Well, we're finally back in Eugene after this fantastic Tour de Fore. We've got a lot of catching up to do as it's been over two months since the last blog. In Montana we played golf at Old Works, a superfund reclamation site. It was built on an old copper smelter site with huge piles of black slag, and it's a beautiful place for golf now. We had lots of fun with a great couple from B.C. who didn't seem to mind my mishits. (Is that a dirty word? Don't think so.) Anyway, it's in Anaconda and is a tremendous value, so next time you folks are in Anaconda, be sure to play a round of golf.
It was on to Moscow, Idaho from there to see my sis Barbara who creamed me 5 times in a row at computer scrabble (can you believe QA is a word?) before we drove across the state line to Pullman for our windiest round of golf at Palouse Ridge. Sometimes the ball would just start rolling on its own across the green. From there it was frigid Circling Raven in northern Idaho, our coldest course, before we made it home to Eugene on the 12th of October. Whew!
We weren't home for long though, as a few days later we drove to Virginia City, Nevada, an old mining town where Mark Twain got his writing start. He reported that the town was so rough that it was no place for a Presbyterian, "so, therefore, I did not remain one long." The men there were "unmarried, unchurched, and unwashed." We were pretty unwashed, too, after the long drive and full round the next day at Dayton Valley in Dayton. The town is a bedroom community without a big city nearby, and has had a hard time with lots of foreclosures. But it gets plenty of sunshine.
On the way back we golfed at Fall River Valley in northern California where we had a great time with the course pro and her best friend who joined us. She gave Gloria a few tips which helped a lot, but we wished it had been about 40 golf courses earlier. Somehow when I give Gloria tips, she doesn't graciously receive them and offer her sincere thanks. In fact, she sometimes doesn't even appreciate my heartfelt efforts in this area which I offer after almost every swing. But when some course pro offers to help she's all ears. Can't figure it out.
Anyway, we eventually arrived in Kauai in November for a pleasant two weeks. We played at a nice municipal course, Wailua, which is just north of Lihue along the ocean with some really beautiful holes. It was warm and a bit humid, but we didn't mind as we walked the course, and then we were teeing off on the 18th, then putting, and then we were done. Finished. Our 50 state golf trip was over. It was hard to believe. Six months, 17,000+ miles, one breakdown, lots of wonderful friends and families, great golf including a hole in one, interesting cuisine, beautiful sights, fascinating museums, countless memories.
So now we're home and the writing is going well for the book, tentatively called Tour de Fore, a 50 State Golf Odyssey. The next challenge will be to get it all together and find a publisher. Not an easy task, we understand. Maybe we'll get a magazine or two interested in an article.
We thank you for your interest in following along with us. We're already thinking of our next 50 state trip and possible themes; how about visiting the lowest place in elevation, or maybe one maximum security prison in every state? Who knows. It's never been done before.
Glenn and Gloria
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A Couple of Dudes in Wyoming, Pard
We last left off in Nebraska with plans to see Estes Park in Colorado. Well, plans change. We had been hearing a strange noise from the front wheel, and on arriving in Denver we discovered our front tires were wearing unevenly, so were referred to a mechanic who thought we needed new ball joints and tie rods. $910 later our ball joints are shiny and our tie rods are the best money can buy. But we still hear the noise. Oh well, we were told not to worry about it -- it's just the bushings on the brakes. No problem.
We spent the night with old birding pal Tom Hablitzel and his wife Suzanne, then went birding in the morning while the RV was being fixed and I got to buy a new driver with Tom's suggestion). For golf, that is, not to drive the RV. We decided this baby (the driver) needed ELEVATION to test how far I could hit with it, so we skipped Estes Park (too much elk doo-doo which gets in your shoes and on your clothes) and went to 9,400 feet Breckinridge, an old mining town now touristy. They mostly mine the tourist's dollars. Guess what? The new driver did wonderfully and we had a great time with a threesome (Gloria isn't quite healed up so didn't play), including a really funny dentist named Bob Briggs ("Woody" is his biker name) who kept us laughing. He plays golf 4 months and skis 8 months while working the free dental clinic. He and his buddy were excellent golfers and played the back tees. I was impressed.
We also had a great time with Ed and Patty McAuliffe in Westminster, a Denver suburb and Charlie Martyn, our nephew, in Boulder who is a grad student in English. Ed was my first internship partner in Cooperstown and is still working hard at Kaiser in Family Practice. They took us out tandem biking (they are expert, having just returned from Italy). I was Captain (in front) and Gloria was Stoker (in back). The Captain is supposed to tell the Stoker what is happening before it happens, but I tended to tell her afterwards, so the information was of little use to Gloria. She got to read the map, do her nails, put on makeup, etc. because she wasn't steering. I would rather be Stoker, but it's against the rules, I guess.
Anyway, the fall colors in Colorado were gorgeous, as they were in Utah and now in Wyoming. It's a great time to be here. From Breckinridge we drove to Moab, Utah and played golf in a nice course in the red rocks. We were the first ones on in the morning and the early sun was beautiful lighting up the color. We went to Dead Horse Point where wild mustangs died of thirst with the Colorado River in sight waaay down below. I promised Gloria we would return to see Arches and Canyonlands, but our time was short so we drove the 535 miles (in 1 1/2 days) here to Jackson, Wyoming. On the way we visited 2 nice museums, one about John Wesley Powell who was first down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and the second in Montpelier, Idaho about the Oregon/California Trail. I was interactive and great fun. The drive north of Logan, Utah, along the Logan River Canyon was spectacular with beautiful fall color reds and golds to contrast with the rocks, the river, the blue sky.
We are now in Jackson, another touristy town (3 in a row!) where we were told the median home price is 1.5 mil, slightly out of our price range. The golf club we play tomorrow has beautiful views of the Grand Tetons, but it's rather exclusive (Dick Cheney belongs but I don't think we'll see him). The only reason we can afford it is that it's off-season. Tonight we went out and bought western clothes so people will really know we're dudes, and then went to a great Mexican restaurant, Las Abuelito, which I think means "Little Grandpa," or maybe "Little Old Man Who Just Bought Western Clothes to Look Like a Dude."
It's Anaconda, Montana next in a reclaimed copper mine that is supposed to be a wonderful golf course, then Moscow, Idaho to see my sister Barb and Kurt, her husband and my former roommate. We finish with Pullman, Washington and Sandpoint, Idaho before returning to Eugene on the 11th. Only 3 states to go then: California, Nevada, and HAWAII -- YAY!!! The book is coming along and we're still speaking to each other, though Gloria was contemplating divorce for a few hours the other day. I think I said the wrong thing. But we're happy again and all is right with the world.
We spent the night with old birding pal Tom Hablitzel and his wife Suzanne, then went birding in the morning while the RV was being fixed and I got to buy a new driver with Tom's suggestion). For golf, that is, not to drive the RV. We decided this baby (the driver) needed ELEVATION to test how far I could hit with it, so we skipped Estes Park (too much elk doo-doo which gets in your shoes and on your clothes) and went to 9,400 feet Breckinridge, an old mining town now touristy. They mostly mine the tourist's dollars. Guess what? The new driver did wonderfully and we had a great time with a threesome (Gloria isn't quite healed up so didn't play), including a really funny dentist named Bob Briggs ("Woody" is his biker name) who kept us laughing. He plays golf 4 months and skis 8 months while working the free dental clinic. He and his buddy were excellent golfers and played the back tees. I was impressed.
We also had a great time with Ed and Patty McAuliffe in Westminster, a Denver suburb and Charlie Martyn, our nephew, in Boulder who is a grad student in English. Ed was my first internship partner in Cooperstown and is still working hard at Kaiser in Family Practice. They took us out tandem biking (they are expert, having just returned from Italy). I was Captain (in front) and Gloria was Stoker (in back). The Captain is supposed to tell the Stoker what is happening before it happens, but I tended to tell her afterwards, so the information was of little use to Gloria. She got to read the map, do her nails, put on makeup, etc. because she wasn't steering. I would rather be Stoker, but it's against the rules, I guess.
Anyway, the fall colors in Colorado were gorgeous, as they were in Utah and now in Wyoming. It's a great time to be here. From Breckinridge we drove to Moab, Utah and played golf in a nice course in the red rocks. We were the first ones on in the morning and the early sun was beautiful lighting up the color. We went to Dead Horse Point where wild mustangs died of thirst with the Colorado River in sight waaay down below. I promised Gloria we would return to see Arches and Canyonlands, but our time was short so we drove the 535 miles (in 1 1/2 days) here to Jackson, Wyoming. On the way we visited 2 nice museums, one about John Wesley Powell who was first down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and the second in Montpelier, Idaho about the Oregon/California Trail. I was interactive and great fun. The drive north of Logan, Utah, along the Logan River Canyon was spectacular with beautiful fall color reds and golds to contrast with the rocks, the river, the blue sky.
We are now in Jackson, another touristy town (3 in a row!) where we were told the median home price is 1.5 mil, slightly out of our price range. The golf club we play tomorrow has beautiful views of the Grand Tetons, but it's rather exclusive (Dick Cheney belongs but I don't think we'll see him). The only reason we can afford it is that it's off-season. Tonight we went out and bought western clothes so people will really know we're dudes, and then went to a great Mexican restaurant, Las Abuelito, which I think means "Little Grandpa," or maybe "Little Old Man Who Just Bought Western Clothes to Look Like a Dude."
It's Anaconda, Montana next in a reclaimed copper mine that is supposed to be a wonderful golf course, then Moscow, Idaho to see my sister Barb and Kurt, her husband and my former roommate. We finish with Pullman, Washington and Sandpoint, Idaho before returning to Eugene on the 11th. Only 3 states to go then: California, Nevada, and HAWAII -- YAY!!! The book is coming along and we're still speaking to each other, though Gloria was contemplating divorce for a few hours the other day. I think I said the wrong thing. But we're happy again and all is right with the world.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Buffalo and Mule Deer -- We're in the Dakotas!
Well, I haven't done a very good job keeping up, but there is an excuse. Not a good one though. We were too busy having a great time with all our friends and relations (sounds like Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh) that we neglected to blog. Oh well, there's a lot to catch up on.
First of all, there needs to be a CLARIFICATION. The picture on the top of the last blog is NOT US-- WE ARE NOT THAT GOOD LOOKING (and we haven't aged that much either). So, we'll try to get a picture of us up again soon. Anyway, we left you as we were about to visit the Amana Colonies in Iowa, an old German religious settlement featuring hard-working people who get to eat lots of great German food. You might say they take the best with the wurst. Sorry.
From there we stayed and played in Baraboo, Wisconsin, home of the Ringling Brothers Circus Museum which was fun to explore and relive old memories, like watching that poor guy get shot out of a cannon at the end of the show and wondering how much it hurt. We then drove to North Prairie (near Waukesha) to see great friends Jim and Nancy Hannen who we have known for many years. Jim fixed about six things in our van and they also had a big gathering with many old friends to reminisce with. We continued the visiting with a 4 day stay in Green Bay where we saw many of Gloria's relatives and also got caught up on the lives of our childhood friends who we hadn't seen since grade school. I met with Jim Pfeiffer, blood brother and best friend in 5th grade who now is retired and married to a beautiful school administrator 15 years his junior. What a life! I always knew Jim would do well. Gloria also saw Nancy Deacon, 4th grade friend who used to go ice skating with her and also slide down their bannister. I asked Gloria to demonstrate her sliding down the bannister skills again, but she demurred for some reason.
