I just got in from waxing my car and I have a sweat going that won't quit. After a few days of rain, our weather has returned to the seasonal 80's and it looks good through the week and into our Monterey trip with Darryl next weekend. Darryl flies in on Friday afternoon and I will pick him up after a half day of work. We are staying at the Howard Johnson in Pacific Grove, a hotel that sounds wholly mundane, but is actually an award winning property and a former condominium complex away from hotel row, but still close to Asilomar and the 17 mile drive. We were able to secure a two bedroom unit and. although I really wanted a condo or home like we had last weekend, the owners were not willing to give me a deal on a two day stay. One of the owners offered me a deal at $200 a night for a three night minimum. When I told her I'd only be there for two nights, she offered me the condo at $300 a night. You do the math. With the private homes there is a separate cleaning fee (often $150) and a security deposit of $300 - $500. With just the two nights, I decided that the HoJo's would be sufficient. It may not be as comfortable as a private home, but we'll make do. I got it for $209 a night, so it will be a bargain, if nothing else.
Darla and I are planning a night out with friends on Saturday night. Darla and I ate at a great little Italian eatery in Pacific grove called Vito's a few years ago and decided to have the gang go out on Saturday. So far we have a total of 12 people in the group. One of the guys in the club has 40 people going out the same night, but has reservations at a Chinese Food restaurant. I can't drive three hours to the Pacific Ocean and eat dinner at a Chinese Food restaurant. The same group has dinner plans at the Fish Hopper in Cannery Row on Friday night and we may join them there. The Fish Hopper is one of my favorites in Monterey.
It was a short week this last week and will be a short week this week as well given that I am only working a half day on Friday. To make up for that, I have to be in San Francisco in full corporate regalia with Pete and Matt from my office to meet with our owner and CEO. He is in California for a Surplus Lines event in San Diego from tonight until Wednesday. They will fly back on a Net Jets to SF on Thursday and meet all of us in the office. Harvey will be with him.
I will pick Darryl up about noon from the new airport terminal in Sacramento and swing home to get Darla and then be off to Pacific Grove. Neil has arranged a fivesome for us on Saturday at Pacific Grove Golf Links with myself, Darryl, Boyd, Bob and Neil. On Sunday we play Poppy Hills and it will be me, Darryl, Bob and Steve (my poker buddy). It should be a great weekend. The only downside is that Cheryl couldn't join us and Bob will be without his wife, Vicki, as well. Darla will keep busy with Jan, Lilly, Liz, Sue and the other wives and I'm sure will manage plenty of shopping and lunches while we play.
I set up a golf outing this weekend at Lincoln Hills in Lincoln and we played the Orchard course. The cost is normally $69, but I had a coupon for $39. The course is in awesome shape and a challenge, but they had a tournament off in front of us and we were an hour late teeing off. I shot 44+41=85 and worked out some of the bugs in my driver. I have been rather shallow on my takeaway and letting my hands get ahead of the clubhead and pulling the ball left. I steepened the plane by feeling like I was taking the club straight back (the image is hitting someone with the club who is standing right behind you). It really helped and aside from some putting difficulties on the front side, I had a birdie on each side and played solidly. Hopefully, I can carry that to Monterey. I can get away with a balky driver at Pacific Grove, but not Poppy Hills, which is full of groves of Eucalyptus, which grow tall and very close together. If you hit into them, you have to take a drop. It will be great to play with Darryl and I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend with him. Boyd shot 40 and both Paul and Pamas struggled and shot mid eighties at Lincoln Hills.
Darla and I went out to dinner last night with our friends, Mary and Stan, who will be going with us to our condo in Nuevo Vallarta next month. I had a Groupon that I bought for Susumu, a Japanese Steakhouse in Roseville that is patterned after Benihanas. It is hard to top Benihana, but the Groupon was $35 (half price) and bought us four dinners of either steak and shrimp or chicken and shrimp. We had appetizers of calamari and the guys had Sapporo beer and the ladies lemon drop cocktails and we had a lot of laughs. I think they will be fun to travel with, although Stan went out of his way to make sure that I know he is NOT a golfer. I told him that I would likely play five of the days that we are there and he can join me whenever he wants. We are also going with Bob and Debbie and one of their friends who is a golfer.
Well, Darla has tacos on the stove and I need to put my feet up and relax before work tomorrow. Darla, being a quasi-state worker (her agency is a private agency that works with the state of California and follows their holiday schedule), has tomorrow off. It is to celebrate Columbus Day, a Spanish explorer who got lost on his way to Asia and discovered a country where he could rip off native Americans. I will return next week with pictures from our trip and lots of stories. Have a great week. Ciao.
No comments:
Post a Comment