Target Tree and a Little Break

Written on 8-29-2020.

        B and I are camping in our Baker Street at the Target Tree Campground tonight.  We only came up for one night, and James will be joining us shortly.  We had breakfast for dinner (eggs with sausage mixed in and pancakes on the side), and we finished taking Kody for a walk on the trail that goes right up the mountain behind the campsite right across the road.  It was beautiful, and we even got to see Eric flying and circling above us when he was working for C.A.P. tonight.

James decided not to buy the Fiat from Char and Ed after all.  He chose instead to buy Anna’s Acura, and I am relieved.  It is older, has more miles on it than the Fiat, but it is bigger, more comfortable (it is a luxury car after all), and ultimately more reliable.  He plans on getting new tires, and he has already replaced the battery and charged up the air conditioner.  He will also get it lubed soon.  The only step after all of that maintenance is to get the paperwork done with Anna, and they will seal the deal next week.  He is getting a good price, of course, so he can afford to put a little extra money into it.

Written on 8-30-2020.

We are back home now, and I am relaxing and watching the BMW Championship.  We played frisbee golf around the campground loop this morning, and then B and I relaxed until checkout time while James hurried home to have a meeting.  It was a wonderful weekend getaway, and I would like to go there again.  The camp host said the campground was designed by a woman, and I said she had done an incredible job.  Super layout there.

The wedding was great, but not for the reasons that most weddings are great.  I enjoyed the vows that Savannah gave, but the best part for me was seeing Danielle give Matt a huge hug when we first arrived.  She left some tears on his shoulder, and it was a tremendous reunion for both of them.  And, it was a miracle it even happened.  They both didn’t think Matt would be able to come with his work, but...

he managed to get a couple of days off.  That is pretty rare during fire season, and it is even more special due to his being a leader on his crew.

B and I felt a bit uncomfortable there (due to the whole pandemic thing), so we left early, even before the dinner was served.  We felt guilty and relieved to be driving away, but more relieved.  We know it was held outdoors, but they had all of the chairs for the wedding right next to each other, and all of the tables for the reception not exactly physically distanced either.

Written on 9-6-2020.

It’s another Sunday, and I am watching a PGA Tour Special on NBC on Arnold’s tournament, the Bay Hill/Arnold Palmer Invitational.  The third round of the Fed Ex Tournament is on later today, and it will finish up on Labor Day tomorrow.  I went to mass online again (Denver’s Notre Dame mass this time), but I am itching to get back to going in person.  I still don’t feel safe, though.  Until I do, I will continue to receive our Lord through spiritual communion.  

Belinda will be returning to school for the first time with children.  They are starting the hybrid model this week.  We are also starting our Swope Writing Academy on our back deck this week, and that will be a new adventure.  It’s the Sunday before we start, and we have seven children whose parents expressed an interest, but we don’t have our schedule set up yet.  I am sure it will sort itself out.

We washed all three of our cars yesterday together, and that was the first time we cleaned up James’s new Acura.  It really looks beautiful now.  I believe, despite it being older and having over 100,000 miles, he got a super deal.  It will last him three to five years easily, and it is a very comfortable, luxurious, and quiet ride.  Not bad at all for the price he paid, just over $2000.00.

 

On to golf…

I have taken a little break from the single plane learning process.  I did go to the range at Hillcrest this past week when I brought our Alto to Durango RV Rentals to install the larger front window under warranty.  

I used up a large bucket pretty quickly.  I am unable to get through a practice session with 100% great contact.  I hit a few thin.  I didn’t even hit the ball one time.  I ended up taking a huge divot behind the ball, and that’s what caused me to miss the ball entirely.  Oops!  I also hit my 5-wood off the toe one time, too, and that ball squirted right.  Thankfully, it didn’t go directly to the right, so nobody was hurt, and I made a pure swing with excellent contact with that very same club right after that.  Go figure.  

Because people are not allowed to hit shots that goes over 225 yards on their range, I got a lot of practice with my 3-wood, even though I think I hit that club over 225 yards.  I made many good swings with it, and I was pleased with how it went.  A few went just right of my target, but I got it off the tee most of the time, and I got a few videos with that club using the Catalyst App as well.  My swing looks pretty good.  When I kept my left knee bent and posted around it, my head stayed still, and I didn’t see a sway off the ball.

Here’s the improvement I am seeing.  When I went to the range to practice before using this single plane swing, I would have misses that included thinned and fat shots and also hooks and slices.  Mostly hooks.  Now, I only see thinned and fat shots, and I rarely see hooks or slices.  In fact, I don’t think I have hit a slice with this new swing, and the rare shots that go left are more like pulls.  The shots that end up going right come mostly from when I use my driver, and those are more like fades, especially lately.

Now, if I can focus on eliminating those bad contacts, I would be much more consistent.

It’s later in the afternoon now, and we will be going over to the Edgerton’s house for dinner soon.  We are helping them move furniture out of Dorrie’s two bedrooms downstairs to allow for new flooring.  We are receiving a new bed frame.  The last one we inherited had the wires chewed out by Yenta sp?.  This one has the wires intact.  We will replace the old one with this newer one in Danielle’s bedroom.  It’s going to be a pain to get them moved, though.

Dustin Johnson is increasing his lead during this third round.  He is at 17 under, but John Rahm and Justin Thomas are close.  

Until next time…