We were hosted by a wonderful cousin, Joyce Kolb, and Gloria arranged for a big Reimer reunion in a pizza restaurant while the Packers were playing. On TV, not in the restaurant. They won and everyone cheered, we assume for us, but suspect the Packers may have had something to do with it. Our final family get-together was in Rhinelander with cousin Marsha and Jeff Schultz where we were taken to supper clubs for scrumptious dinners. We also went to their son's establishment, Big Daddy's, where we had fun trying a chocolate martini (delish) and dancing to the juke box.
Now, back to the travels. After Green Bay we headed north to the U. P. (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) where the people are called "Yoopers." They eat "pasties," meat pies which really stick to your ribs -- the old iron miners used to eat them. I golfed at a 5* course, Timberstone, where I was joined by several retired guys who were a lot of fun, especially Bob Pedo, an Italian Stallion who sang and told great jokes. He said he was Frank Sinatra's brother, "Notso Hotsa." From there we visited Sauk Centre, Minnesota, home of Sinclair Lewis who wrote Main Street and was hated by the townsfolk who recognized themselves in the book. They now have lots of tourist attractions all named Sinclair Lewis this or that, and they love him. See what 85 years can do for your reputation. When I read his Arrowsmith in 8th grade in which a young guy goes into medicine, fights a terrible epidemic in the Caribbean in which his wife dies, I thought it sounded cool to be a doctor. All except the wife dying part, that is, Gloria wants to add.
We met three more wonderful golfing partners at Grey Stone Golf Club in Sauk Centre, including a retired dentist named Dave Mayer who stayed for lunch with us afterwards. He and his wife found us just before we left town and gave us four delicious cinnamon rolls as a parting gift. How nice is that? They will definately go on our list of nice folks in the book.
We continued west to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota where we took a 36 mile drive around the park and saw herds of buffalo, some only a few feet away from the van. Gloria has a picture of one engaging her in a staring contest -- he won. We also saw lots of mule deer and heard elk bugling loudly near our campsite. The next morning we were surprised when we saw a new life bird -- Sharp-tailed Grouse which was displaying before two females on the road a short distance ahead of us. It was an unexpected pleasure. I played golf that morning at Bully Pulpit, an amazing course near Medora, with some of the holes high up in the Badlands providing fantastic views. General Custer camped on the third fairway along the Little Missouri River just before he had an unfortunate run-in with Crazy Horse and half of the Sioux Nation. I guess he should have stayed to play golf instead.
Continuing South, we entered South Dakota where we stopped at the Geographic Center of the United States and tried to take our picture by holding the camera up. It looks quite goofy. We then went on to the Black Hills, but didn't stop at Mt. Rushmore (we've seen it a number of times before and it always looks the same). We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and ended up in Hot Springs where we are currently. I again played golf alone as Gloria is not quite healed up from her leg injury, and had fun just before dark hacking away while racing along the cart path while I could still see. There were storm clouds in the distance, but our luck has held out. For the 40th time we have played golf with NO RAIN! Amazing, since it has been a very wet year, especially along the upper midwest and Galveston, Texas.
So today we'll drive further south and a bit east with the eventual goal being Gothenburg, Nebraska where they have a real sod house on display, along with a Pony Express Station and remnants of the Oregon Trail, plus a neat golf course. The van is running smoothly, we are still speaking to each other, still eating too much, sleeping reasonably well, though my allergies are kicking up. You might know that I am allergic to smut which is a problem since I am walking around on a lot of grassy golf courses. Oh, smut of course is that fungus which grows on the side of grass. What were you thinking it is? Well, with that I'd better get out of here. Achoo!
First of all, there needs to be a CLARIFICATION. The picture on the top of the last blog is NOT US-- WE ARE NOT THAT GOOD LOOKING (and we haven't aged that much either). So, we'll try to get a picture of us up again soon. Anyway, we left you as we were about to visit the Amana Colonies in Iowa, an old German religious settlement featuring hard-working people who get to eat lots of great German food. You might say they take the best with the wurst. Sorry.
From there we stayed and played in Baraboo, Wisconsin, home of the Ringling Brothers Circus Museum which was fun to explore and relive old memories, like watching that poor guy get shot out of a cannon at the end of the show and wondering how much it hurt. We then drove to North Prairie (near Waukesha) to see great friends Jim and Nancy Hannen who we have known for many years. Jim fixed about six things in our van and they also had a big gathering with many old friends to reminisce with. We continued the visiting with a 4 day stay in Green Bay where we saw many of Gloria's relatives and also got caught up on the lives of our childhood friends who we hadn't seen since grade school. I met with Jim Pfeiffer, blood brother and best friend in 5th grade who now is retired and married to a beautiful school administrator 15 years his junior. What a life! I always knew Jim would do well. Gloria also saw Nancy Deacon, 4th grade friend who used to go ice skating with her and also slide down their bannister. I asked Gloria to demonstrate her sliding down the bannister skills again, but she demurred for some reason.
We were hosted by a wonderful cousin, Joyce Kolb, and Gloria arranged for a big Reimer reunion in a pizza restaurant while the Packers were playing. On TV, not in the restaurant. They won and everyone cheered, we assume for us, but suspect the Packers may have had something to do with it. Our final family get-together was in Rhinelander with cousin Marsha and Jeff Schultz where we were taken to supper clubs for scrumptious dinners. We also went to their son's establishment, Big Daddy's, where we had fun trying a chocolate martini (delish) and dancing to the juke box.
Now, back to the travels. After Green Bay we headed north to the U. P. (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) where the people are called "Yoopers." They eat "pasties," meat pies which really stick to your ribs -- the old iron miners used to eat them. I golfed at a 5* course, Timberstone, where I was joined by several retired guys who were a lot of fun, especially Bob Pedo, an Italian Stallion who sang and told great jokes. He said he was Frank Sinatra's brother, "Notso Hotsa." From there we visited Sauk Centre, Minnesota, home of Sinclair Lewis who wrote Main Street and was hated by the townsfolk who recognized themselves in the book. They now have lots of tourist attractions all named Sinclair Lewis this or that, and they love him. See what 85 years can do for your reputation. When I read his Arrowsmith in 8th grade in which a young guy goes into medicine, fights a terrible epidemic in the Caribbean in which his wife dies, I thought it sounded cool to be a doctor. All except the wife dying part, that is, Gloria wants to add.
We met three more wonderful golfing partners at Grey Stone Golf Club in Sauk Centre, including a retired dentist named Dave Mayer who stayed for lunch with us afterwards. He and his wife found us just before we left town and gave us four delicious cinnamon rolls as a parting gift. How nice is that? They will definately go on our list of nice folks in the book.
We continued west to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota where we took a 36 mile drive around the park and saw herds of buffalo, some only a few feet away from the van. Gloria has a picture of one engaging her in a staring contest -- he won. We also saw lots of mule deer and heard elk bugling loudly near our campsite. The next morning we were surprised when we saw a new life bird -- Sharp-tailed Grouse which was displaying before two females on the road a short distance ahead of us. It was an unexpected pleasure. I played golf that morning at Bully Pulpit, an amazing course near Medora, with some of the holes high up in the Badlands providing fantastic views. General Custer camped on the third fairway along the Little Missouri River just before he had an unfortunate run-in with Crazy Horse and half of the Sioux Nation. I guess he should have stayed to play golf instead.
Continuing South, we entered South Dakota where we stopped at the Geographic Center of the United States and tried to take our picture by holding the camera up. It looks quite goofy. We then went on to the Black Hills, but didn't stop at Mt. Rushmore (we've seen it a number of times before and it always looks the same). We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and ended up in Hot Springs where we are currently. I again played golf alone as Gloria is not quite healed up from her leg injury, and had fun just before dark hacking away while racing along the cart path while I could still see. There were storm clouds in the distance, but our luck has held out. For the 40th time we have played golf with NO RAIN! Amazing, since it has been a very wet year, especially along the upper midwest and Galveston, Texas.
So today we'll drive further south and a bit east with the eventual goal being Gothenburg, Nebraska where they have a real sod house on display, along with a Pony Express Station and remnants of the Oregon Trail, plus a neat golf course. The van is running smoothly, we are still speaking to each other, still eating too much, sleeping reasonably well, though my allergies are kicking up. You might know that I am allergic to smut which is a problem since I am walking around on a lot of grassy golf courses. Oh, smut of course is that fungus which grows on the side of grass. What were you thinking it is? Well, with that I'd better get out of here. Achoo!
Gloria just updated some pictures, including the goofy one from the Geographic Center and Carhenge in Western Nebraska which is an artistic attempt to re-create Stonehenge with old cars plunked in the ground. There is also a picture of me and my golfing buddies in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, Dave, Bob and Bill. Colorado and the Rocky Mountains are next.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hello from the Heartland!
Well, Gloria took a few moments to add pictures from Uganda and New York (it has only taken us four months to figure out how to do this simple task), so you might want to back up and take a looky look. (I've always wanted to write that). Anyway, Uganda seems like a long time ago as we sit in our little camper overlooking beautiful Coralville Lake on a chilly and blustery September day here in eastern Iowa.
But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. After leaving Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame, we continued westward to Seneca Falls and a brief look at the Women's Rights Museum before landing in Jamestown in New York's southwest corner. I made a wrong turn out of Seneca Falls, so we got to enjoy plenty of New York countryside before getting on the right road. To her credit, Gloria just smiled and didn't say what a dork I was. In Jamestown we had a few laughs at the Lucille Ball Museum (Lucy-Desi) which was fairly small but cute in a goofy blonde sort of way. We also enjoyed Roger Tory Peterson's place in the same town and had a wonderful time birding the trails around it.
Ohio was next -- we were back in the midwest, the place of our roots, and it felt good. We drove 478 miles from Seneca Falls to Coshocton, Ohio (see comments of my driving above). Coshocton sits along the Tuscarawas River where canal boats traveled ffrom about 1835 to 1870, and we enjoyed learning about this early form of travel before the iron horse came along and made them outdated. I played golf at River Greens there, but it wasn't as fun as usual because Gloria had pulled a muscle in her leg and had to skip it. We explored some Amish towns (Charm, Sugar Creek) and had dinner at Der Dutchman's restaurant, but the food tasted like cafeteria offerings -- except for the pie which was great. Anyway, if you ever go there, just go straight to the pie.
We stopped in at the Jack Nicklaus Museum at The Ohio State University in Columbus and watched as some of the OSU stars were being interviewed on TV. Those poor guys, in a year or two they will be multimillionaires and their whole lives will be changed forever. You know what they say, too many major life changes isn't good for anybody. Anyway, the Jack Nicklaus story was very nice, as was the Packard Motor Company Museum in Dayton where we got to drool over some really really really beautiful old Packards and wished we were the ones who became multimillionaires so we could pick up a couple of them instead of some stupid, spoiled athletes who wouldn't even appreciate an old Packard Caribbean 1955, pink and white with those big old whitewalls and hydramatic suspension......Oh yes, I guess I got a little carried away.
