos from the games. And it was just really thoughtful, a really nice kind of like way to close off. Well, we need our team medals till but other than that, that'll really close everything off. But it was a nice kind of like tribute to the 2022 Olympics. And the cycle leading up to it because I mean, it's not just the one year it's a build and. The Olympics are every day. Yeah, the Olympics are every day. The Olympics are today. But yeah, no, it was wonderful. And then after that, we got to go down to Palm Springs and visit my parents who haven't seen in over a year, which is just bonkers. It seems like I see them all the time because of FaceTime and phone calls, but like to see them actually in person, it's like, wow, I really missed hugging them and just being in their presence. Yeah, it was so nice to get to just lounge by the pool in Palm Springs. You know, last episode I spoke about my inability to tan. So I was under the umbrella, but Maddie got a pretty good tan. Yes, surprisingly. I didn't even feel like I was in the sun that much. I was also under the umbrella, because it was just so hot, it was over 100 degrees. It's a desert. But yeah, it was really enjoyable. So Maddie, your mom cooked a lot for us. What is your favorite homemade meal that your mom makes? Well, while we were there, she made one of my favorite soups. It's a traditional Chinese soup. It's called the Hongtae-U-Wantan Soup. And it's kind of like an egg-drop soup, but then she makes homemade wantans. And it's just delicious. It's absolutely delicious. So is that your favorite? Would you say? I would say one of my favorites are like a dinner kind of food. And also for breakfast. My dad loves this like kind of like Hawaiian dish, which is basically fried rice with eggs on top. But it's like fried rice. She puts like water chestnuts in it and different kinds of let the leftover filling from the wantan. It was just all very delicious. Yeah, it was really delicious. And you know, she's like, she's a great cook. And that's kind of like one way that she really shows her love. She loves to cook for us. And after being on the road for two and a half months, it's like having a homemade meal. A home cooked meal is just feels so good. It's amazing. Yeah, food is definitely her love language. Oh, she also made this really yummy paramele pancakes. Which she used to make for me when I was a kid all the time, especially in the weekends. Put these little red hearts on them. No, did you make the pancake person? Oh, my mom made that for me because that's what she always used to make. So she makes me this little pancake bear. And I've got this big head, this big body and then two little ears and like tiny little round hands and feet. And it's just so cute. And then I decorated its face with the red hot candies, which I did again because let's face it. I'm still a child. But yeah, it was delicious. Loved it. Yeah, it was so nice. And we'll get to see them again soon and hopefully have some more pancake bears. Yeah, definitely. So now we're finishing up tour with a four-show weekend. Today in Boise, tomorrow in Spokane, Washington, Saturday will be in Seattle and Sunday we have our 24th and final show in Portland. Wow, it's pretty exciting. Yeah. Well, yeah, right now we're in Boise and we've only been here for a day. I've driven through Boise once at night, so I can't say that I've really been here. But so far in the light of day, it's a very cute place. We got picked up by the airport by a really nice Boise State College student who was actually originally from Northern California. So it was great all around. It was really nice. It was super nice. You know, it's nice to kind of like chat with the local person and get the feel and the vibe of the town or the city. And he basically made Boise. He's sound awesome. I wish we were staying here longer. He told us like our hotel is right in the heart of Boise near like lots of shops and restaurants and fun nightlife. And it's attached to the ice rink. Like the ice rink doors are literally in the lobby of the hotel. You can see the ice rink. That's good for us. You know, we can just walk to work today. Maybe a future venue for a national championships. Maybe. I think it's, I don't know what the capacity is. I think it's kind of a smaller venue. But it looks really nice. It's too much. Yeah. Maybe. It's lovely. So tomorrow we're going to Spokane, Washington, which has been dubbed Skate City USA. Oh really? I mean, I remember that they were calling themselves Skate City USA. But I think it's warranted because you know, we've been there a lot for past events and it's always really well attended. And I know that there are a lot of skating fans in Pacific Northwest. Yeah, my very first nationals was in Spokane, Washington in 2007. Yes. Right? New and novice? Mm-hmm, with Greg. Oh, and I was a junior. And we didn't even skate to get it. I was like, whoa, every nationals is like this. This is incredible. Skate City. It was just packed like the camaraderie between all the athletes running around the hotels and around the city. It was just phenomenal. Spokane was gorgeous. And then we came back in 2010 still with different partners, but that was the year of the Olympic trials. I made my first Olympic team there, so I've got a lot of fun memories. And then we did that really fun team event in 2016, the Cozase team challenge cup, which was like a once in a career kind of opportunity. Because that was so fun. It's like the world team trophy, but different because we competed as continents. And North America was hosting it for the first time ever. North America was