Written on 5-31-2020.
I did play better, but more on that in a bit. It’s the final day of May, and we are in our “Baker Street” near Bandolier National Monument. We chose to be brave and give boondocking a first try, and this is our second night here now. I write “here now,” but we are in a different spot tonight. The spot we stayed last night is just down the road from this one.
Belinda, Kody, and I wanted to get out of town, and we wondered where we could go and who could we visit, and that was when we realized that the nearest kid was Matt in Santa Fe. We packed up last minute on Saturday, and we were on the road around 4:00. I thought it would take about an hour to get everything ready, but it took closer to two. We just have a lot of things to think about like what food to bring, remembering to fill up the water tank, what technology and books do we want, and getting Pika set up inside with plenty of food and water while we are gone, and much more. But, here we are, and we prepared well.
It’s been both fearful and fantastic. It is fearful, because we didn’t know where (or even if) we would find a spot. And, if we find a spot, will it be legal to stay there? Pretty scary.
It was fantastic when we did find a spot, and when we saw others campers doing the same thing, we knew it would be fine/legal. We are in a national forest, so it’s all good. We are worried more about going camping during the whole coronavirus thing, also. We noticed businesses are beginning to reopen around the state, though, albeit slowly, and we saw some campgrounds are opening, too.
We didn’t let the fear stop us, and here we are. Visiting Matt was great. He needed a break from the boredom of not fighting fires, and he was so happy to see some people he loves. Seeing Kody was a bonus. They had a heartfelt reunion, and I captured it on video to send to Danielle. She was sooooo jealous, of course. We wished we could all be together, but the reality is she’s flying out to Fairbanks, Alaska for thirty days starting tomorrow at 1:00.
One child is leaving to go to Alaska, and the other one is planning his big return home. James has decided that he would end his time in New Zealand after four years of work there. He turned in...
his letter of resignation to Creative HQ, and his last day will actually be on the 4th of July (his independence from Em and New Zealand?), four years to the day since he started there. Big changes are coming for James and the Swope family.
On to golf…
I played with C.J. and Shawn on Friday. Eric was supposed to join us, but he dogged us at the last minute. Well, he called that morning to say he was going to the cabin instead, so not so last minute. Our tee time was at 2:30. Speaking of tee times, we have four of them for this week, and that’s because we are trying to get in as many as we can before our memberships expire.
I just checked, and I have played 35 full rounds for this membership. If I play all four times this week, it will be 39. Not bad. I would say I got my money’s worth with this membership. The only day I have chosen not to set a tee time is Tuesday. We take Kody to get his trim and grooming that day, and I also have a tech guy coming over that day to set up the oxygen I will be using at night. Ugh, I am going to be using oxygen at night now.
I decided the game for this round, and I chose the same one that Eric and I played. It was fun with Eric, and I thought it would be fun and different for them. It was!
I got a birdie during this round! Finally! It is the second birdie of this year.
Pinon Hills-Hole #7-Birdie #2 of 2020
I had to get a birdie to win my second hole. Shawn played steadily for the first three holes, winning all of those points. I managed a bogey on hole #5 after we pushed the point from hole #4. We all got bogeys there. After hole #5, I had two points to Shawn’s three. Shawn was the only one to get a par on #6, so he earned four points for the front nine, and that’s when I got my birdie.
I used my Warrior driver every time during this round. I kept pulling/hooking the Wishon driver, so I just kept it in the bag. The drive came out “low and hot,” at least that’s what Shawn said. It was on a low trajectory, but it headed straight for the fairway on the left side. According to the Golf GPS, I had 119 yards to the back, and that’s where the flag was. I chose my pithing wedge, and I hoped it would not be too much and fly the green. I did that with my 9-iron on the first hole.
It ended up being the right choice. My golf ball landed on the green on the back tier, and it actually spun closer to the hole. Sweet!
With my new S7K Putter, I lined it up guessing it would break a little to the right, and it rolled directly into the hole. Even with the cups and their little nubs in various places to keep the golf balls from dropping all the way in (due to the pandemic), it fell in!
I was the first to earn two points for a hole on that one, according to the game.
C.J. and Shawn pushed the points for the next two holes, and I was hoping to steal them on #10, but I lost a ball behind the green there. Shawn played this hole really well, so he got all six of the points there.
Okay, I am getting really sleepy. It’s 10:38, and I need to get ready for bed. I will get ready, and see if that wakes me up a little, so I can finish this tonight. Be right back…
It’s 10:56 now, and I am snuggled in bed, so I will wrap this up.
We were on the back now, and Shawn had won hole #10 for six points. That’s when we started tying holes. I should have gotten a bogey on #11. My tee shot went all the way over to the grass on #12, but I hit a smooth recovery shot with my 6-iron to just off the green. My chip, however, didn’t get to the lower tier, and I three-putted from there for a double. They didn’t fare much better, so we tied on that one. That was the first one.
We all bogeyed #12, and then I made a bogey to tie Shawn on #13. I hit my third shot into the water on that hole, but I managed to get up and down after that for another bogey and another tie. That was our third tie. Then we tied again on #14!
I should have gotten a par here. My drive was the best of the round, and I was left with a short pitch, but I chunked my approach. I recovered with a smooth chip to a spot just below the hole from four feet, but the following putt missed right. Bad read. I saw it going straight in. I really missed an opportunity there, but we tied one more time with bogeys.
Shawn teed off first, and he hit a beauty with his 9-iron. It landed on the green and rolled past the hole that was in the middle this time.
No pressure. My 9-iron got the call, too, and I hit a shot matching his. Mine rolled right up to the hole, though, and not past it. When we got close, we all saw that it was less than two feet away. Sweet!
I was going to just finish it off, and I asked C.J. if he minded if I putted it in. He was fine with that, and then I asked Shawn, and since it was a match play game, he conceded the putt for me. Cool!
I had just won ten points. Since it was conceded, though, I am not counting it as a birdie here. I actually went to putt it in, and it missed left, but I wasn’t really trying, since he let me have it. That was embarrassing. He had a putt for birdie to try and tie me, but it was from around fifteen feet, and he missed. I got ten more points to add to my front nine four.
I gotta go to sleep now. We drive home tomorrow, and then we play at 1:45.
Until next time…
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