Golfing Phoenix then R.W. & Boom

As planned, I was up at 6:45am first exercising and then walking Ykraps. It was clear & sunny initially, but the blue skies gave way to grey with clouds rolling in from the north. Bummer! I’d already seen enough clouds the past few days. Despite a busy agenda, I still took the time necessary to enjoy coffee and internet but cut it short for the sake of staying on schedule. I wanted to be out the door for my run by 730am. Sometime during my run the sunshine returned and remained that way through its entirety. Quite lovely. Again, I ran just three miles to shave some time. I passed Kenny out in his driveway just as I finished. I stopped to firm our golf plans. He talked earlier about meeting me there but now planned to ride with me. He & Crissy needed to drop their new Acadia at the dealer for some recall work. We agreed to meet and leave from my house at 8:50am. It was 8:10am back at home. I took a quick shower then headed downstairs to load up my golf equipment. Back inside, I made a scrambled egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich with the leftovers from Wednesday’s breakfast. I ate that in a hurry. With a few minutes to spare, I sanded the storm door jam where I made repairs just two days prior. Kenny arrived right on time. We left for the golf course at 8:50am. It didn’t take too long at all. We arrived at Phoenix by 9:15am. Our tee time wasn’t until 9:42am, and we were still waiting for Tommy to show. I called. He was close. Kenny & I paid our cart fee and went to the putting green that sits well above the clubhouse. Tommy arrived about five minutes later. At the time it appeared that there were two foursomes in front of us still waiting at the tee box, but the starter advised that we were next, not the four old men. Cool! I love Phoenix, and it usually loves me, but this wasn’t my day. I started OK: bogey, par, bogey, but my game quickly unraveled from there. I shot a 54 on the front, my poorest nine of the season. We were backed up on the tee on five or six of the holes, too. No excuses, but that didn’t help much. I blew up on one hole in particular with an ugly 9. The course was in beautiful shape, by the way. Impressive! The back nine went a little better, but still not that great. I shot a 47. Among other things, I couldn’t sink my putts when given a chance. Kenny shot an impressive 83. Tommy, well, he was over 130, but he rarely golfs. He’s still learning. I drank beer for the first time on a golf course in many years. After my ugly front and the fact that it was Red, White & Boom day I felt a bit more carefree. We finished up around 3pm (long, slow round). Kenny & I phoned the wives, who were at the pool with the kids. They figured to be home around 4pm – just after rest period. Glenn was at the house writing quietly at the kitchen table. I woofed down some food then tried napping. Mindy arrived home a few minutes later and asked about our Red, Whit & Boom arrangements. I needed to coordinate the pick-up of Rocky. A few minutes later Courtney called and asked if she could tag along. Sure, will you pick-up Rocky? She agreed. Problem averted. While Mindy showered, I laid down on the sofa thinking that I’d try napping once more. However, while lying there, I got the urge to mow the lawn. I think it was the realization that it wouldn’t get mowed until Sunday otherwise. That would’ve left it too long. I headed out and started the process immediately. I wasted no time. At first I thought that I might just do the front, but I ended up cutting the entire lawn, and almost 2/3s of it with the push mower. I was practically running with it. Mindy seemed surprised to see me finishing up well before 5:30pm. I didn’t whack, edge, or blow. And turns out, I forgot to mow a pretty sizeable area in the front entirely No doubt, I was moving too fast. Courtney and Rocky arrived around 6-630pm. After a shower Mindy and I walked over to chat with Kenny and Crissy. Kenny & I had another tee time Saturday morning, but it sounded like he might have to pass for the sake of picking up Lillian, his daughter at her mother’s. He promised to keep me updated. We left for dinner and Red, White & Boom around 6:45pm. All of us, Glenn, Courtney, Rocky, Mindy, Jacob, & Bella piled into the Honda destined first for Barley’s, the overwhelming dinner choice. We asked for an indoor table in the bar area. Wes was our server. Turned out, Courtney recognized Wes from an old job. I was excited to find they had Avery’s Maharaja DIPA on tap. I ordered a Barley burger, Mindy the half chicken. Jacob ordered Gates of hell wings and rocky & Bella ordered mini-burgers. Glenn and Courtney shared sauerkraut balls. /dinner was excellent. Everyone was satisfied and full. I had tow beers. MY second was a Centennial. I easily talked Glenn into a Maharaja for his second. We left for Red, White & Boom around 8;20pm. It was a relatively short drive to the Arena district. We took Goodale Blvd a then a left on Michigan Avenue. Smart move it turned out. Within two minutes we were parked in the APCO siding lot for $5. From there we walked all the way to Long & Neil, right in the heart of the Boom zone and right next to the WNCI stage. Lucky for us, some vendors were just packing up from a large grassy area when we walked up. Just like that we had a cozy spot to view the fireworks from. It was 9pm. We hung out for an hour before the fireworks began. Most of us took a walk around the large vending area. I bought Rocky & Jacob lighted saber swords. Mindy got Bella flashing-lighted bunnie ears. Soon it was 10pm and time for Boom! The show seemed to have an unexpected delay, perhaps a faux pas. But soon it started. To my eyes, it was similar to last year’s show. I took about 20 photos using the photo exposure setting and even grabbed about 45 seconds of video. It was over after 25 minutes. Nice! We packed up and started the roughly 1.5 mile walk back to our car. There was a crowd but all in all fairly ruley and fast moving. We were on the road home by 11:00pm. We headed north on Michigan avenue to Third then west through Grandview. The only mentionable delay came at the Third Ave/Olentangy River Rd traffic light. We were easily home by 11:30pm. Courtney agreed to drive Rocky home, even after Lindsey called numerous times harassing everyone about our whereabouts. She can be relentless. We definitely had fun, and were surprised at the ease of access in and out of the downtown area. Good weather for it too. Not too hot, and not too cool. After one beer we headed for bed. I had another early wake-up coming.