A Wedding, A Pageant, A Birthday and A Baptism (June, 2021)

We had so many great reasons to head back to Colorado and Wyoming this month, and luckily for us, they all included family.  Our first stop was our nephews wedding, which has been postponed three times, and a full year because of Covid-19.  They finally settled on a much smaller wedding in his new bride's, parent's back yard and community park.  It was the perfect venue, with a small group of friends and family.

After time in Colorado for the wedding, we headed up to Wyoming to see our youngest daughter.  We had a chance to help her out a little bit with her garden, which she had spent a lot of time planting, but was having trouble finding the ideal way to water it.  We came up with motes, which will hold the water in and allow it to really soak deep without encouraging a lot of weeds.  Hopefully this will help her out in the long run this summer.

For kicks and giggles, we also went to a local pageant while we were in town.  Tons of fun, and we got to have our pictures taken with a local beauty. 

When our time in Wyoming was up, we headed back to Colorado for some more family festivities.  Since our daughter and Son (in-law) live so far away from everyone, they decided to have a little 1st birthday party for our grandson while they were in town.  

Cake Comas are real!

And once the cake coma wore off, he was even able to help with clean up.

And the other reason we came back to Colorado was our Grandson's Baptism at one of the lakes by our family cabin.  Two of his cousins liked the idea so well that they decided to join in.

Covid has kept families apart so much in the last year, it is great to be vaccinated now, and be able to do all of these amazing things we have missed out on for so long! Life is great!

Lookout Mountain, Day 3 - Summer of Golf (June, 2021)

Today's golf was at Lookout Mountain in North Phoenix at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort.  When we checked in, they were super friendly, and we felt very welcome.  There was no patio restaurant associated with the golf course, but there was probably something associated with the hotel.  There was no GPS on the golf carts, but Steve had his watch, so we were fine.

This course was a beautiful desert course that meandered through a few different neighborhoods as well.  It was a hard course, but it was in great condition, and the beauty of the area made us forget how hard it was.  It was really quite amazing!

The single behind us joined us about half way through our round.  He was very nice, but kept me from taking pictures of the back 9, which were really the more spectacular of the holes.  There was a lot of elevation changes on this course, especially on the back 9.  One hole had the highest tee box in Phoenix, which then dropped several hundred feet onto the fairway below.  Super fun!  This course was a bit of a drive for us, but I would gladly play it again if time permits.  It was so challenging and so fun all at the same time.

My Second Liberty Puzzle (June, 2021)

My sister-in-law was kind enough to exchange Liberty puzzles with me so that we could each try a new one.

These solid wood puzzles are the coolest ever!  I highly recommend them for anyone that loves puzzles.

Long Bow, Day 2 - Summer of Golf (June, 2021)

Long Bow is a course that we have really been looking forward to playing.  It gets great ratings, and is well over $100 to play in the winter.  We are paying $40 to play today. The carts, which were included in the rate, were very nice and had incredible gps technology, which helped with distances to all the course obstacles. This is not a neighborhood course, it is a true desert course.  No houses to hit, but also no houses to look at.  

We were excited to see that the carts were sitting in the shade waiting for us on our arrival.

Their outdoor dining at The Grill looks good, but no comfy chairs, which is something I really appreciate after a round of golf.

Cute decor for a desert course.

At first glance, the fairways looked pretty dry.  And as we started playing they were as dry as they looked.  You don't want to hit thick on this course, because it will rattle your soul.  And many of the fairways are sloped, so with the dry grass, we ended up rolling off the fairway almost every time.  Very unforgiving, even when we hit a great, middle of the fairway shot.

Gorgeous views!  From this perspective I can see how this course gets such good ratings.  

There is a large Amazon distribution facility on the front half of the course, so you hear a lot of back up horns from the delivery vans.  

There is also a small airport right next to Long Bow.  It must have been touch-and-go practice day, because we had about 3 planes per hole fly right over us.

It took the first nine holes for us to actually get into a groove, but once we did, we were able to really start enjoying the game and the beauty of this course.  The back nine was much more enjoyable for both of us.

They have lots of really beautiful and difficult sand traps.  

Steve and I both agreed that the green fees for Long Bow and Poston Butte should have been reversed.  We enjoyed our day of golf at Poston Butte more than this highly rated desert course. This is just how we felt about it, and everyone has their views on what they like in a golf course.

Poston Butte, Day 1 - Summer of Golf (June, 2021)

We bought a Troon Card this summer, so we will be enjoying a summer of golf in Arizona.  The Troon card gives really great discounts at all Troon golf resorts from May 1 through September 30.  It also includes discounts in the pro shops and restaurants on all of the properties. 

Today we played at Poston Butte in Florence, AZ.  Our green fees were $25 for 18 holes and a cart, and they had reasonable rates on their beverage cart as well.  A 20 oz Pepsi was only $2.  That's hard to beat!

They had a very nice patio off of their restaurant with comfy looking chairs.

It was a very well kept course, with wide fairways, but it wasn't easy.  It had a lot of strategically placed sand, and I think I found all of it!

This roadrunner had caught a mouse.  Go roadrunner!

The 17th hole is their signature hole.  The green is surrounded by water and is 150 yards out!

Steve hit the green.

And his second shot went in.  Birdie!

Everyone was super friendly, from the staff to the other golfers.  We liked this course a lot!  

Great Grandpa's Rocking Chair, Columbia SC (May, 2021)

Steve's dad made a rocking chair for our kids when they were little.  Our grandson loves rocking in it.

Costco Cart Boy, Columbia, SC (May, 2021)

We didn't realize how fun a trip to Costco could be, but that was just the beginning.  Putting the cart away at the end was the highlight.

Dinner at IX XX IX, Columbia, SC (May, 2021)

One of the kids favorite Asian fusion spots.

Great food, and a nice atmosphere, and it's hard to beat Korean food.