Anyway, we drove into Indiana, my Dad's home state and visited Columbus, a bigger town than we were used to at 39,000 (in which we got lost immediately, which is one reason we prefer small towns to visit and play golf in). It has some tremendous architecture by very famous architects, so we took a great two hour van tour. We both had colds and Gloria looked rather puny, so we splurged on a motel which was a great idea so I could play golf at the Robert Trent Jones designed Otter Creek course while Gloria rested. We missed our old camper and didn't sleep very well in the strange big room, but maybe it was the Chinese food which made us toss and turn.
Illinois was next, the home of my mother's ancestors, and we had a super time with John and Edie Corbly over the Labor Day weekend at their great home in Urbana. They treated us royally which we didn't deserve, but we tried to be good guests and so took advantage of every situation we could. They certainly were great to us and we hope we can return the favor sometime in the future. After Urbana we went to Springfield, because Illinois is the Land of Lincoln, and were wowed at the Lincoln Museum and Presidential Library. Now that is one museum you've got to visit if you every happen to be traveling this way. Lots of fun for all ages and extremely well-done. We visited Lincoln's tomb before heading out to Monmouth in northwest Illinois, a cute small town where it is very difficult to get lost. There I played at a beautiful course called Gibson Woods. While the rest of the state is flat with lots of corn fields and soybean fields, Gibson Woods is hilly with great old hardwood trees and it was the cheapest course on the trip so far. Gloria was still nursing her cold and sore leg, so worked on our pictures while I played. In Monmouth we listened to the Agribusiness Report on the radio and had a wonderful time at the little Wyatt Earp Birthplace run by a delightful older couple, Melba and Bob Matson. We walked up the narrow stairway to see the room where he was born in 1846 and Bob told us to listen carefully, because sometimes you can still hear that first "Earp Burp." We didn't.
So now we are in Iowa and the weather has changed from hot and muggy to chilly and breezy in just one day. Summer just kind of disappeared overnight and now it's Fall and we've still got a long way to go with many friends and family to visit. We're just having the best time and think everyone should do something like this when they can, rather than waiting until it's TOO LATE, if you know what I mean. Well, I've got to go -- the Amana Colonies in Iowa are waiting.
But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. After leaving Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame, we continued westward to Seneca Falls and a brief look at the Women's Rights Museum before landing in Jamestown in New York's southwest corner. I made a wrong turn out of Seneca Falls, so we got to enjoy plenty of New York countryside before getting on the right road. To her credit, Gloria just smiled and didn't say what a dork I was. In Jamestown we had a few laughs at the Lucille Ball Museum (Lucy-Desi) which was fairly small but cute in a goofy blonde sort of way. We also enjoyed Roger Tory Peterson's place in the same town and had a wonderful time birding the trails around it.
Ohio was next -- we were back in the midwest, the place of our roots, and it felt good. We drove 478 miles from Seneca Falls to Coshocton, Ohio (see comments of my driving above). Coshocton sits along the Tuscarawas River where canal boats traveled ffrom about 1835 to 1870, and we enjoyed learning about this early form of travel before the iron horse came along and made them outdated. I played golf at River Greens there, but it wasn't as fun as usual because Gloria had pulled a muscle in her leg and had to skip it. We explored some Amish towns (Charm, Sugar Creek) and had dinner at Der Dutchman's restaurant, but the food tasted like cafeteria offerings -- except for the pie which was great. Anyway, if you ever go there, just go straight to the pie.
We stopped in at the Jack Nicklaus Museum at The Ohio State University in Columbus and watched as some of the OSU stars were being interviewed on TV. Those poor guys, in a year or two they will be multimillionaires and their whole lives will be changed forever. You know what they say, too many major life changes isn't good for anybody. Anyway, the Jack Nicklaus story was very nice, as was the Packard Motor Company Museum in Dayton where we got to drool over some really really really beautiful old Packards and wished we were the ones who became multimillionaires so we could pick up a couple of them instead of some stupid, spoiled athletes who wouldn't even appreciate an old Packard Caribbean 1955, pink and white with those big old whitewalls and hydramatic suspension......Oh yes, I guess I got a little carried away.
Anyway, we drove into Indiana, my Dad's home state and visited Columbus, a bigger town than we were used to at 39,000 (in which we got lost immediately, which is one reason we prefer small towns to visit and play golf in). It has some tremendous architecture by very famous architects, so we took a great two hour van tour. We both had colds and Gloria looked rather puny, so we splurged on a motel which was a great idea so I could play golf at the Robert Trent Jones designed Otter Creek course while Gloria rested. We missed our old camper and didn't sleep very well in the strange big room, but maybe it was the Chinese food which made us toss and turn.
Illinois was next, the home of my mother's ancestors, and we had a super time with John and Edie Corbly over the Labor Day weekend at their great home in Urbana. They treated us royally which we didn't deserve, but we tried to be good guests and so took advantage of every situation we could. They certainly were great to us and we hope we can return the favor sometime in the future. After Urbana we went to Springfield, because Illinois is the Land of Lincoln, and were wowed at the Lincoln Museum and Presidential Library. Now that is one museum you've got to visit if you every happen to be traveling this way. Lots of fun for all ages and extremely well-done. We visited Lincoln's tomb before heading out to Monmouth in northwest Illinois, a cute small town where it is very difficult to get lost. There I played at a beautiful course called Gibson Woods. While the rest of the state is flat with lots of corn fields and soybean fields, Gibson Woods is hilly with great old hardwood trees and it was the cheapest course on the trip so far. Gloria was still nursing her cold and sore leg, so worked on our pictures while I played. In Monmouth we listened to the Agribusiness Report on the radio and had a wonderful time at the little Wyatt Earp Birthplace run by a delightful older couple, Melba and Bob Matson. We walked up the narrow stairway to see the room where he was born in 1846 and Bob told us to listen carefully, because sometimes you can still hear that first "Earp Burp." We didn't.
So now we are in Iowa and the weather has changed from hot and muggy to chilly and breezy in just one day. Summer just kind of disappeared overnight and now it's Fall and we've still got a long way to go with many friends and family to visit. We're just having the best time and think everyone should do something like this when they can, rather than waiting until it's TOO LATE, if you know what I mean. Well, I've got to go -- the Amana Colonies in Iowa are waiting.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
New England and New York
Well, things have been going great since getting home (and surviving) deepest, darkest, Africa. We came home to a Reimer family reunion in Eliot, Maine where Gloria's mother lives. The Reimers were having an annual celebration of her father's contributions to the Green Acre Bahai School where he worked for many years.
We then managed to take Gloria's 89 year old mother Janet Reimer on a 3 state tour of northern New England, starting with the beautiful Maine coast at Boothbay Harbor north of Portland. From there we headed west across New Hampshire to Vermont's capital of Montpelier and a tour of the state capitol building, followed by a wonderful and caloric visit to Ben and Jerry's in Waterbury. We visited Middlebury where we played golf again in the early morning hours, just at the time when the black flies and mosquitoes were at their worst -- they're especially heavy this year due to lots of rain.
Next it was south to Keene, New Hampshire, where we lived from 1976-9 and where Doug was born, and Bretwood Golf Course. We had a great visit with Gary and Jane Shapiro in their beautiful old restored farmhouse. They took us kayaking and exploring Keene. Golf was warm but fun, though we didn't play very well. We also had trouble at our next stop in Williamstown, Massachusetts where we tried to get on at the hoity-toity Taconic Golf Course but were thrown out on our ears (we asked for a discount), but had a great time at Waubeka, a public course where the folks were super friendly. We toured the Clark art museum, then drove south to see the Norman Rockwell museum with lots of old Saturday Evening Post covers he designed. What a great old artist/illustrator.
Gloria convinced me to alter our course and go to the Woodstock Museum in Bethel, New York and we had a wonderful time there reliving our past in the 1960's. It's not true that if you remember the 60's you didn' t live it. We did and we remembered thanks to this great museum with lots of music, great dioramas and descriptions of that incredible three day weekend back in 1969 on Max Yasgur's farm. The whole experience was great and we give it our highest vote of all the museums we have seen, with Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama second.
Finally we came back to Cooperstown where Ryan was born and I did my internship. To our surprise, I was paired with someone I knew, Dr. David Vaules and his wife. He was an attending cardiologist when I interned, so I had to be on my best behavior which I did and played the best so far next to St. Francisvile, Louisiana. We also had a wonderful dinner with Dr. John and Amanda May. John interned with me and actually delivered Ryan! (He had forgotten) Cooperstown was great, including the Baseball Hall of Fame.
We will be visiting Lucille Ball's museum in Jamestown, New York tomorrow, than on to the midwest and Ohio. We're making good progress, everything is going great, and we look forward to seeing our good friends John and Edie Corbly in Champaign, Illinois during the Labor Day weekend.
We then managed to take Gloria's 89 year old mother Janet Reimer on a 3 state tour of northern New England, starting with the beautiful Maine coast at Boothbay Harbor north of Portland. From there we headed west across New Hampshire to Vermont's capital of Montpelier and a tour of the state capitol building, followed by a wonderful and caloric visit to Ben and Jerry's in Waterbury. We visited Middlebury where we played golf again in the early morning hours, just at the time when the black flies and mosquitoes were at their worst -- they're especially heavy this year due to lots of rain.
Next it was south to Keene, New Hampshire, where we lived from 1976-9 and where Doug was born, and Bretwood Golf Course. We had a great visit with Gary and Jane Shapiro in their beautiful old restored farmhouse. They took us kayaking and exploring Keene. Golf was warm but fun, though we didn't play very well. We also had trouble at our next stop in Williamstown, Massachusetts where we tried to get on at the hoity-toity Taconic Golf Course but were thrown out on our ears (we asked for a discount), but had a great time at Waubeka, a public course where the folks were super friendly. We toured the Clark art museum, then drove south to see the Norman Rockwell museum with lots of old Saturday Evening Post covers he designed. What a great old artist/illustrator.
Gloria convinced me to alter our course and go to the Woodstock Museum in Bethel, New York and we had a wonderful time there reliving our past in the 1960's. It's not true that if you remember the 60's you didn' t live it. We did and we remembered thanks to this great museum with lots of music, great dioramas and descriptions of that incredible three day weekend back in 1969 on Max Yasgur's farm. The whole experience was great and we give it our highest vote of all the museums we have seen, with Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama second.
Finally we came back to Cooperstown where Ryan was born and I did my internship. To our surprise, I was paired with someone I knew, Dr. David Vaules and his wife. He was an attending cardiologist when I interned, so I had to be on my best behavior which I did and played the best so far next to St. Francisvile, Louisiana. We also had a wonderful dinner with Dr. John and Amanda May. John interned with me and actually delivered Ryan! (He had forgotten) Cooperstown was great, including the Baseball Hall of Fame.
We will be visiting Lucille Ball's museum in Jamestown, New York tomorrow, than on to the midwest and Ohio. We're making good progress, everything is going great, and we look forward to seeing our good friends John and Edie Corbly in Champaign, Illinois during the Labor Day weekend.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Uganda!!
