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Pebble Beach - Four nights at Steve & Sheryln's to watch Garrett in the TaylorMade National Championship. Eighty professionals from all over the country played in the event.
Monday March 2 - Drive to the Robinson Palace.
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| I helped Sherlyn build this very
fun 1000 piece puzzle |
Tues 3rd - Played Coral De Tiego with Steve
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| June on the 2nd tee |
Wed 4th - Followed Garrett at Spyglass.
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| Garrett's ball on the green |
Thurs 5th - Followed Garrett at Pebble Beach. He and Desmond, his partner for the event, finished tied for 4th place. Garrett finished 15th in singles.
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| Garrett and his 4-some at Pebble
Beach |
Friday 6th - Drove from Pebble Beach to Palm Desert. We decided to, once again, take the scenic route by avoiding the 210 freeway which is a 120 mile road-race from Pasadena to the Morongo Casino. Instead, we took the longer but more relaxing route through Tehachapi.
Friday 6th - We arrived at Desert Breezes right around check-in time so we unpacked and got settled. This time we opted for a downstairs unit, the only downside being the potential for noise upstairs. June heard it only one early morning. Then we mostly hung out by the pool and relaxed. We ate dinner at Mario's, then we shopped for food next door at Ralph's. June bought a homeless lady and her daughter a few things.
Saturday 7th - We visited the El Paseo area. First, we had breakfast at the very popular Wilma and Frita's, then the PGA store and Pete Carlsons. Then shopping at Whole Foods. Then back to base with the pool and putting green. We went back to the Fishmarket for dinner, and started packing for an early exit in the morning for Sedona.
Sunday 8th - Hiked the Cove Trail to Quarry Overlook in La Quinta.
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| At the Overlook There's no Quarry! |
That evening we met Geoff and Sue at their house for drinks. Then we drove to Thai Smile and shared the most delicious (and most expensive) Thai food in a beautiful setting looking out on El Paseo Drive.
Monday 9th - Indian Wells Tennis! Two $60 Grounds passes bought us access to all courts except Stadiums 1 and 2. So we got up early since the gate opened at 9:30, courts opened at 10, and play began at 11:00. But we were at Stadium 3 by 9:45. We accidentally went in what we thought were going to be reserved seats near the court. Turns out the side we went in was NOT reserved but the other side was. So we got lucky and sat in real seats near the court ALL Day. And those seats were very much policed by the employees. Obviously everyone needs to use the restroom, get food, refill water bottles at some point during the day. A password was used to whisper into the attendants ear to get back into that section. But I wasn't told that the password expires after 30 minutes, so I had to raise hell to get back in after getting food and water. Otherwise, we had a BLAST!
We watched the following Round 3 Men's Singles matches:
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| Djokavic and Tsitsipas See the last point of the match. |
Tuesday (10th) - Golf at Woodhaven using a GolfMoose deal for $70 each. Played with Mark and Kelly from Vancouver Wa. Good fun and nice people. I was +1 over par on the front 9 holes. Then I proceeded to miss the next 5 fairways. Right around this time, Kelly asked me, "So did you play golf in college? Or professionally?" I feel bad remembering this because, rather than thank her for the compliment, I laughed and said, "I just missed the last 5 fairways! So, uh, no!"
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| Mark and I on the 18th tee box |
That evening we met Steve and Sheryln for dinner at Fishmarket in La Quinta. I had the delicious Cioppino bowl, and finished it off the next day for lunch. June is GF challenged at this restaurant because they put wheat in the rice. UGH!
Wednesday (11th) - Hiked at Indian Canyons; West Fork Trail. Gorgeous! But we first went to Taquitz Canyon to hike their one and only trail about 1 mile to a waterfall. We have done this at least twice before. Very easy, very crowded, and very nice. This time, we went to the very elaborate building at the trailhead where we expected to pay about $10 each. The guy at the counter asked if we had water? Yes, we said proudly and we showed him out water bottles. "We require that you carry at least 32 ounces each", he stated matter-of-factly. Good God! That's a gallon of water! Let's see, a pints a pound...quick math...that's 8 pounds of water. I rudely replied, "Let me guess, you sell water here, right?" I didn't even ask how much. We walked outside to talk, which didn't last long. A money grab for sure. It wasn't even hot that day!
We quickly decided to make the 5 minute drive to the Indian Canyons where we paid $7 total (I got the free Vet discount) and had access to MANY trails. Two days later I figured out that I left my joint credit card with the lady at the drive up kiosk.
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| Indian Canyon Hike |
We ate dinner that night at a new place: Project Burger! The food was very good. The ambiance was...different. The place was packed, so we waited with drinks in the parking lot along with several other parties.
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| Project Burger Restaurant |
Thursday (12th) - We visited the El Paseo area. First, we had breakfast at the very popular Wilma and Frita's, then we visited the PGA store and Pete Carlsons. Then we shopped for food at Whole Foods. Then back to base with the pool and putting green.
We went back to the Fishmarket for dinner that night, and started packing for an early exit in the morning for Sedona.
Friday (13th) - Drive to Sedona.
We took a shortcut / Scenic Route to avoid the greater Phoenix area, spending significant time on a 2-lane road through more small desert towns. By far the most prominent was the small and very scenic tourist town of Jerome Az.
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| Jerome, Az. |
Sedona
Four nights at Sedona Springs Resort in West Sedona with a Capital Vacations timeshare. Only $250 total but we had to watch a timeshare presentation.
.
