Redwoods and Pacific Coast Highway

Written on 8-13-25.

    I am sitting on the deck attached to our VRBO chalet near Crescent City, CA.  I see Jamie, our host, watering the lawn and spraying off the shed below me.  She has been a wonderful host, and we have enjoyed our stay here.  The location has been super, and we’ve visited Redwoods National Park and the ocean yesterday and today.  Yesterday, we drove to

(and then hiked) Stout Grove and Grove of Titans.  Both were...

amazing with their 30-story tall trees and natural forest beauty.  I could hear the Ewoks’ horns calling for battle in my head as I walked along the paths.  

Today, we went to Endert’s Beach where we went tide-pooling during low tide.  Then we drove farther south to the Prairie Creek Visitors Center, and we got there by driving along the Pacific Coast Highway.  All of it has been beautiful and incredible!  The funny thing is we haven’t been to Crater Lake yet, but everything we have seen so far has been so spectacular.  How can it get any better?  We shall see.

On to golf…

I played with Herman (not his real name) the Friday before we left, but we only played nine holes together.  He stayed and played after I treated him to breakfast at the Grill on the Hill (we take turns treating each other).  He was getting ready for the Pinon Hills Classic for Saturday and Sunday.  He chose to play in the Championship Flight for the Senior Division, and I predicted he would win it.  Then he went ahead and did it!  I was thrilled for him, and I let him know when he texted me to give me the news.  He sent a picture of himself with the trophy.  He shot 73 and 74 for the tournament, and he was joking that he would now be called the biggest sandbagger, but I know he is very capable of shooting par each time he plays.

I didn’t play well, but I managed a birdie when we got to hole 15 (we were allowed to go off the back).

Pinon Hills-Hole #15-Birdie #7 of 2025

It’s fun for me when Herman struggles, and I play a hole beautifully.  That is what happened here.  I used my 9-iron, and I had much better, crispy contact than I normally do for this hole.  The pin was on the front, and my ball hit the green directly, a straight shot that wasn’t sub-consciously pulled to the left and then bounced down to the putting surface.  

Herman was the one who was short and left this time, and he found his ball in the thick grass on the hill.  He chopped it out, and it got a bad kick forward off the fringe of the green.  Lucky for him, it stopped on the edge of the green and didn’t roll into the bunkers below.  His putt went well past the hole, but he made the comeback putt for his bogey.  His first putt was on the same line as my birdie putt, but he hit it too hard to really help give me a read.  It didn’t matter, though, because the putt was mostly straight.  It was about a four-footer, and I got it!

I haven’t brought my clubs on this trip, and that is fine with me.  I would have not had time to play with all of our touring out here, and I am having fun hanging out with Belinda.  It truly has been a marvelous trip, and I look forward to Crater Lake tomorrow.