Greetings again from this golfing duo. We took time off to travel to Africa for some wonderful wildlife viewing before resuming our 50 state golf trip. The timing was good, as we were ready for a bit of a change, and change we definately got. This was our third trip to Africa, a continent we dearly love, though worry about because of the many social problems. Uganda, however, has done extremely well since ridding itself of that awful Idi Amin fellow, and we felt quite safe in our travels there (though some of the treks we went on were accompanied by guards carrying AK-47s).
So here goes. We left Boston accompanied by our son Jamie who had just finished his OB-Gyn training in Galveston, Texas. We flew coach and he enjoyed business class, thanks to a free ticket. Arriving at Heathrow at about 7 AM, we hopped on the subway for a day sightseeing in London where we took the double-decker for a running commentary of the big sights, including a lot of places where so-and-so was beheaded. Those proper English sure have a history of losing their heads. Anyway, we enjoyed a play in the afternoon, then railed it back to Heathrow in time for the night flight to Entebbe, Uganda.
On arrival, we quickly jumped into our waiting Land Cruiser with our intrepid South African guide, Fraser Gear, plus our driver named Elias, and 3 others on the trip -- Wally and Lois Goldfrank and Lois' sister Sally Howlett, all from California. They were a great bunch, and excellent birders (this was a combination birding/wildlife trip). For 17 days we traveled to a number of national parks and had some fantastic experiences. A brief summary follows:
Floating down the broad Nile River, we were cast adrift when the motor conked out and we didn't have any oars. It was very pleasant watching the hippos and Nile crocs pass by, but we were a bit worried when we realized there were no other boats on the river to rescue us. We drifted to a small island where we tied up, away from the hippos, and called for help on a cell phone. Unfortunately, there were no other boats in working order available. We were marooned. Finally, a small boat came by after about an hour and a half and we were rescued!! Our saviors took us to a great resort across the river where we enjoyed pressed coffee and cookies, then piled into the back of a pickup for a hair-raising ride to the dock in time to catch the ferry. We met up with our waiting vehicle on the other side where we rode into a beautiful Savanna and watched giraffes, cape buffalos, elephants, and lots of ungulates. The day ended with a walk in the wild side to see a Shoebill, a funny-looking rare 3 foot tall bird too ugly to believe. We managed to avoid the hippos and elephants on the hike, but were glad out leader was an experienced trekker in the African wilds.
During the trip we saw over 400 species of birds, plus went on mountain gorilla and chimpanzee treks. The gorillas were huge but relatively placid until the Silverback charged our Ugandan guide (I was standing just behind and was glad he was in front). The chimp trek was quite different, as our little band of hikers was eventually surrounded by about 30 screaming chimps, all running around in a great agitation about something -- probably related to the female in estrus. (In heat). Just prior to this several were directly above us in a tree when we noticed some very unusual and very localized rain coming from the tree above. It landed on our heads, but was falling nowhere else. Hmmm. Monkey pee. Oh well, we didn't mind having the tables turned on us homo sapiens by the chimps. Jamie and Lois were especially anointed.
We are now back in Maine, getting organized for the remaining 23 states with lots of exciting days ahead. They will probably be a bit more sedate than our Uganda experience, but lots of fun anyway, so we will keep you posted.
So here goes. We left Boston accompanied by our son Jamie who had just finished his OB-Gyn training in Galveston, Texas. We flew coach and he enjoyed business class, thanks to a free ticket. Arriving at Heathrow at about 7 AM, we hopped on the subway for a day sightseeing in London where we took the double-decker for a running commentary of the big sights, including a lot of places where so-and-so was beheaded. Those proper English sure have a history of losing their heads. Anyway, we enjoyed a play in the afternoon, then railed it back to Heathrow in time for the night flight to Entebbe, Uganda.
On arrival, we quickly jumped into our waiting Land Cruiser with our intrepid South African guide, Fraser Gear, plus our driver named Elias, and 3 others on the trip -- Wally and Lois Goldfrank and Lois' sister Sally Howlett, all from California. They were a great bunch, and excellent birders (this was a combination birding/wildlife trip). For 17 days we traveled to a number of national parks and had some fantastic experiences. A brief summary follows:
Floating down the broad Nile River, we were cast adrift when the motor conked out and we didn't have any oars. It was very pleasant watching the hippos and Nile crocs pass by, but we were a bit worried when we realized there were no other boats on the river to rescue us. We drifted to a small island where we tied up, away from the hippos, and called for help on a cell phone. Unfortunately, there were no other boats in working order available. We were marooned. Finally, a small boat came by after about an hour and a half and we were rescued!! Our saviors took us to a great resort across the river where we enjoyed pressed coffee and cookies, then piled into the back of a pickup for a hair-raising ride to the dock in time to catch the ferry. We met up with our waiting vehicle on the other side where we rode into a beautiful Savanna and watched giraffes, cape buffalos, elephants, and lots of ungulates. The day ended with a walk in the wild side to see a Shoebill, a funny-looking rare 3 foot tall bird too ugly to believe. We managed to avoid the hippos and elephants on the hike, but were glad out leader was an experienced trekker in the African wilds.
During the trip we saw over 400 species of birds, plus went on mountain gorilla and chimpanzee treks. The gorillas were huge but relatively placid until the Silverback charged our Ugandan guide (I was standing just behind and was glad he was in front). The chimp trek was quite different, as our little band of hikers was eventually surrounded by about 30 screaming chimps, all running around in a great agitation about something -- probably related to the female in estrus. (In heat). Just prior to this several were directly above us in a tree when we noticed some very unusual and very localized rain coming from the tree above. It landed on our heads, but was falling nowhere else. Hmmm. Monkey pee. Oh well, we didn't mind having the tables turned on us homo sapiens by the chimps. Jamie and Lois were especially anointed.
We are now back in Maine, getting organized for the remaining 23 states with lots of exciting days ahead. They will probably be a bit more sedate than our Uganda experience, but lots of fun anyway, so we will keep you posted.
Friday, June 27, 2008
North to Alaska! (We're goin' north, the rush is on.)
Our apologies to Johnny Horton for paraphrasing the lyrics of his famous song about the gold rush. Well, we went north to Alaska for the Golf rush rather than the gold rush. The midnight golf rush, that is.
We arrived in Anchorage and made our way to our backpacker's inn which was near downtown and the ocean. There we met people from all over, including Brazil, New Zealand, Italy, and even California, as it was a very international group. We spent the first day walking around and exploring. We loved "Wild Rides," which was all about mushing and sled dog racing. Did you know sled dogs respond to voice only, there are no reins. "Gee" is turn right, "Haw" is turn left, and "The other Gee" means they goofed up and didn't turn right when they should have. We also had a pretend salmon fishing experience (we both landed the fish), and finished the day with a very serene and sleep-inducing slide show and music about the aurora borealis. We rented a car the next day, but it rained heavily, so it was off to the movies and some birding just like in Oregon (with umbrellas). We celebrated the summer solstice (longest day) at the Solstice Restaurant (naturally) with Alaskan King Crab Legs, and Dungeness Crabcakes. Delish!
Finally we were ready to take the shuttle van to Fairbanks, past Denali National Park. Fairbanks is a real outpost, a frontier town like no other. Oh sure, it has a Wal Mart and Wendy's, but it also has the only Prospector's Supplies store we have ever seen. The land of the midnight sun is just that -- light for 24 hours. You must experience it once in your life if you haven't. Our lodging was a teepee, a white one, which let in lots of light all night, so sleep was difficult. It was made more difficult by the heavy rainstorm which dripped into our teepee and onto our sleeping bags. But, hey, the price was right, so we experienced life in a teepee just like the eskimos, or something like that. (There weren't any igloos around). Anyway, the second night was dry but colder. This was after our midnight golf experience at North Star Golf Course, the northernmost course in the western hemisphere.
We had an 8 PM tee time, so started out in a cart, thanks to the generous owner who took pity on us as this is the peak mosquito time. We lucked out however, as the rain earlier in the day kept the mozzies away, so we didn't really need our mesh hats. We did Deet up before the round, and wore our Permethrin soaked shirts, so no mozzies came within ten feet of us. The course has lots of "lumps and bumps," as the friendly staff noted, because of the permafrost which changes the topography yearly. We didn't mind, as it was absolutely gorgeous playing until 11:59 PM in broad daylight with the sun shining beautifully on the nearby hills and trees. We finished just before midnight, so figured that we were the LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH TO FINISH A ROUND OF GOLF ON JUNE 24th! (The International Date Line is nearby). When you figure there are over 6 billion of us hominids messing around, that is of some note. After finishing, Bill, the course attendant who is also a 4th grade teacher, snapped our picture just for fun with the goofy netted caps on.
So, we had a super time, and I played as well while wearing hiking boots and using the rental clubs as I did with my golf shoes and regular clubs. Hmm. Maybe that Deet helped my game. Anyway, we're now back in Oregon, reunited with our dog Ben who was staying with our son and daughter-in-law Doug and Liz with their kids Alek and Adelyn on their mini farm with two other Golden Retrievers, about 30 chickens and ducks, a cow and calf, and two cats. We played a Camelot game and Princess Adelyn named me "Papa Knight." I love it. Ben is home and absolutely bored.
We have about six weeks off from the golf trip as we try to loosen up our torsos for the last 25 courses. We aren't sitting still, however, as we head back to Maine on July 15th where we left our RV under a tree at Gloria's Mom's house, then jump on a jet to London and Kampala, Uganda where we will be going birding and watching mountain gorillas. Jamie, our middle son, will accompany us as a reward for finishing his OB/Gyn training. He gets a Business Class seat and we get Coach. There is no justice. Next blog will be in August, as we hit northern New England and on to Cooperstown, New York, where we lived for a year in the 70's.
We arrived in Anchorage and made our way to our backpacker's inn which was near downtown and the ocean. There we met people from all over, including Brazil, New Zealand, Italy, and even California, as it was a very international group. We spent the first day walking around and exploring. We loved "Wild Rides," which was all about mushing and sled dog racing. Did you know sled dogs respond to voice only, there are no reins. "Gee" is turn right, "Haw" is turn left, and "The other Gee" means they goofed up and didn't turn right when they should have. We also had a pretend salmon fishing experience (we both landed the fish), and finished the day with a very serene and sleep-inducing slide show and music about the aurora borealis. We rented a car the next day, but it rained heavily, so it was off to the movies and some birding just like in Oregon (with umbrellas). We celebrated the summer solstice (longest day) at the Solstice Restaurant (naturally) with Alaskan King Crab Legs, and Dungeness Crabcakes. Delish!
Finally we were ready to take the shuttle van to Fairbanks, past Denali National Park. Fairbanks is a real outpost, a frontier town like no other. Oh sure, it has a Wal Mart and Wendy's, but it also has the only Prospector's Supplies store we have ever seen. The land of the midnight sun is just that -- light for 24 hours. You must experience it once in your life if you haven't. Our lodging was a teepee, a white one, which let in lots of light all night, so sleep was difficult. It was made more difficult by the heavy rainstorm which dripped into our teepee and onto our sleeping bags. But, hey, the price was right, so we experienced life in a teepee just like the eskimos, or something like that. (There weren't any igloos around). Anyway, the second night was dry but colder. This was after our midnight golf experience at North Star Golf Course, the northernmost course in the western hemisphere.
