We have pictures of the little monkey from Halloween in Las Vegas. Jennifer decided to have Samantha wear the Monkey costume again and this time actually go out and do some trick or treating. Jen said the first house they went to Sam tried to walk into the house and Jennifer had to call her back. She finally got the hang of it and absolutely loved seeing the people and meeting her neighbors. We miss her SO MUCH and wish that they lived closer. She is a doll.
Darla and I spent the weekend in Monterey. I decided to work Friday morning and fore go a third day of golf and spend some time with Darla on the drive down and at the hotel. We left about 12:30 from Roseville and after a stop to deliver jewelry in downtown Sacramento got on the road. We stopped in Galt, CA (of all places) and had a late lunch at the Squeeze Inn, a Sacramento institution and once profiled on Diners, Dives and Drive-ins on the food network. The restaurant was a tiny shack with room for about 12 people to eat inside. They did a booming walk-up business, but after their 15 minutes of fame on TV, someone in a wheelchair sued them for lack of access and they were forced to close their doors. They moved to Galt in a new sprawling industrial center and the name "Squeeze Inn" is no longer appropriate, but it stuck. They make fantastic hamburgers, their signature burger a cheddar burger where a large 10"x10" slice of thick cheddar is laid over the patty after it has been turned once and a lid placed over the whole thing (with mushrooms or grilled onions added). They serve the creation with the melted fried cheese hanging over and around the patty and sitting three inches over the entire bun on all sides. We enjoyed two of those with fries and a tremendous milk shake and Darla's blood sugar level was rapidly on the rise. She has been so good and it was a treat to gorge on some diner food.
We got down to Monterey about 5:00 PM and checked into the Portola Inn and Spa on the Monterey wharf. We had Priceline rooms at $89 a night at the $189 a night hotel. They upgraded our room to a King deluxe and we relaxed before meeting up with our friends in town. We had dinner with Rick and Jan and Neil and Lilly along with Jerry and his wife at a small Italian restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. Rick and Jan also got the Priceline deal and were two doors down from us. Bob and Vicki were supposed to be at the same hotel, but Vicki decided to go to SoCal and see the Grand kids and Bob stayed with his elderly Mom in San Jose.
The day on Saturday dawned foggy and cold, but the blue sky was evident on the cusp of the fog and we drove over to Poppy hills knowing a good day was in store. The fog lifted after the third hole and we were bathed in 72 degree sunshine by the afternoon. I wore shorts under wind pants and had stripped the pants off by the 6th hole. I shot 43+42 for an 85. Bob shot 40+50=90 and wasn't a happy camper by the time we finished. His driver was causing him fits and mine was misbehaving all day as well. I had four straight double bogeys on the back side from hole number 11-14. I birdied 15 before finishing par-par-par for a 43 on the back. The low gross on the day was an 80 and I took third low net and won $33.
Darla met up with Daniel and Becky as they drove up from San Luis Obispo (about two hours by car) and met for lunch. Darla had got her shopping fix on at the shops near the hotel and in pacific Grove after a breakfast at Toasties in Pacific Grove, a favorite of ours. Darla and the kids went down to the beach at the bottom of Ocean Avenue in Carmel and took the pictures posted above. They had a nice visit and the kids were back on the road by 4 PM.
We were dropped back off at the hotel by Bob and we went "rogue" and opted out of the group activity that night which was dinner at a Chinese Food place. Darla and Jan both said they didn't drive to Monterey to eat Chinese, so we got together and had dinner at the FishWife in Pacific Grove. I'm glad we did as we enjoyed a special of prime rib and lobster tail for $24.95 that was outstanding. We had drinks at he bar before dinner and basically acted like adults out on the town. It was wonderful.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny with no remnants of any fog. It was warm early and warmed further as it settled out at 76 degrees on November 1st in Monterey. We absolutely could not have picked a better weekend. The boys and I headed to the golf course early and had breakfast at the Del Monte Lodge. I played just as consistently inconsistent and had two birdies on the day to go with two double bogeys, some pars and a bunch of bogeys for 42+43 = 85. My driver continues to befuddle me and I've already taken care of that headache. Bob also shot 85 and I heard two things out of Bob that I thought I'd never hear. One was, "Give me a nine" on Saturday and the other was "That was a 10" on Sunday. Amazing. I ended up taking 6th low net and won $24, which bought me a nice Pebble Beach bag tag at the Del Monte pro shop.
Darla and Jan went to breakfast in Carmel and when they were walking the shops afterward witnessed a car accident. The driver left the stop sign and didn't see an elderly couple crossing the street and plowed into them. The older gentleman flew through the air and hit his head on the median, while his wife was thrown to the pavement and had contusions. It is a small and often wonderful world and a women who was near Darla grabbed her hands and said, "Let's pray" and prayed for the health of the couple as the paramedics responded to the scene. God is good and his people are everywhere. It was encouraging to Darla who had seen the car hit the couple and was pretty shaken.
We got home about 6:30 last night and I was just too tired to work on the blog and left it for tonight. We had a great time on our short vacation and enjoyed the hotel, the food, the friends and being together away from home. We are both so busy, it was good to be together away from the distractions of home.
I mentioned that I did something about my driver and on my way home tonight monitored an auction on EBay and was able to get a replacement for my FT 1q 9 degree driver, brand new one for $152. I had watched two other auctions during the day and both of those clubs went for over $200, so i lucked out. I waited until the last minute and the price was still at $119.50. I put in my bid at a maximum of $155.01 and got it for $152. I will sell the FT-9 Tour model on EBay and recoup some of the $228 I paid for it. Golf is a work in progress. Always.
I am off to Detroit on Wednesday for the annual Managers meeting and will get back to this on Sunday. Dad and Shirley leave for Mexico on Saturday and we follow the next Sunday. I hope you are all well. Ciao.
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