hosting it. And so it was like the Canadians and the Americans on the same squad. Yeah, North America versus Europe and Asia. Yeah, that event was so fun. And we only had to do a free dance. We only had the skate one program, but I remember just like the hotel and the goody bags and all the photos and everything that they put up were really nice. Yeah, it was super fun. So we have a lot to look forward to. Yeah, we do. We'll wrap things up in Seattle and Portland and then we'll go our separate ways sadly. We'll not have an event in myself. We're always going the same way. But with our friends, we're going separate ways. I'm really going to miss everyone. I'm always so excited to take like after a couple days off, like get back on the bus and see everyone. Yeah. Oh, Alyssa, Alexa, Maddie, Brandon, Zach, like, oh, I'm just going to miss everyone. But I know there's a lot of fun things in store for everyone. And we'll be bonded forever, you know? Yeah. Like we're going to be friends forever and this tour has just been like such a great bonding experience for everybody. And I just, I know we're going to be friends forever. Well, what's next for us? What's next on our agenda? So we're not, I mean, I wish we could say that we were going back home to our dogs in Montreal. But we have a few more. weeks of travel ahead actually. So we're going to Thailand actually for a few weeks and what do you think, Maddie? Are you excited? I am super excited to visit a new country that I've never seen before but I hear incredible things about Thailand. I honestly think every person that we've spoken to about Thailand has just had rave reviews. Evan is actually going to be doing some work on that trip. He has been elected to the Athletes Commission of the ISU and he will be attending the ISU Congress which is a Puket. That's right. So that's the main reason we're going to Thailand. More skating. Yeah. Oh, we're not skating. No, but we're talking about skating in the future of skating, perhaps. Yeah. But you'll be doing that. I won't. And Maddie will be my plus one and you're going to have like basically 10 days in Thailand to do whatever you please. Thanks for the thanks for the break, babe. So where might I find you at the pool or at the beach? Yeah, or at the pool or at the beach. Any of those two options are. But what I mean there's so much to do like what are you looking forward to? Have you done any research? I haven't done a ton of research. I have well, no that's not true. I've done some research and I've created a board, a Pinterest board of things to do in Thailand that are supposed to be fun. I know there are some beaches. There are some also like day trips to other islands. I heard there were some beaches in Thailand. I don't know if I would want to take a day trip just by myself. No, you're not going to be by yourself. That's true. I'm not going to be by myself. You're going to have friends there. I have some friends there. But I definitely want to wait for you to explore Thailand. Or maybe I'll explore it and then bring you to my favorite. You could be like my tour guide. Yeah. I'm like, there we go. My meetings you're going to be like a local. That'll be my all-study event. I'll study Puket. So obviously like Thai food. I've heard so many good things about the food there. Yes. And Thai massage. And Thai massage sounds so good right now. So good. Oh my. I hopefully my goal is to have like four Thai massage is going there. I think you can do that. I think you can definitely do that. Maddie is a huge snorkeling buff. I love snorkeling. Any opportunity I get, I will go snorkeling. I'll make friends with the sea turtle and just follow them around. I feel like that's a Disney movie waiting to happen. It picks our movie. Well actually it's something terrifying waiting to happen because in Hawaii once I was snorkeling and I was following the sea turtle and I thought we were jealous and like we're just having a good time and then I pop my head up and I'm like in the ocean. Oh no. Like a wave from the coast. I don't like that story. No I was, I was terrified. I don't think I ever swam so fast back to shore in my life. I'm going to get eaten by something that'll just be my luck. So I stay close to the coast. I love snorkeling now. Yeah. Well hopefully I'll get some time to join you. I think I think you will. We're gonna we're gonna make sure of that. Otherwise I'll slip you some my ties while you're in your meeting. Just coming on a little drink cart. It's my first year. Evan's drinking my ties in the meetings. Please get that my tie. And there's just a cheese cart rolling out of the room on its own. Oh. To me. Oh yes. So that'll be a nice departure from the I guess what we've been up to. Not living while we're still going to live in on a suitcase is actually but it'll be like a little bit more of a vacation vibe. We won't have to take our skates out of the suitcase so they can just stay in the suitcase. They're on vacation also. They need a vacation. They're gonna just hibernate in our suitcase. So lots to look forward to. Yeah. Definitely a departure from the norm. Yes. Our lives have been very busy and full of travel and it's been so fun. And it's not over yet. It's not over yet. And if any of you have recommendations for Thailand, please let us know. We would love to hear them and love to hear your experiences as well. Absolutely. This has been another episode of Unlaced with chalk and baits presented by Bet Online. Make sure you subscribe for future episodes. You can follow us on social media at chalk baits. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. [Music]