Steppesister
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2013
I must be in a study-induced fog; going to find this now. Jeez....
We leave soon and I can't wait to get out of Dodge!
They're headed my way! (Please bring the sun with you!)
I must be in a study-induced fog; going to find this now. Jeez....
Or Chrysler. Whichever.
I left a link in my last reply. But really, I can understand if you had much better things to do than read about other people's vacation plans.
I used the wrong verb there. I didn't mean "find" it, but rather hop to it. I actually did immediately, and even remember reading it the first time now. Don't go on about it not being interesting; this blunder's on me. I swear, sometimes I think there is simply just NO MORE ROOM in the Inn of my head.
It's going to be a GREAT vacation.... I'm kinda jealous; I've never been to Yellowstone. I'd love to, and we probably will someday. And you'll LOVE Dinosaur. We've done that one years ago, and Vernal is kinda neat too, in a kitchy sort of way.
Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park just opened for the season today. You guys might want to bring coats.
where I served as Security Guard/Mooch
I had not checked in, but I wasn’t worried about it because my father was handling all of the arrangements for the trip. He had booked the flights, rented a car, made hotel reservations, etc. It was actually a nice relief not to be the one in charge of all of the travel details for once.
It should therefore arrive as no surprise, then, that as of 6:00 that morning, my father had not checked us in for our flight.
When we finally boarded the plane, Scotty and I miraculously found aisle seats available across from each other. So we grabbed them and sat down. Scotty was next to two old ladies who seemed to struggle to grasp the concept of buckling the seat belt, or even to have any clue what the flight attendant was saying to them. I was next to a…well-proportioned gentleman for whom the middle seat was somewhat inadequate. So, Scotty spent his two hours next to two old women taking a nap, and I spent them being pushed out into the center aisle.
For four people.
I’m pretty sure they were called the fried egg, the griddle, and the waffle iron.
Lately, there seems to have been a trend of Masters champions wearing their jackets in unexpected places. Phil Mickelson was once caught wearing his jacket as he took his kids through a drive-thru lane at a Krispy Kreme donut shop, while Bubba Watson once wore his to a meal at the Waffle House.
just want to say, I’d been up since 5:30 a.m. I’d been wedged awkwardly into an airline seat next to a portly fellow for 2 hours, and then spent another 2 hours in a hot Florida rental car with a dark interior. It was getting late in the day, and the wind was picking up, and it was directly against me. I hadn’t warmed up at all, so my swing was very stiff.
No, really! There it is, on the left side:
…and cold-topped it. Look closely at the photo, and you can see the ball hopping straight up in the air, right in front of his head. It bounced a few feet and didn’t even make it to the pond.
In Scripture, the 5th Commandment is to honor thy father and mother. I am a loving son, proud of my parents and grateful for the generosity and guidance they have showed me through my formative years and continue to show me today. I chose to protect my father’s dignity in this case, and chose to react to that abject failure with quiet stoicism.
For about a tenth of a second, anyway. Then I bust a gut laughing. Come on, seriously? A pond that big, and you can’t even hit that?
Remember, I had left all of the travel arrangements up to my father. As we drove into town, he told us to look for a Best Western. I knew from previous stays that there was more than one, and he said he couldn’t remember which one he’d made the reservation for.
Whereupon we discovered that none of those 3 Best Westerns was the correct hotel. He’d made a reservation at a hotel in the town of St. Augustine Beach, several miles away along the coast. Oops.
I do love my parents, but there’s a reason we don’t travel together much anymore.
Scotty really wanted a cheese pizza, so I ended up splitting that with him. That boy can crush a pizza. He easily ate four slices. I have no idea what I will do when he’s a teenager.
Loved your TR, Captain! And, I'm looking forward to the next one. Hope y'all have a great time!
No! Nononononononononononooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Serving as a Mooch is a tremendous honor - not to be taken lightly.
Oooh this sounds nice!
Oh.
No. It doesn't sound nice anymore.
Wow that's a total score for not checking in! I mean, you could have been seated next to a kid picking their nose the whole time. Or an older Mexican lady throwing back alcoholic beverages
This is too cool. And the names are right on.
Interesting spots to wear them.
Very nice!
For reals?! Awesome! So what do you win if you get a Hole in One?
Trying to stifle my laugh...
Okay if you laughed, then I will too
Yep, I would have taken back over at this point.
I'm getting to see that now as DM gets older. Woah.
I was totally thinking the same thing. You're going to be spending A LOT on food soon.
Looks like Scotty is having a blast on his trip. I know what you mean about travelling with the 'rents. You sort of forget all the um.... special moments that you now try to avoid.
I know it is early but I hope you have a fantastic trip. With my track record lately who knows when I will be back.
Even Nicklaus groused about TPC Sawgrass, saying of its small, firm greens, “I’ve never been very good at stopping a 5-iron shot on the hood of a car.”
Well, apparently the secret is out. We reached the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway and came to a dead stop.
Someone was taking himself way too seriously.
From there, we were sent through a maze of cones with no organization whatsoever, staffed by hundreds of bored teens waving flags in different directions with no clear purpose.
Given what you know of general human behavior, especially with cell phones, how well do you think those rules are followed?
Here’s Scotty by the tee of the 17th hole, with the famous island green in the background.
I had Scotty sit in the same spot…only he ignored my advice and moved farther away from the green. A little girl came up and sat in the spot closest to the green and was rewarded with a golf ball.
