Back from a short Golfing vacation

It was a quick run up to the foothills, but we had a blast. I got off work early on Friday and Darla and I met Bob and Debbie Hand and we drove up together to Angel's Camp above Jackson and below Sonora in the Sierra Nevada foothills. We considered stopping in Sutter Creek on the way up for dinner, but Angels Camp is only about 30 minutes southeast of Sutter Creek, so we pushed on to the Greenhorn Country Club and the Trendwest facility that borders the tenth hole. Ed Powell and his wife Janette are Trendwest members and invited us to stay with them in a three-bedroom condo. We got checked in and asked for a good Italian restaurant and were pointed to Main Street in Angel's Camp and a small ristorante with good food and a great wine cellar. We met up with Greg Wanee who was bunking on the couch in the condo and drove over to the main downtown area. When we walked into the restaurant we saw four other golfers from the club and their wives (including Ed and Janette), so we all visited in the alcove of the restaurant near their table as our table was getting prepped. It was funny with all of the choices in town that we ended up at the same restaurant.

The facility was first class with a penthouse bedroom and two bedrooms on the main floor, each with their own bathroom. Bob and I flipped for the bedroom with the queen bed and I lost out and Darla and I were relegated to the bedroom with two twin beds. We quickly rearranged the furniture and pushed the two beds together. The disadvantage of our bedroom was the two beds and the fact that our bathroom was open to the main hallway and used by Greg and Boyd who drove up on Saturday and spent Saturday night with us as well.

Saturday we played Greenhorn and it is a first rate golf course and a tough test of golf. I played exceedingly well on the front nine, shooting a smooth 40, but lost my mind on the back nine and went double-bogey, double-bogey, quadruple-bogey to start 8 over after three holes and finished with a blemish of 52 on the back for a 92. My free fall down that flight of stairs cost me winnings as I tied for sixth low net out of twenty golfers and lost a tie breaker which is the back nine score. I was disappointed, but was driven to enjoy myself that night as we were hosting a barbecue for the thirty people on the trip at our condo and I was on barbecue duty. We had a few beers and drove back to the condo.

Poor Bob received a phone call on the course that his aunt had died. She was a spinster and Bob was her closest relative and the executor of her estate. He considered going home as he had to call relatives and set up the funeral and mortuary services, but I convinced him that there was nothing he could do that couldn't wait until Monday. I did drive him back to the condo right after we finished so he could start on calling relatives.

Darla was still out with the girls shopping when I got back and Ed, Greg and I put on swimsuits and headed to the spa. Bob joined us shortly and seemed relieved to have some of the phone calls out of the way. I fired up the barbecue at about six o'clock and the girls fixed snacks and margaritas and we had about eight bottles of wine and beer and a good time. I fixed five tri-tips and about eight pounds of chicken quarters on the grill and we ate three salads, bread and fresh fruit for dinner. It was awesome.

Darla and I snuck out of the party about nine o'clock and went over to the spa to relax and get caught up on each other's days. It was nice to visit with everyone and yet to have a quiet moment together as well. We headed back to the condo at ten and the party had already broken up and the folks were heading to bed. We had made plans to meet at seven-thirty the next morning for breakfast in town and then drive the thirty miles to Valley Springs to play La Contenta golf course. Darla and the girls were going to sleep in and take a slow drive back to Sacramento, stopping for lunch along the way.

We were up about six-thirty Sunday and visiting with the gang. Bob and Debbie were slow to arise and finally at 7:20 we knocked on their door and they were still asleep. Bob quickly jumped up and showered and met us about 7:40 at the car. Somehow the breakfast plans had not trickled down to them and he knew we didn't tee off until 10:50 AM so was in no hurry to get going. We had breakfast with six of the golfers and then drove on to La Contenta, arriving about 9:30 after a leisurely breakfast.

I played a little better on Sunday, shooting 44+43=87, but still not really on my game. My score was good enough to win $25 and $16 in skin money and I left town with a new hat and golf glove. We had a great time and Darla and the girls enjoyed their shopping and lunches together, so it was fun for one and all.

I talked to Jennifer last night when we returned and she and John are doing great. I teased her about not keeping up with her blog and she said, "what are you talking about, Dad? I 've updated it three times." I had given up checking her blog as she hadn't added anything to it since she left Korea. But check out the link at the bottom of the page as she is back to blogging.

I also talked to Dad and Shirley last night. They have picked the dates for the trip to Vegas for the Lyon family reunion and celebration of Dad's 70th and my 50th. It will be the week of March 5th-11th. Darla and I will likely drive down on Wednesday night, staying over in Bakersfield and then driving on to Vegas on Thursday morning. This time around we will have all of Darryl's kids, Randy's kids and our children. Jennifer is planning on coming with John and I will set up golf for Friday. It will be fun. Shirley kidded us about traveling so much, but forgot that they had just arrived home from Vegas after their week long trip to California in September.

Now that we have the date set for that trip I can book my tee time and stay at Pebble Beach in April. I will play Pebble Beach in my 50th year of life.

Well, the gang is arriving and my door is constantly being darkened, so I better attend to the staff. We had a good audit last week from a home office Vice President, who was in town for three days and I'm off to the Manager's meetin in a week from Wednesday. Stay well. Ciao.