We had an 8 PM tee time, so started out in a cart, thanks to the generous owner who took pity on us as this is the peak mosquito time. We lucked out however, as the rain earlier in the day kept the mozzies away, so we didn't really need our mesh hats. We did Deet up before the round, and wore our Permethrin soaked shirts, so no mozzies came within ten feet of us. The course has lots of "lumps and bumps," as the friendly staff noted, because of the permafrost which changes the topography yearly. We didn't mind, as it was absolutely gorgeous playing until 11:59 PM in broad daylight with the sun shining beautifully on the nearby hills and trees. We finished just before midnight, so figured that we were the LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH TO FINISH A ROUND OF GOLF ON JUNE 24th! (The International Date Line is nearby). When you figure there are over 6 billion of us hominids messing around, that is of some note. After finishing, Bill, the course attendant who is also a 4th grade teacher, snapped our picture just for fun with the goofy netted caps on.
So, we had a super time, and I played as well while wearing hiking boots and using the rental clubs as I did with my golf shoes and regular clubs. Hmm. Maybe that Deet helped my game. Anyway, we're now back in Oregon, reunited with our dog Ben who was staying with our son and daughter-in-law Doug and Liz with their kids Alek and Adelyn on their mini farm with two other Golden Retrievers, about 30 chickens and ducks, a cow and calf, and two cats. We played a Camelot game and Princess Adelyn named me "Papa Knight." I love it. Ben is home and absolutely bored.
We have about six weeks off from the golf trip as we try to loosen up our torsos for the last 25 courses. We aren't sitting still, however, as we head back to Maine on July 15th where we left our RV under a tree at Gloria's Mom's house, then jump on a jet to London and Kampala, Uganda where we will be going birding and watching mountain gorillas. Jamie, our middle son, will accompany us as a reward for finishing his OB/Gyn training. He gets a Business Class seat and we get Coach. There is no justice. Next blog will be in August, as we hit northern New England and on to Cooperstown, New York, where we lived for a year in the 70's.
Southern New England Then Home to Oregon
Somehow the last blog on New England never got posted, so I'll give a quick update before going into our Alaskan adventure.
After Cape May we drove north to a great little beach town on the south Jersey shore called Sea Isle City which was great for cooling our heels (literally) in the hot weather before we challenged the Garden State Freeway. We then made it to Kensington where we hooked up with Gloria's old friend Diana Kauffman in Kensington. We spent a pleasant evening and night, going out to a diner (she said Diners are always owned by Greeks) for breakfast the next day. It was then on to New England!! Yea!!! Except we had to traverse the George Washington Bridge and a bit of Manhattan and the Bronx first. Connecticut was then a pleasant state, pretty, sedate, not too crowded, but with the most expensive gas we had encountered (until Alaska, of course). Our golf course was Elmridge in Pawcatuck, a good driver shot away from the Rhode Island border. We weren't allowed on the course until 5 PM because of league play, but were assured we'd finish in daylight. We almost didn't as the last two holes were by guess by gosh, plus we got an up close view of a very pretty little critter, all black with a white stripe down it's back. We finished in the dark at 8:55.
Next we motored over the border to Rhode Island, a great little state with about a million miles of coastline, which is amazing considering it is about the size of a large county in Texas. Gloria went out scouting the town while I played at Montaup, an old course dating back to 1923 which is semi-private, but very nice, including two great holes on the back nine with super views of the bay. I didn't play very well, but met up with a nice older guy (older than me!), who was an attorney and a magistrate and taught at Roger Williams University. We got along famously, and didn't mind the poor shots. Gloria in the meantime had found this great little takeout place called "Flo's Clam Shack," and you know what that means. We had fried clams, fried scallops, fried oysters, fried onion rings, and we balanced it with cole slaw. It was wonderful, though we think we sort of overindulged a bit. But, hey, we're in New England where seafood is plentiful.
On to Massachusetts the next day, we dropped in at Louisa May Alcott's home but she wasn't home. However, we enjoyed learning about the author of "Little Women," among others, and after passing Emerson's home and Walden Pond of Thoreau fame, we drove to Eliot, Maine to see Gloria's 89 year old mother, Janet Reimer. We were greeted with hugs and kisses, also seeing her older brother Michael and her sister Terry. It was a very nice reunion, punctuated by a Maine lobster dinner which was a bit more expensive than we last remember it.
Finally, we flew home to Oregon, spent the night in a motel, rented a car and drove home for two days to read the mail and then it was back on the road again, or back in the plane again as we flew north to Anchorage, Alaska. Hey, we didn't want to try to golf in November in Alaska, right? So, the land of the midnight sun at the summer solstice seemed about right.
After Cape May we drove north to a great little beach town on the south Jersey shore called Sea Isle City which was great for cooling our heels (literally) in the hot weather before we challenged the Garden State Freeway. We then made it to Kensington where we hooked up with Gloria's old friend Diana Kauffman in Kensington. We spent a pleasant evening and night, going out to a diner (she said Diners are always owned by Greeks) for breakfast the next day. It was then on to New England!! Yea!!! Except we had to traverse the George Washington Bridge and a bit of Manhattan and the Bronx first. Connecticut was then a pleasant state, pretty, sedate, not too crowded, but with the most expensive gas we had encountered (until Alaska, of course). Our golf course was Elmridge in Pawcatuck, a good driver shot away from the Rhode Island border. We weren't allowed on the course until 5 PM because of league play, but were assured we'd finish in daylight. We almost didn't as the last two holes were by guess by gosh, plus we got an up close view of a very pretty little critter, all black with a white stripe down it's back. We finished in the dark at 8:55.
Next we motored over the border to Rhode Island, a great little state with about a million miles of coastline, which is amazing considering it is about the size of a large county in Texas. Gloria went out scouting the town while I played at Montaup, an old course dating back to 1923 which is semi-private, but very nice, including two great holes on the back nine with super views of the bay. I didn't play very well, but met up with a nice older guy (older than me!), who was an attorney and a magistrate and taught at Roger Williams University. We got along famously, and didn't mind the poor shots. Gloria in the meantime had found this great little takeout place called "Flo's Clam Shack," and you know what that means. We had fried clams, fried scallops, fried oysters, fried onion rings, and we balanced it with cole slaw. It was wonderful, though we think we sort of overindulged a bit. But, hey, we're in New England where seafood is plentiful.
On to Massachusetts the next day, we dropped in at Louisa May Alcott's home but she wasn't home. However, we enjoyed learning about the author of "Little Women," among others, and after passing Emerson's home and Walden Pond of Thoreau fame, we drove to Eliot, Maine to see Gloria's 89 year old mother, Janet Reimer. We were greeted with hugs and kisses, also seeing her older brother Michael and her sister Terry. It was a very nice reunion, punctuated by a Maine lobster dinner which was a bit more expensive than we last remember it.
Finally, we flew home to Oregon, spent the night in a motel, rented a car and drove home for two days to read the mail and then it was back on the road again, or back in the plane again as we flew north to Anchorage, Alaska. Hey, we didn't want to try to golf in November in Alaska, right? So, the land of the midnight sun at the summer solstice seemed about right.
Monday, June 9, 2008
We're in Joisey already!
Wow! Time sure flies when you are driving to new states, playing golf, camping, getting lost and finally asking for directions, cooking and cleaning, writing about the trip, sending emails and calling the kids.
We visited Pearl Buck's birthplace in Hillsboro, West Virginia after leaving Pipestem. She wrote The Good Earth about China which was the best selling book for two years in a row in the 1930's. We proceeded to Virginia and Robert E. Lee's last resting place at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. He was a great general and actually was asked by Abraham Lincol to lead the North, but felt more loyal to Virginia so chose the South. Jefferson's Monticello was next where we had a nice tour of the gardens, then Montpelier and James Madison's house.
Our golf experience in Virginia was great fun at Meadows Farms near the battles of the Wilderness and Chancellorsville. It felt a little strange to be playing golf near such great battles, especially with a house on the property which was used as a hospital (any house near the battle was used as a hospital, though). They have the longest hole in golf, 871 yard par 6, plus a beautiful waterfall hole and one par three shaped like a little league diamond. I would like to say I hit a line drive to centerfield with my tee shot, landing a few feet from the flag, but I really hit a dribbler down the third base line. Now I know why I didn't make it to become a star baseball player.
We went on to Gettysburg where we toured Dwight D. Eisenhower's home. We decided we did like Ike, who played golf at a local club with only 9 holes. He was the first president we remembered and didn't do much during his administration, but that's okay because he sure did a lot during World War II. I played at The Links at Gettysburg, but they wanted to charge us $20 so Gloria could ride in the cart, which I thought was very expensive, though Gloria is worth every bit of $20 -- even more! It was on to Pennsylvania Dutch country which is actually German and Amish and Mennonite - quite a change from the hectic east coast we were used to. We saw a horse and buggy tied up at the local Costco. It felt very calm and serene to see these wonderful people clip-clopping by. The beautiful rolling hills and neat farms with barns and silos reminded us of our childhoods in Wisconsin --very nostalgic. Maybe these weird looking people with funny clothes and straw hats have the right idea after all and we don't. We certainly don't miss TV which we haven't watched for a long time, though the Amish do work a lot harder than we do and don't play golf much as far as we know.
Only 3 states to go! Maryland was very nice -- Berlin was where they filmed Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and it was also where the turn signal was invented. Remember the movie Seabiscuit? Well, his opponent War Admiral was raised on a farm just outside of Berlin. His grandfather was Man O War who was Seabiscuit's father, so Seabiscuit actually beat his cousin once removed. It gets rather complicated in horse racing. The weather turned hot, but the course marshal at Eagle's Landing pointed out a Great Horned Owl which helped a lot. In Delaware we explored Milton (our second Milton, after the one in Florida), and played at The Rookery, again emphasizing birds. We finally took the ferry to Cape May, New Jersey today and played at Cape May National which is fantastic for birding. We have gotten so much into it lately that I got to buy a new pair of binoculars which was my birthday present from last year, plus the next six fathers days and birthdays to come. The course today was great with lots of water hazards and birds, though we got lost on the back nine and wandered around for awhile. When we started out we were told it was 105 degrees out, and we certainly felt the heat which is the reason we didn't get a par on every hole, or maybe a few birdies, we are sure. However, we have now cooled off some this evening and are looking forward to Connecticut and Rhode Island and then Maine where we will leave our motor home for a month and a half with Gloria's mother when we fly back to Oregon, then Alaska, Uganda, and finally back to Maine to resume this crazy, fun, wonderful trip. By the way, we still love each other more than ever and feel so very lucky to be together, especially since I stopped giving Gloria advice on every hole of how to play this silly game. She still beats me at Rummy, though.
We visited Pearl Buck's birthplace in Hillsboro, West Virginia after leaving Pipestem. She wrote The Good Earth about China which was the best selling book for two years in a row in the 1930's. We proceeded to Virginia and Robert E. Lee's last resting place at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. He was a great general and actually was asked by Abraham Lincol to lead the North, but felt more loyal to Virginia so chose the South. Jefferson's Monticello was next where we had a nice tour of the gardens, then Montpelier and James Madison's house.