The idea was that kids collect autographs for themselves as a memento, while adults typically are looking to sell autographed memorabilia on eBay.
But he did get his favorite, as Mickelson came out to sign even after missing the cut.
Even though this area was restricted as kids-only, many of them paid no mind. It was almost embarrassing.
I saw grown men leaning into kids, shoving their way to the front, even leaning over the kids to try and get their stuff signed first. It took almost an hour of this before a club official finally starting enforcing the policy.
there’s a line of flags representing the nations of the golfers entered in the tournament.
Like all selfies, I think this one shows off my nose hairs and double chin very well. But hey, at least I can prove we met.
I think it’s safe to say Scotty had a very good day.
Really, what’s so hard about that shot? I had already pulled it off the day before, of course, so I could now say I was better than several of the guys I’d watched dunk one in the water. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Love that comment.
And now that you've posted this, it's only going to get worse!
So basically it's your fault.
Unfortunately, a uniform tends to do that to some people.
"Okay, kids. Here are your flags. Make sure to wave them."
"But what are they for?"
"Doesn't matter. Just wave 'em."
Extremely well?
No?
Nice shot.
See what happens when you don't listen to your parents, kids?
They do? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but.
Well, I am a little.
This from someone who never collects autographs.
That does not surprise me, unfortunately.
At least they finally did something about it. Hopefully they kept an eye on that afterwards.
People.
Then again, we only have your word for it.
For all we know, that's some stranger you took a pic with.
And that's what it's all about, right?
I'll buy that.
It's a wonder you weren't competing.
I was all excited that I was going to be caught up several hours, ago, and then I clicked on the last page to see that you had posted another update. I'm too overwhelmed by how far behind I am on TRs to comment much, but I'm glad you had a nice day. BBQ sounds good. I'm starving right now.
I did like that Mickelson's signature is opposite Buzz Lightyears!
Keeping up, but barely.
I've played Pete Dye courses before. I have no business on a Pete Dye course. Ever."Golf is not a fair game, so why build a course fair?"—Pete Dye
Calm down, Fed.We found what looked like a left-turn lane to enter the lot only to be stopped by a very intense, obviously over-caffeinated state trooper who was directing traffic. He gave us the eyes-on-me gesture, then had us stop in our tracks, then motioned us forward, then stopped us after 6 inches with a glare as though we were doing something wrong. Someone was taking himself way too seriously.
Well, I just hope that there at least weren't any selfie sticks.The tournament changed its policy recently and now allows spectators to bring cell phones onto the course, provided the ringer is on silent, calls are made only from designated areas, and no one takes photos of the golfers in action. Given what you know of general human behavior, especially with cell phones, how well do you think those rules are followed?
Oh, why not? I'd be interested in any memorable great shots or crash and burns that you witnessed.I will not bother describing most of the golf action we saw that day because I know most of you really could not care less. Which is totally understandable.
You know, I'm noticing this is becoming a startling trend in our society.In any case, I was proud of him for not being obnoxious. I’d seen some really bratty behavior in years past from kids trying to get the golfers to give them freebies, but this time most of the kids seemed very well-behaved and polite. It was refreshing.
The adults, on the other hand…
Great idea! You don't really think of golf as being a kid friendly sport, necessarily. I'm glad that they're taking steps to make this tournament more appealing to the kids!This year, they introduced a fenced-off area that was marked as being just for kids. It took up most of the autograph area, but there was a small part to the side where adults could wait.
Awesome! Phil always seems to be good about taking some time for the fans. I'm sure that really meant a lot to Scotty.Anyway, Scotty did really well collecting autographs. Several of the big-name players did not bother to come out, which was somewhat disappointing. But he did get his favorite, as Mickelson came out to sign even after missing the cut.
And yes, I said adults. You can see a couple of them on the side of the photo. Even though this area was restricted as kids-only, many of them paid no mind. It was almost embarrassing. I saw grown men leaning into kids, shoving their way to the front, even leaning over the kids to try and get their stuff signed first. It took almost an hour of this before a club official finally starting enforcing the policy.
That's awesome!He used the same autograph book he had taken on his last trip to Disney World, so Mickelson is right next to Buzz Lightyear on the pages.
Woohoo! Dismeet with Fed. I can only imagine some of the stories he had. But how much fun would it be to tackle a drunk guy out on the fairway during the Players Championship?While we were there, I was able to meet up with DisneyFed, a fellow DIS Dad. He was working security for the tournament and had some great stories, including the time he tackled a drunk fan who ran out onto one of the holes during play
And I'm sure you did too.We watched golf until the very last group finished. I think it’s safe to say Scotty had a very good day.
So... what was your favorite hole again?On the way out, we posed for one last shot at the island green.
Hey, it's a proven fact.Really, what’s so hard about that shot? I had already pulled it off the day before, of course, so I could now say I was better than several of the guys I’d watched dunk one in the water. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
most of the kids seemed very well-behaved and polite. It was refreshing.
The adults, on the other hand…
He used the same autograph book he had taken on his last trip to Disney World, so Mickelson is right next to Buzz Lightyear on the pages.
Here’s Scotty and my father by the 18th hole, again with the clubhouse in the background. This is one of the toughest finishing holes in golf.
On the way out, we posed for one last shot at the island green.
Also, it had fewer expletives.
You've never seen someone use a cell phone before, have you?
Well, I wanted everyone else to feel like they had a chance. You know how it is.