A New Jeep, a Scary Scenario, and a Positive Round

Written on 6-15-21.

We spent our first night at Spot #5 at the Blue Lake Campground in the San Isabel National Forest last night, and we are relaxing outside now just before lunch.  Kody got two walks this morning, one with B and the other with me.  

Let me set the scene.  B is reading her iPad, and sunning her feet on her Rocker style camping chair.  Kody is watching from where he’s lying down, and he has pine needles to lie on that were left behind from trimming the trees.  I can see blue paint spots at the base of the trees around our site, and I can tell they have been trimmed around the bottom.  Was that what the blue spots were for?  

When I just took a drink of my iced coffee, I looked up past the edge of our Alto’s roof, and I saw a gorgeous, bright white cloud coming past the edge of the closed awning.  The awning is acting like a picture frame for the cloud and the sky above.  

I am sitting in my Rocker chair, and I have my feet propped up on a rock about the size of a small cooler.  Kody’s water dish is also on that rock to keep it up and off the dirt.  I can hear birds and a fly buzzing by, and our neighbors have just driven by after packing everything up.  It’s about 11:42, and I remember reading that check-out here is at 11:00.

Basically, life is...

great!  Here are some other wonderful news items.  First, we have a brand new (to us) bright silver Jeep Grand Cherokee.  It’s a 2018 with 45,000 miles on it (after this trip).  We used half of our settlement from State Farm for a down payment.  It was the only vehicle on the lot at Ziem’s that we wanted.  It had everything we desired: heated seats, dual climate control, towing capability, 4WD, comfy seats, a sun roof, a smaller size than the Explorer or the Telluride, and fairly low mileage.

It also has some things we didn’t need or want: push button start, vented seats, and a system that raises or lowers the Jeep for four-wheeling.

We grabbed it, and we paid the asking price for it, too, because inventories are so low right now due to Covid.  I have never not haggled on the price, but I knew that any haggling would be moot.  They would have sold that car the very next day probably, if we hadn’t snatched it.  I made a weak attempt to haggle on the extended warranty, but to no avail.  Sigh.

So, that is a very beautiful thing, and we love it.  It gives us a feeling of security when we are driving it.  I remember driving home on Friday after working at Newcomb and playing golf at Pinon Hills, and thinking that it was two weeks to the day since we had had the accident.  I thought that was a decent turn-around time to be driving a newer car through the same intersection, going the same direction, in just 14 days.  Half of that time we were in Dallas, too.  Thank you, State Farm, for a mostly painless process.  We got more than a fair price for the Escape, in my opinion.

And, in other HUGE news, we sent the check that will finish our payments on our house.  Did I write that correctly?  Yes, I did.  Our house will be paid off very shortly.  We used the other half of our settlement to pay off our house.  We didn’t have much left, so we killed it off.

I will add, too, that Bev called us just before we lost our signal coming here that she had good news, also.  First, they had a joyful wedding anniversary.  Second, they had their bid accepted on a new patio home.  Third, Tim proposed to Erica, and she said yes, so that is very exciting news from the Lambert family.  We plan on driving through Colorado Springs on our way to Mom and Dads’ tomorrow, and we hope to see them.  Maybe we can drive by the new house as well.

On to golf…

I played with Eric, Shawn, and Tim last week, and then I played nine holes on Friday after work, as I mentioned above.

Nothing much to write about on the first round.  I struggled.  I think I had some bogeys, but I don’t remember any pars.  Shawn and I took on Eric and Tim (Shawn’s idea), but we lost three and one.  Shawn carried me as best as he could.

For my nine holes on Friday, I played alone, and I did better.

I am inside now, and I am getting hungry.  I will continue this after lunch.  I need to put on my sweatshirt, too.

We are back from a 3/4 mile, stunning, drizzly hike from Blue Lake to the Bear Lake Campground.  It was incredibly beautiful, and we were wise to think ahead by bringing two umbrellas.  By the end, Kody was soaked and had muddy paws.  We rinsed them off using the outside shower, though, and then we stuck him in the back of the Jeep to dry off.  Now, we are in our Baker Street and having some quiet time before dinner.  B and I just ate veggies with crackers and cheese for a snack, but we ate them in a different setting.  We set up the bed where the dining table goes, and it made into a lounge area for snacking.  Clever idea, Belinda.

Back to golf…

I had no pars when we played with Shawn and Tim.  I nearly had a par on the last hole with a forty-foot putt that kept rolling towards the hole on the front of the green, and I thought it was going to go in, but it clanked off the flagstick and stopped a few inches away.  Bummer.  No pars for me this time.

When I played thirteen holes the next day, I was able to earn three pars and three bogeys, though.  During that round, I thought I would set some realistic goals.  I was focused on hitting three fairway, three greens in regulation, and using only two putts when I did manage to get my golf balls on the greens.

I hit two fairways on #3 and #13.  Didn’t reach that goal.

I hit five greens in regulation, though, or at least four, so I did meet that goal.  I will explain later.

I averaged two putts per hole, so I didn’t meet that goal either.  I only had one really bad putting hole on hole #2.  My ball landed on the back, but the hole was cut up front.  When I didn’t get my first putt close, I ended up using three more putts to get in from there.  For the rest of the twelve holes I played, I did use two putts or less, however.  On two holes, #1 and #10, I had zero putts.  The one on #10 was an amazing chip shot with my Sandy Andy out of deep rough.  It was just off the back, and the hole was in the middle, and after I chipped it, I took my eyes off of it for a moment, but when I looked again, it was still rolling, and then it dropped in the hole.  Cool.

On hole #11, I had something happen that is worth writing about.  A group had caught up to me, and they were the same group that let me tee off before their tee time.  I kept ahead of them without a problem until that hole.

I lined up my tee shot and let it go.  It was a stinker, pulled left and headed towards the area between #10 and #11.  I realized that they were down there immediately after my tee shot, so I shouted a little too late, “FORE!”

Then I heard, “You son of a b&@*#! You got me!  D%@* it!  You f%&@*#!”

Ice ran up my spine into my head.  I hesitated, but then I thought I should accept what I had done and get there as fast as I could.  I was imagining the worst things as I drove along in my cart: concussion, knocked-out eyeball, split skin with blood gushing out, broken bone, or possible brain damage.  I could see the other guys in the group coming to his aid and then beating me to a pulp.

When I got there (it took a while in my slow cart), they were gone and driving up to the green, though.  Hmmm.  I drove up to them, and the guy who yelled told me he was just joshing me.  Phew!  

I felt great relief after hearing that.  He also told me he threw my golf ball to the fairway on #11, and that it was better to be hit into by the group leading vs. the group following.  I told him I was relieved he was okay and drove off to find my ball.

It did end up in the fairway, but it a long way from the hole, just over 200 yards, and it was an uphill shot.  I pulled my turf buster, and made a Moe Norman-esque swing that got my golf ball on the green.  See, that was how it felt like a green in regulation to me, but it really wasn’t due to that guy.  I did meet my goal of three greens in regulation, anyway, because I hit four other ones, #2, #4, #7, and #13.

I came away from this round with a positive feeling, even though I had had what felt like a near death experience…for me and the guy I nearly hit.  I continue to be encouraged, because I can make pars and bogeys.  Soon, I will be making only pars and bogeys, and possible some birdies and eagles, too.

Until next time…