Our golf experience in Virginia was great fun at Meadows Farms near the battles of the Wilderness and Chancellorsville. It felt a little strange to be playing golf near such great battles, especially with a house on the property which was used as a hospital (any house near the battle was used as a hospital, though). They have the longest hole in golf, 871 yard par 6, plus a beautiful waterfall hole and one par three shaped like a little league diamond. I would like to say I hit a line drive to centerfield with my tee shot, landing a few feet from the flag, but I really hit a dribbler down the third base line. Now I know why I didn't make it to become a star baseball player.
We went on to Gettysburg where we toured Dwight D. Eisenhower's home. We decided we did like Ike, who played golf at a local club with only 9 holes. He was the first president we remembered and didn't do much during his administration, but that's okay because he sure did a lot during World War II. I played at The Links at Gettysburg, but they wanted to charge us $20 so Gloria could ride in the cart, which I thought was very expensive, though Gloria is worth every bit of $20 -- even more! It was on to Pennsylvania Dutch country which is actually German and Amish and Mennonite - quite a change from the hectic east coast we were used to. We saw a horse and buggy tied up at the local Costco. It felt very calm and serene to see these wonderful people clip-clopping by. The beautiful rolling hills and neat farms with barns and silos reminded us of our childhoods in Wisconsin --very nostalgic. Maybe these weird looking people with funny clothes and straw hats have the right idea after all and we don't. We certainly don't miss TV which we haven't watched for a long time, though the Amish do work a lot harder than we do and don't play golf much as far as we know.
Only 3 states to go! Maryland was very nice -- Berlin was where they filmed Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and it was also where the turn signal was invented. Remember the movie Seabiscuit? Well, his opponent War Admiral was raised on a farm just outside of Berlin. His grandfather was Man O War who was Seabiscuit's father, so Seabiscuit actually beat his cousin once removed. It gets rather complicated in horse racing. The weather turned hot, but the course marshal at Eagle's Landing pointed out a Great Horned Owl which helped a lot. In Delaware we explored Milton (our second Milton, after the one in Florida), and played at The Rookery, again emphasizing birds. We finally took the ferry to Cape May, New Jersey today and played at Cape May National which is fantastic for birding. We have gotten so much into it lately that I got to buy a new pair of binoculars which was my birthday present from last year, plus the next six fathers days and birthdays to come. The course today was great with lots of water hazards and birds, though we got lost on the back nine and wandered around for awhile. When we started out we were told it was 105 degrees out, and we certainly felt the heat which is the reason we didn't get a par on every hole, or maybe a few birdies, we are sure. However, we have now cooled off some this evening and are looking forward to Connecticut and Rhode Island and then Maine where we will leave our motor home for a month and a half with Gloria's mother when we fly back to Oregon, then Alaska, Uganda, and finally back to Maine to resume this crazy, fun, wonderful trip. By the way, we still love each other more than ever and feel so very lucky to be together, especially since I stopped giving Gloria advice on every hole of how to play this silly game. She still beats me at Rummy, though.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tigers, Squirrels, and Bars -- OH MY!
I apologize for being so lax recently on the update, but we've been in 5 new states in quick succession, so I have an excuse, though rather lame. After our great experience in Georgia we drove to Clemson, South Carolina. Clemson is a great university and just about the whole town. We stayed at the palacial James Martin Inn, had a two room suite, and bathed in luxury after a month in a 21 foot motorhome. The golf course was fun and we were paired up with two others for the first time -- two brothers named Todd and William from nearby Easley who were a great example of southern gentlemen. They didn't even laugh at my play. The signature hole is #17, a par 3 with a green shaped like a tiger paw with 4 sand traps behind. It was beautiful, especially with the lake in the background.
North Carolina was next and a wonderful little town called Brevard. It is only one of two towns in the U.S. with white squirrels -- they really are white. We just missed White Squirrel Days but bought a "Fightin' White Squirrel" tee shirt anyway. The mayor stopped and chatted for awhile and I was interviewed on the radio at WSQL. The golf course, Glen Cannon, was very pleasant with a great 2nd hole, a par 3 with the tee shot over a mountain stream onto a small green with a pretty waterfall in the background. I missed the green twice but blamed my ineptitude on the scenic beauty which caused me to lose concentration. Brevard has 200 waterfalls nearby in the Pisgah National Forest and is a tremendous little town. Gloria said if our kids and grandkids lived nearby she'd move there in a minute.
Tennessee was our next stop, at the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park where Davy himself spent his early years killing bars and learning how to sing "mighty fine horse on a winding course, gotta git me a purty woman's love." We visited Jonesborough which was the first capitol of our 14th state, Franklin, formed in 1785. Or at least it was our 14th state for a few years until word reached our nation's capitol and congress nixed the idea, so the area later became Tennessee. We played golf at a pretty rural course called Graysburg Hills and chatted with a fellow who told us some funny stories about guys getting killed.
Next we drove north on the Country Music Highway, U.S. 23 in eastern Kentucky which was coal mining country. We stopped at Yatesville Lake State Park and played golf at Eagle Ridge, a golf course which is so steep and hilly that we lost about two dozen balls and had a great time. The durn things kept falling off the tiny landing areas and dropping into the rough about a hundred feet below. Their signature hole is number 13 which drops off about 250 feet onto the fairway and green below. Fortunately we brought our binoculars and could see the green in the distance. I managed to make a par, and it was beautiful watching my tee shot sail off into the distance. This course is definitely not for the weak at heart or for those with vertigo.
We are now in West Virginia at Pipestem State Park in the southern part of the state. The course here is very green, but we had slow play yesterday -- we walked in the heat and waited many minutes for the foursome ahead of us which made the experience less enjoyable. I hit into a sand trap on the third hole and saw lots of litle ant hills all around. After hitting out, the fellow with us suggested I get out quickly because the ant hills were actually yellow jacket nests and they were starting to get restless. I didn't get stung but wondered why the folks would allow such a sand "trap." The park is very pretty and last night we took a tram down about 1,000 feet to a nice restaurant below which borders the Bluestone River. A nice way to finish after a warm and tiring day on the links.
North Carolina was next and a wonderful little town called Brevard. It is only one of two towns in the U.S. with white squirrels -- they really are white. We just missed White Squirrel Days but bought a "Fightin' White Squirrel" tee shirt anyway. The mayor stopped and chatted for awhile and I was interviewed on the radio at WSQL. The golf course, Glen Cannon, was very pleasant with a great 2nd hole, a par 3 with the tee shot over a mountain stream onto a small green with a pretty waterfall in the background. I missed the green twice but blamed my ineptitude on the scenic beauty which caused me to lose concentration. Brevard has 200 waterfalls nearby in the Pisgah National Forest and is a tremendous little town. Gloria said if our kids and grandkids lived nearby she'd move there in a minute.
Tennessee was our next stop, at the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park where Davy himself spent his early years killing bars and learning how to sing "mighty fine horse on a winding course, gotta git me a purty woman's love." We visited Jonesborough which was the first capitol of our 14th state, Franklin, formed in 1785. Or at least it was our 14th state for a few years until word reached our nation's capitol and congress nixed the idea, so the area later became Tennessee. We played golf at a pretty rural course called Graysburg Hills and chatted with a fellow who told us some funny stories about guys getting killed.
Next we drove north on the Country Music Highway, U.S. 23 in eastern Kentucky which was coal mining country. We stopped at Yatesville Lake State Park and played golf at Eagle Ridge, a golf course which is so steep and hilly that we lost about two dozen balls and had a great time. The durn things kept falling off the tiny landing areas and dropping into the rough about a hundred feet below. Their signature hole is number 13 which drops off about 250 feet onto the fairway and green below. Fortunately we brought our binoculars and could see the green in the distance. I managed to make a par, and it was beautiful watching my tee shot sail off into the distance. This course is definitely not for the weak at heart or for those with vertigo.
We are now in West Virginia at Pipestem State Park in the southern part of the state. The course here is very green, but we had slow play yesterday -- we walked in the heat and waited many minutes for the foursome ahead of us which made the experience less enjoyable. I hit into a sand trap on the third hole and saw lots of litle ant hills all around. After hitting out, the fellow with us suggested I get out quickly because the ant hills were actually yellow jacket nests and they were starting to get restless. I didn't get stung but wondered why the folks would allow such a sand "trap." The park is very pretty and last night we took a tram down about 1,000 feet to a nice restaurant below which borders the Bluestone River. A nice way to finish after a warm and tiring day on the links.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Florida, Alabama and Georgia
We said our farewells in Mississippi and headed for the Alabama coast at Dauphin Island (pronounced doff-in) where we enjoyed strolling on the beach and birding. After catching the ferry to Fort Morgan, we continued on to the Sunshine State of Florida and Milton, an old logging and shipping town on the panhandle which was originally called "Scratch Ankle" due to the irritating undergrowth. Our golf course was The Moors, a nearly treeless beautiful course patterned after the great courses in Scotland. It was warm and windy as we teed off, and had a fun time except for when we landed in one of the many pot bunkers. These are named pot bunkers because you can take so long to get out of them that you go to pot. Unfortunately, we landed in many of the buggers which increased our score a bit.
From Milton we went straight north to Greenville, Alabama and the famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail where we played the Sherling and Canyon nines at Cambrian Ridge. This golf trail was the brainchild of a Dr. Bonner who was in charge of the parks and recreation system. He believed in spending a lot of money on golf courses in hopes that they would lure some of the frozen northerners to Alabama to play golf at very cheap rates while spending their northern dollars on lodging, food, gas, and other luxuries. Some thought him crazy, but like Seward who urged purchase of Alaska for a few millions, his gamble paid off big time. Anyway, we met Francine Wasden, Executive Director of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce who is possibly the most positive, the most bubbly, the most charming C of C director you could hope to meet, and with a southern accent to boot! She loved our idea and even met us on the golf course for one hole on which she managed to get a par. The course was absolutely fabulous. Built on a ridge, it is designed perfectly to combine challenge with scenic beauty -- no two holes are the same and they are all breathtaking. I even managed my first birdie on the trip, a par 5, and we loved the entire morning. We started at 7 Am and had the course to ourselves for a whole hour -- it was golf at its absolute best; a beautiful day, a beautiful course, and solitude with a birdie and good scores thrown in.
From Greenville we headed north to Montgomery where we enjoyed the new and very well done Rosa Parks museum. We spent the night in Georgia at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, camping on Lake Delano with frogs croaking outside our window and awakening to a lot of great birds singing. It was beautiful, serene, and peaceful, marred only by the rest room being flooded which forced us to go a bit farther to the next one. We toured the Little White House at Warm Springs where Roosevelt went to get the cure from his infantile paralysis (polio), and then drove to Atlanta. Somehow big cities have it in for us, as during the peak of rush hour on an extremely busy interstate our RV started making very loud clanging noises and almost overheated before we could pull off to the side. A broken water pump was the problem, and a nice guy arrived about 90 minutes later for the tow after which we spent the night at a Red Roof Inn, and dined in not-so-much-luxury at a Waffle House where Gloria managed to share her T-bone with a dog by throwing pieces and finally the bone on the floor. It was an informal place. The van was fixed by 1:30 the next day so we were off again, this time to northeastern Georgia at Hartwell to play at Cateechee, a long and difficult course.