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| Here's a Google Earth pic of the
West Sedona area where we stayed and hiked. |
Fri 13th - We got in late afternoon, but after check-in we still had time to hike up a trail nearby to an area close to the airport, an area famous for watching the sunset.
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| Looking north from near the
airport |
Sat (14th) - Our first morning in Sedona we attended the timeshare presentation. They immediately brought in Joseph the closer. He tried to convince June that her timeshare was extinct, except that Capital was managing the property. He predicted that June would pay over $32K for annual maintenance fees over the next 15 years. They would graciously take $16K and they she would then be part of Capital. No dice! Over and done!
Then a few days later, I met a guy who sells excursions in the lobby. He said about Joseph, "I hate that guy! You didn't buy did you?" I said that we hadn't. "Well then, you are eligible to get another promo next year." We eventually bought it from him for $249. We would get an extra day when we schedule in within 60 days, and we would get $250 back when we arrive. We would also get another week somewhere else. Too good to be true? Yes, we eventually found out that the 'Free Week' is handled by Odenza Vacations which is also a scam. Still, the trip to Sedona was very nice!
Later that day, we hiked to Seven Sacred Pools up Soldier's Pass, something we had done years ago with Bruce and Maryanne. We also did it in 2023, except that in 2023 they no longer allowed driving to the parking lot. You have to take a 5-minute shuttle from Posse Grounds Park. This year they only had room for 25 people on the shuttle that runs every hour. We were about number 30, so we walked the extra mile to the trailhead which was still very beautiful. The hike was very nice, except there were many people. We viewed the pools while we had our PB&J sandwiches. We hiked back on a jeep trail with fewer people. We didn't even pause at the shuttle pickup but instead walked back to the parking lot with a young man carrying his daughter.
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| Seven Sacred Pools |
Later that afternoon we hiked a close-by trail: Chimney Rock Loop.
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| Chimney Rock |
That night we ate at Fresh and Natural Thai Kitchen in West Sedona. It had great reviews and for good reason. We shared the Wild Salmon Bowl and a salad, heavily laden with ginger. June had the ginger. Then for desert we had a plate of sesame balls.
Sunday (15th) - Drove to Oak Creek Village to play golf. We got a deal on GolfMoose and started at 1:44. We had breakfast at some place in Oak Village. The golf was beautiful. We played with two older ladies like ourselves. We ate at Picazzo's again and shared a GF pizza and salad.
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| June on the Tee Box |
Monday (16th) The day before in Oak Creek, everywhere we went was crawling with people. The parking lots for hiking were already full and backed up with cars. That's never fun, so we decided to hike at Boynton Canyon, another fairly close-by location in the West Sedona area known for being a prime Vortex location. I figured NO ONE is going to be there at 10 am. WRONG!! We ended up parking on the road and walking close to a quarter mile to the trailhead. In spite of the crowd and long walk to the trailhead, it was a beautiful hike.
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| Boynton Canyon |
Later that day we drove into the uptown area of Sedona which is always crowded with tourists. June bought crystals for the kids. She tasted Arizona wine and I had a Arizona beer. It turned out to be good fun!
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| A very small part of the Uptown
Area of Sedona |
We went back to West Sedona, had another meal at the Thai place, and then
packed for our departure the following morning.
We planned for one week at Mikes. Actually spent 4 nights. Too Hot!!
Tuesday 17th We left Sedona fairly early and took the
standard I10 route. We got into Anthem fairly early where we stopped at a
Starbucks, got coffees, and had a snack. I called Dennis to see if they
were busy for St. Patrick's day. They were, so we did some food shopping
at Sprouts. It was already over 100 degrees, so we hung out by the pool
where we learned that Peter's Bistro was having a big buffett. We would
have been a bit late had we tried to eat there. So we had leftovers from
Sedona and June made a salad.
Wednesday 18th - Played 9 holes at the Village starting at 9:30 after the men's club championship. We finished at 11:30 and it was over 100 degrees. We had sandwiches at Chef Peter's, then we got a cabana at the pool and made a recording of our trip.
Thursday 19th - Golf with Dennis at Coyote Lakes - 6:45 Tee time!
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| Thanks June for
this and many other pictures on our trip! |
After our round we hit the Pool and workout and workout room at the Village.
Later we had dinner with Mike and Sue at Mission BBQ.
Friday 20th - Pickleball in the morning. Got a cabana by the pool at around noon where it was 107 degrees with no end to the heat in sight. We had planned to have dinner at Dennis and Mary's on Sunday evening. But we decided to tell them at dinner that we would leave Saturday morning.
Another dinner at Mission BBQ before the Giants game at Surprise Stadium with Dennis, Mary, Mike, and Sue. Mary wanted to leave in the top of the 8th inning with the Giants up 5-0. She actually said, "Do you really think that Texas will come from behind to win?" We convinced her to stay and watch Texas come from behind and win in 9 innings.
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| Great seats for the Giants
game.Mike and Sue are several rows in front of us. |
Afterwards Mike suggested we go out for drinks.
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| We had to wear our Fantasy Camp
Jerseys. Here is where Dennis complained that his fitted cap was too small. It fit me fine so we traded caps. |
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| In the parking lot after drinks |
Saturday 21st - Drive through Palm Springs, San Bernadino, Palmdale, and Lancaster. Spent the night at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Tehachapi. Had dinner at the Four Seasons Thai Cafe where June had the GF Chicken Sandwich and I had the delicious Beef Bulgogi bowl.
Sunday 22nd - Got up in the morning, had the free breakfast in the hotel, then headed home. Stopped for lunch at the Nick the Greek in Novato.