August Already?

8-2-10

   Whoa!  We are in August now.  It seemed only yesterday when I wrote that we were halfway through July.  When we get back home after our vacation here in Grand Lake, we will be exactly one week from reporting back to school on the 11^th. 

   We are on our Grand Lake family reunion vacation, staying at a cabin five miles or so outside of Granby this time.  It’s a nice cabin, but it was not cleaned well before Guy and Annmarie arrived.  They called to get someone in here (a lady named Fudgie?) to clean it.  It’s better now.  The Lamberts were here for Friday and Saturday night.  They left yesterday around noon.  Now, it’s Mom, Dad, Guy, Annmarie, Shylah, and our family.  We plan on leaving on Wednesday morning.  Mom and Dad plan on leaving tomorrow afternoon.  They need to get back to be with Emily who is staying with them for a goalie camp.

   We started at Winter Park with a nice lunch at The Cheeky Monk Restaurant and then...

the teenagers (all except Erica who did not want to go) and I took a ride on the Alpine Slide.  After that, it was straight to Grand Lake for the traditional go-cart racing with the Lambert children.  Curt, Bev, Belinda, Guy, Annmarie, and I also drove the go-carts, but not as much as the teenage crowd.  Shylah rode a few times, once with Annmarie and twice with Guy. 

   Yesterday evening, Paul (last name) and his family came up to visit, eat dinner, and play some volleyball out on the rocky driveway.  Dawn did not play, but Paul, Kat, and Lexy did, although Lexy did not like it, and she did not play until the very end when it was getting dark.  Danielle, Kat, and I took on Paul, Guy, and James.  Then Lexy filled in for James when he stopped playing.  We played until it the ball became just a dark outline of a circle and any sense of depth perception was gone. 

   Today, we took a boat ride on a rental, an old pontoon boat that looked like the Millennium Falcon as far as its condition was concerned.  It had parts that were rusting away, seat cushions with gaping tears and holes, and it needed oil after only fifteen minutes of motoring toward a cove. I almost said, “What a piece of junk!”

   It was not the boat, however, that was important.  It was the people, the time together, and the beautiful surroundings, of course.  Since we were on the boat, we spent a bunch of time conversing.  It was nice since there were none of the usual distractions: laptops, cell phones, iPods, television, etc.  Instead we were distracted by the scenery, James and Danielle playing with Shylah, or an occasional eagle or hawk, pleasant distractions all. 

   Tomorrow, Guy, Dad, and I are heading over to the Pole Creek Golf Course for eighteen holes.  It’s the course we can see from the cabin we are staying at.  Dad will ride along in the cart again like he did just like last year.  I am so excited!  It’s hard to contain my excitement.  My stomach is upset, but I think it’s due to the vacation food I’ve been eating and not the excitement.  I’ve taken Pepto Bismol twice tonight (it ended up being three doses), and I am hoping I’ll be good to go when the morning comes.  It has not happened before, and I pray it never does, but I am sure golf with an upset stomach and frequent stops at the golf course bathrooms would be no fun at all. 

   When we returned from our boating, and when everyone else in my family was having some quiet “me” time, I drove over to the pro shop to see where it was and what it was like.  I grabbed two scorecards to preview the course, and I checked on prices again to verify.  It is not cheap, but I purposely did not play in the Pinon Hills Classic this year in order to be able to afford tomorrow’s round.  It’s $93.00 per person for eighteen holes and that includes the cart and some practice balls.  I am paying for Guy’s round as partial payment for our staying here at the cabin.  I will also pay for Guy’s rentals ($35.00) and Dad’s cart fee to allow him to ride along with us ($16.00), but there is no price high enough for the precious time we will spend together tomorrow.  Of course when it is all over, I will write about it here. 

   I am hoping that I can carry over my good play to this new golf course.  It won’t be easy.  Playing a new course usually adds strokes to anyone’s score, so a low score will be difficult.  I’ll do my best, though.