Before our round that afternoon we were interviewed by a nice reporter named Mark Hynds. We made the mistake of having a beer before playing as it was still pretty warm, then got out on the course at about 4 PM or so. Unfortunately, either the beer or the stress of the water pump got to us as we both played terribly, managing to lose all the balls we had found at Cambrian Ridge and then some. I had up to 4 mulligans on one hole, and we're not sure if this is exactly legal according to the Golf for Duffers book. By the back nine Gloria had had enough, but I finally started playing a bit better and even had a birdie on a par 4. By the 144 yard par 3 my aim was returning as I hit a nice 7 wood which soared down the fairway, bounced twice on the green and disappeared. It was an ace, a real hole-in-one, I could barely believe my luck! We raced up to the foursome just ahead of us to see if they had seen it, which they hadn't, but congratulated us anyway. We had to make it to our campsite as it was almost dark by the time we finished, so didn't get to buy all 60 people in the bar a drink afterwards. We understand that this is a major faux pas, but promise that we will provide drinks to everyone on the next dozen or so holes in one we get, unless it is almost dark and we have to make it to our campsite, that is.
It is now Memorial Day Weekend and we are safely lodged at the James Martin Inn on the Clemson University campus next to the Walker Course at Clemson, our next challenge tomorrow morning. The good folks at Clemson have been wonderful to us by providing the suite plus round of golf gratis, and they threw in a bright orange Walker Course at Clemson baseball cap which I will always treasure and will certainly wear tomorrow and at many future sporting events except when Clemson is playing the Ducks of Oregon, which probably will be never. So Go Tigers!!!!!
Glenn
From Milton we went straight north to Greenville, Alabama and the famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail where we played the Sherling and Canyon nines at Cambrian Ridge. This golf trail was the brainchild of a Dr. Bonner who was in charge of the parks and recreation system. He believed in spending a lot of money on golf courses in hopes that they would lure some of the frozen northerners to Alabama to play golf at very cheap rates while spending their northern dollars on lodging, food, gas, and other luxuries. Some thought him crazy, but like Seward who urged purchase of Alaska for a few millions, his gamble paid off big time. Anyway, we met Francine Wasden, Executive Director of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce who is possibly the most positive, the most bubbly, the most charming C of C director you could hope to meet, and with a southern accent to boot! She loved our idea and even met us on the golf course for one hole on which she managed to get a par. The course was absolutely fabulous. Built on a ridge, it is designed perfectly to combine challenge with scenic beauty -- no two holes are the same and they are all breathtaking. I even managed my first birdie on the trip, a par 5, and we loved the entire morning. We started at 7 Am and had the course to ourselves for a whole hour -- it was golf at its absolute best; a beautiful day, a beautiful course, and solitude with a birdie and good scores thrown in.
From Greenville we headed north to Montgomery where we enjoyed the new and very well done Rosa Parks museum. We spent the night in Georgia at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, camping on Lake Delano with frogs croaking outside our window and awakening to a lot of great birds singing. It was beautiful, serene, and peaceful, marred only by the rest room being flooded which forced us to go a bit farther to the next one. We toured the Little White House at Warm Springs where Roosevelt went to get the cure from his infantile paralysis (polio), and then drove to Atlanta. Somehow big cities have it in for us, as during the peak of rush hour on an extremely busy interstate our RV started making very loud clanging noises and almost overheated before we could pull off to the side. A broken water pump was the problem, and a nice guy arrived about 90 minutes later for the tow after which we spent the night at a Red Roof Inn, and dined in not-so-much-luxury at a Waffle House where Gloria managed to share her T-bone with a dog by throwing pieces and finally the bone on the floor. It was an informal place. The van was fixed by 1:30 the next day so we were off again, this time to northeastern Georgia at Hartwell to play at Cateechee, a long and difficult course.
Before our round that afternoon we were interviewed by a nice reporter named Mark Hynds. We made the mistake of having a beer before playing as it was still pretty warm, then got out on the course at about 4 PM or so. Unfortunately, either the beer or the stress of the water pump got to us as we both played terribly, managing to lose all the balls we had found at Cambrian Ridge and then some. I had up to 4 mulligans on one hole, and we're not sure if this is exactly legal according to the Golf for Duffers book. By the back nine Gloria had had enough, but I finally started playing a bit better and even had a birdie on a par 4. By the 144 yard par 3 my aim was returning as I hit a nice 7 wood which soared down the fairway, bounced twice on the green and disappeared. It was an ace, a real hole-in-one, I could barely believe my luck! We raced up to the foursome just ahead of us to see if they had seen it, which they hadn't, but congratulated us anyway. We had to make it to our campsite as it was almost dark by the time we finished, so didn't get to buy all 60 people in the bar a drink afterwards. We understand that this is a major faux pas, but promise that we will provide drinks to everyone on the next dozen or so holes in one we get, unless it is almost dark and we have to make it to our campsite, that is.
It is now Memorial Day Weekend and we are safely lodged at the James Martin Inn on the Clemson University campus next to the Walker Course at Clemson, our next challenge tomorrow morning. The good folks at Clemson have been wonderful to us by providing the suite plus round of golf gratis, and they threw in a bright orange Walker Course at Clemson baseball cap which I will always treasure and will certainly wear tomorrow and at many future sporting events except when Clemson is playing the Ducks of Oregon, which probably will be never. So Go Tigers!!!!!
Glenn
Friday, May 16, 2008
We're in Mississippi, Ya'll
A quick update from the Magnolia State: After leaving Galveston we did some nice birding at High Island and Anahuac Wildlife Refuge before leaving for Louisiana. Our goal was St. Francisville, an old town near the Mississippi which sits up on a bluff, hence the name of our planned golf course, The Bluffs, St. Francisville. Before getting there we took a little detour further north to look for some rare birds which we didn't find, but we did find "love bugs." These are little black flying bugs which come out a couple of times a year en masse. They look like little biplanes as they fly about, but are very adept at hitting your windshield as you drive. After a few miles of driving in love bug country, your windshield is spotted black which can seriously interfere with visibility, especially if you are already tired and cranky because you didn't see the birds you drove so far to see.
We gave up on the birds and headed to St. Francisville, only to find out that the ferry to town was not in use. Not realizing that the ferry actually crosses the Mississippi River, we grouchily drove the extra 60 or so miles around to the bridge and finally got to St. Francisville, a beautiful, quaint old plantation town with lots of charm and old houses beautifully restored. Our spirits raised, we called the golf course only to learn that they had become a private course 3 months ago and we could only play if we stayed at their expensive lodge, which we weren't eager to do. Instead we camped out, drove to the course the next day and looked hopeful and pleading that we needed to play their course for our book, at which time they relented, especially since no one was actually on the course at the time and at least they could make a little money from us, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BOOK JUST THIS ONE TIME. The course was just great. Pristine, green, large fast smooth greens, great scenery and beautiful southern style brick homes. We had a lot of fun and Gloria got her first par 4 on the trip.
We gave up on the birds and headed to St. Francisville, only to find out that the ferry to town was not in use. Not realizing that the ferry actually crosses the Mississippi River, we grouchily drove the extra 60 or so miles around to the bridge and finally got to St. Francisville, a beautiful, quaint old plantation town with lots of charm and old houses beautifully restored. Our spirits raised, we called the golf course only to learn that they had become a private course 3 months ago and we could only play if we stayed at their expensive lodge, which we weren't eager to do. Instead we camped out, drove to the course the next day and looked hopeful and pleading that we needed to play their course for our book, at which time they relented, especially since no one was actually on the course at the time and at least they could make a little money from us, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BOOK JUST THIS ONE TIME. The course was just great. Pristine, green, large fast smooth greens, great scenery and beautiful southern style brick homes. We had a lot of fun and Gloria got her first par 4 on the trip.
We then drove north to Natchez, Mississippi, a great old town on the Mississippi dripping with history, but, unfortunately for us, it was dripping with a heavy all-day rainstorm. We had a free snack at the visitor center, watched the movie and headed out to McComb in hopes of playing golf the next morning. Our 12 year old Roadtrek showed its age as water started seeping, then steadily dripping in at about six places, though fortunately we had about six saucepans to catch the drips. We put up the awning which stopped most of the leakage, turned on the air conditioner, had a great dinner followed by 2 games of scrabble and a night listening to the rain and thunder which finally stopped. Next morning we went to the golf course and found out it was too wet to play, so on we went to McComb for a great lunch at The Dinner Bell, an old southern restaurant where you and about 15 others sit around a big round table with a lazy susan piled with all kinds of southern delicacies -- fried chicken, fried eggplant, rutabega, collard greens, candied yams, banana cream pudding with wafers... It was delicious -- you took whatever you wanted or could catch as it whizzed by, and the sweet tea was unlimited. We chatted with the folks, then left for Terry, Mississippi, and Gloria's niece Michele, husband Mike and their daughter Nicky, their twelve horses, six dogs, and five cats (or was it five dogs and six cats?)
Anyway, we met up for dinner with Lisa and Tony and their children Henry, Mary and Peggy who lived with us two years ago (all except Tony who was back in Taiwan working and taking care of his parents). It was a joyous reunion, topped off by the best fried catfish, fried dill pickles, mustard greens and sweet tea we had ever tasted. The rain has stopped, we're feeling great (and well-fed), and will be playing the McComb course Sunday morning and a course in Milton, Florida Monday afternoon. We like the southern hospitality a lot, though our clothes aren't fitting very well. Oh well, we'll soon be further north -- we can't wait for that great Maine lobster!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas
Greetings from Galveston! We're visiting Jamie and having a super time birding, eating, kayaking in the bayou, eating, bike riding, eating, and, oh yes, we're eating a lot -- crayfish, blue crab, salmon, scallops, oysters - lots of delicious fish.
But back to the trip, I forget myself with all this good food. Arkansas was fun. Mountain Home is over 50% retirees, so we expected lots of old folks, but found it to be great. The course is fairly flat, well-manicured and not too hard except for the stiff wind we always seemed to face. Gloria particularly liked the posh ladies locker room complete with computer to update emails. We then went to the Ozark Folk Museum in Mountain View -- it was a hoot, especially the great foot stompin, finger snappin bluegrass music. That morning we had quite a thunderstorm, only tofind out that 30 miles away was a tornado which killed two people. We happened to drive by next day and were amazed to see trees snapped off and a utility shed about 50 feet up in a tree!
On to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where we played at a nice hilly, narrow course with lots of woods. Unfortunately they had record rains and the signature hole was under water. We followed a golf tournament, so replenished our supply of golf balls after Glenn hit many shots in the woods.
Glen Rose, Texas was great. Everyone was thrilled to see us, since it is both of our names (Rose is Gloria's middle name). Folks were very friendly and we loved the course. They were predicting severe thunderstorms with possible hail, but we played anyway and the storm never materialized. We just got lucky. Gloria just missed a birdie putt which was a great relief to Glenn because he hasn't had a birdie yet. She is getting a lot better.
We had a very nice time in Fort Worth with Gloria's brother Dan and his wife Jennifer -- just kicked back, saw a couple of movies and had a pleasant visit. After Glen Rose we went to Pedernales State Park in the Texas Hill Country and had a super visit with David Shackleford and his fiance Mallory. David has been our birding guide in South Africa, Madagascar, China and India and is a super birder. We had great views of the rare and local Golden-cheeked Warbler which breeds there.
Now in Galveston, did I mention we are eating a lot? Tomorrow we leave for High Island, Anahuac and Bolivar peninsula for birding, then on to Louisiana and cajun/etouffee/gumbo. I don't think we're losing weight. The trip has been great fun, and we even discovered how to turn on our air conditioner in the Roadtrek which has helped here in Galveston with 85 degrees and 88% humidity. We are definitely in the subtropics. We also got the Verizon gadget which allows us to be on line while traveling - this should be a great help to us.
Now it's on to Louisiana, Mississippi and the gulf coast.
Glenn and Gloria
But back to the trip, I forget myself with all this good food. Arkansas was fun. Mountain Home is over 50% retirees, so we expected lots of old folks, but found it to be great. The course is fairly flat, well-manicured and not too hard except for the stiff wind we always seemed to face. Gloria particularly liked the posh ladies locker room complete with computer to update emails. We then went to the Ozark Folk Museum in Mountain View -- it was a hoot, especially the great foot stompin, finger snappin bluegrass music. That morning we had quite a thunderstorm, only tofind out that 30 miles away was a tornado which killed two people. We happened to drive by next day and were amazed to see trees snapped off and a utility shed about 50 feet up in a tree!
On to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where we played at a nice hilly, narrow course with lots of woods. Unfortunately they had record rains and the signature hole was under water. We followed a golf tournament, so replenished our supply of golf balls after Glenn hit many shots in the woods.
Glen Rose, Texas was great. Everyone was thrilled to see us, since it is both of our names (Rose is Gloria's middle name). Folks were very friendly and we loved the course. They were predicting severe thunderstorms with possible hail, but we played anyway and the storm never materialized. We just got lucky. Gloria just missed a birdie putt which was a great relief to Glenn because he hasn't had a birdie yet. She is getting a lot better.
We had a very nice time in Fort Worth with Gloria's brother Dan and his wife Jennifer -- just kicked back, saw a couple of movies and had a pleasant visit. After Glen Rose we went to Pedernales State Park in the Texas Hill Country and had a super visit with David Shackleford and his fiance Mallory. David has been our birding guide in South Africa, Madagascar, China and India and is a super birder. We had great views of the rare and local Golden-cheeked Warbler which breeds there.
Now in Galveston, did I mention we are eating a lot? Tomorrow we leave for High Island, Anahuac and Bolivar peninsula for birding, then on to Louisiana and cajun/etouffee/gumbo. I don't think we're losing weight. The trip has been great fun, and we even discovered how to turn on our air conditioner in the Roadtrek which has helped here in Galveston with 85 degrees and 88% humidity. We are definitely in the subtropics. We also got the Verizon gadget which allows us to be on line while traveling - this should be a great help to us.
Now it's on to Louisiana, Mississippi and the gulf coast.
Glenn and Gloria
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Arizona to Arkansas
April 30
We're off as of 9 days ago. We left Ryan and Carmina's in Chandler amidst horn honking and tear letting for our big adventure. Our first stop was the San Carlos Apache Reservation where we "camped" in the parking lot of their Apache Gold casino. Oh well, it was free. We did our share of gambling, spending $1 each, but felt it paid for the camping. The golf course, Apache Stronghold, was absolutely beauiful, carved out of the desert hills, arroyos and desert plants. We almost had the course to ourselves and had a great first time golfing.
We headed over the White Mountains with a stop at our old (and now very rundown) house in Whiteriver. The hospital where Jamie was born has been torn down and is now a day care center. We arrived at about 11 PM in New Mexico, had a super time birding the next morning at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, then played golf at the New Mexico Tech course, community owned. The head of the chamber of commerce, Terry Tadano, joined us on the back nine and we had lots of fun kidding each other along with his golfing buddy Larry Blackwell. They then treated us to dinner at a local hamburger joint, complete with green chilis which they pile on their burgers, but we started sweating with a tiny taste.
Then we were off over the New Mexico desert with a stop in Albuquerque to get our stereo back on track (at Circuit City) after Gloria fudged it up trying to set the clock. An hour delay on the freeway due to a truck wreck saw us getting in late to the Cimarron National Grasslands in southwest Kansas, so we pulled into a field and spent the night by our lonesome. The wind really kicked up and Gloria was sure a tornado was heading our way, but by morning all was peaceful. We got up at 4:30 to see Lesser Prairie Chickens on their lek, but after 1 1/2 hours in the freezing dark little hide we learned they weren't there. A nice guy drove us to the real lek and we were excited to see them prancing and preening around, looking for a female which never showed. Reminded us of high school. We visited Dorothy and Toto in Liberal, Kansas, then saw Carry Nation's house in Medicine Lodge before making it to Winfield for next golf. The course there was very nice, green, but rather windy. We stayed at a B&B to see the Greater Prairie Chickens and had a delightful breakfast with the folks who told us stories of the area.
We are now in Branson, Missouri, a midwestern Ozark idea of Las Vegas with lots of schlock and hucksterism with bluegrass, Bibles and boosterism thrown in. We attended the Dixie Stampede which was fun watching horses race around the arena, some in blue representing the north and the others in gray. We sat on the southern side, but our neighbors were from Illinois and Minnesota, so it didn't really matter which side you cheered for. We especially liked the porker races and little kids chasing the chickens. We enjoyed lots of jokes, including the clown who had written t.g.i.f. on his shoe. What does it mean? Toes go in first.
Golf here was wonderful. Although expensive, they comped us the greens fees and we only paid for the cart, though Gloria was designated driver rather than player. I absolutely loved the beautiful course, again with hardly anyone on it (we played early -- found more balls that way). We leave for Arkansas today after a visit to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum and the Ozark College for more history. Went for our first run in a long time and were rewarded by seeing our first red-headed woodpecker of the trip.
Life is grand, the weather super, we still love each other and look forward to seeing lots of friends and family in future days.
Glenn
We're off as of 9 days ago. We left Ryan and Carmina's in Chandler amidst horn honking and tear letting for our big adventure. Our first stop was the San Carlos Apache Reservation where we "camped" in the parking lot of their Apache Gold casino. Oh well, it was free. We did our share of gambling, spending $1 each, but felt it paid for the camping. The golf course, Apache Stronghold, was absolutely beauiful, carved out of the desert hills, arroyos and desert plants. We almost had the course to ourselves and had a great first time golfing.
We headed over the White Mountains with a stop at our old (and now very rundown) house in Whiteriver. The hospital where Jamie was born has been torn down and is now a day care center. We arrived at about 11 PM in New Mexico, had a super time birding the next morning at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, then played golf at the New Mexico Tech course, community owned. The head of the chamber of commerce, Terry Tadano, joined us on the back nine and we had lots of fun kidding each other along with his golfing buddy Larry Blackwell. They then treated us to dinner at a local hamburger joint, complete with green chilis which they pile on their burgers, but we started sweating with a tiny taste.
Then we were off over the New Mexico desert with a stop in Albuquerque to get our stereo back on track (at Circuit City) after Gloria fudged it up trying to set the clock. An hour delay on the freeway due to a truck wreck saw us getting in late to the Cimarron National Grasslands in southwest Kansas, so we pulled into a field and spent the night by our lonesome. The wind really kicked up and Gloria was sure a tornado was heading our way, but by morning all was peaceful. We got up at 4:30 to see Lesser Prairie Chickens on their lek, but after 1 1/2 hours in the freezing dark little hide we learned they weren't there. A nice guy drove us to the real lek and we were excited to see them prancing and preening around, looking for a female which never showed. Reminded us of high school. We visited Dorothy and Toto in Liberal, Kansas, then saw Carry Nation's house in Medicine Lodge before making it to Winfield for next golf. The course there was very nice, green, but rather windy. We stayed at a B&B to see the Greater Prairie Chickens and had a delightful breakfast with the folks who told us stories of the area.
We are now in Branson, Missouri, a midwestern Ozark idea of Las Vegas with lots of schlock and hucksterism with bluegrass, Bibles and boosterism thrown in. We attended the Dixie Stampede which was fun watching horses race around the arena, some in blue representing the north and the others in gray. We sat on the southern side, but our neighbors were from Illinois and Minnesota, so it didn't really matter which side you cheered for. We especially liked the porker races and little kids chasing the chickens. We enjoyed lots of jokes, including the clown who had written t.g.i.f. on his shoe. What does it mean? Toes go in first.
Golf here was wonderful. Although expensive, they comped us the greens fees and we only paid for the cart, though Gloria was designated driver rather than player. I absolutely loved the beautiful course, again with hardly anyone on it (we played early -- found more balls that way). We leave for Arkansas today after a visit to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum and the Ozark College for more history. Went for our first run in a long time and were rewarded by seeing our first red-headed woodpecker of the trip.
Life is grand, the weather super, we still love each other and look forward to seeing lots of friends and family in future days.
Glenn
Saturday, March 15, 2008
A quick update on the big trip: We have emailed about 30 golf courses so far and have received overwhelmingly positive responses from Branson, Gettysburg, Fairbanks, and Boothbay, among others. We've made a few changes and will soon be contacting visitors bureaus and chambers of commerce for information on the various towns. As the price of oil has risen, we've shortened the trip as much as possible. So, all systems are go for an April 21 takeoff for our first golf course, Apache Stronghold in San Carlos, Arizona. This is on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, which coincidentally is only a short distance from the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation where we spent two busy years from 1974-76. I was just out of internship and served as a physician for the Apache people there. It is also where our second oldest son Jamie was born over 30 years ago. It was a great experience, so it is fitting that we start our trip in San Carlos. Geronimo!!!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
February 20 -- Our plans are progressing, we're getting excited, and Glenn has been seen with a crazy look in his eyes like Mr. Toad from his wild ride. Gloria is being extra patient with him. After all, he's retired, sort of. We're getting the 21 foot Roadtrek ready, Glenn bought a new used golf bag and he's busy planning the route. We'll stop in to every state, play a round of golf, explore the town, then write a book about the whole experience, complete with ratings of the towns and golf courses. Of course we will also see friends and family along the way, go birding and jogging, and keep you up to date through this weblog. Some of the towns are well-known, including Cooperstown, New York, Branson, Missouri, and Fairbanks, Alaska. Some are not -- have you ever heard of Chuckey, Tennessee, Pawcatuck, Connecticut, or Worley, Idaho? You will if you follow our trail. Sounds like a lot of fun, so welcome aboard this 50 state roadie!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Hello!! Welcome to Our New Blog
Greetings from Glenn and Gloria
To our wonderful friends and family: Here's a picture from our last great adventure, a 2 1/2 month trip to Asia in Fall, 2007. You might just recognize this 14th century monument of love in the background -- The Taj Majal in Agra, India.
We're delighted to have you along on our next great adventure: a 50 state road trip with a planned round of golf in a smallish town with a nice golf course. We hope to leave in April, heading south to California and finishing in November with Hawaii. We'll camp along the way and already have plans for flights to Alaska and Hawaii. As they say in Wisconsin, hope you come with!
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