Golf week extraordinaire!

 We knew we would get lots of golf in with our equally as crazy golf fanatic friends, but we even exceeded our high expectations with Ken and Linda!!! 

36+36+36+18+18+27 over 6 day visit = 171 holes of golf and a fabulous week. We played 5 of the local CG courses and also near Tucson and Florence areas. Some were more challenging than others (a couple of island greens along the way and the "Quarry"). 

So rather than writing any more, the pictures tell it all. Thanks to Ken for all the photography; didn't want you missing your job!   Thanks again for the memories!! 

 

Adios San Diego…¡hola El Centro

Since our last blog we enjoyed 4 days at the South Carlsbad State Park atop the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The first days provided magnificent vistas and sunsets. The remaining 2 days were totally fogged in day and night!  But we could go less than a mile inland and then we had sunshine and hot temperatures.

Long walks along the beaches once or twice a day were beautiful. Surfers were on the waves continuously, even in the fog. Several times there were baby seals ashore, some of which became stranded and then the SD Sea World trucks would come along and pick them up. They would take them in for the night to inspect and feed them and if healthy then would bring them back the next day.

We had a couple of rounds of golf with the most memorable one at The Crossings of Carlsbad; a gorgeous course with elevation changes and drops into the canyon. No Torrey Pines this time; unfortunately we missed an opportunity to golf there with one of Ron’s former colleagues, as our paths (and cell phone messages) missed each other, until we were on the road.  We’ll take on the challenge of that course next year!

Crossings at Carlsbad Golf Course

 One of the foggy days we took a day trip to Temecula. The temperature change was from 15 to 38 degrees, less than an hour inland and north east of Carlsbad. Temecula is a very friendly, quaint town in wine country.

It was time to say good bye to the San Diego area and head for ‘home’ at Casa Grande. We decided to spend one night at an RV park near El Centro, which then turned into 3 nights when we learned the Navy Air Blue Angels were doing their first and possibly their last show of 2013 right in their home training base of El Centro. We hit the airfield at 0830 with our lawn chairs, umbrellas, sunscreen, and water, and parked ourselves for over 8 hours as temperatures hit 38 degrees. But it was worth it; a spectacular air show!! The still pictures cannot do it justice.

The RV Park, Rio Bend, was surprisingly nice, as the El Centro area is quite depressed (but they have a Costco and IN N OUT burger!). The 9 hole golf course was fun and challenging; the pool area was very nice and a welcome place in the heat. Once again we met several Albertans who claim the park is 60% Canadian snowbirds.

We now plan to spend 2 weeks at the house in CG; we are very happy to have friends Ken and Linda arriving for a week of that time. Then we’ll make a slow trek northward during the first 3 weeks of April. No intentions of returning home until that white stuff disappears, which it sounds like there is still plenty of!

San Diego

San Diego is the eighth largest city in the US and second largest city in California with a population exceeding 1.3 million. In 1542 Juan Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain and in 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico. In 1850, it became part of the US following the Mexican-American war and the admission of California to the union. 

San Diego is known for its infinite beauty and mild year round climate. That being said, the last 3 days here in San Diego have been very wet; when the rains start, they pour! We were on the 5th hole of a beautiful golf course, Salt Creek, that we had played the day before, when the heavens opened, thunder boomed, and small pea sized hail soon covered the fairways and greens.

We have been to San Diego briefly in the past but have had plenty of time to explore the area this time. We will have spent 9 nights at an RV park in La Mesa, on the city limits of east San Diego. We have toured Coronado Island and Cabrillo State park.



The trolley line is right at the end of the RV Park so we spent a day exploring Seaside village, downtown SD, and the Gaslamp Quarter district.

We didn’t realize SD has so many rolling hills and valleys, and lush and green. Birds of paradise flowers grow wild and are one of Linda’s favorite flowers.

The golfing had been great up until our last outing. Prices are very reasonable (thanks to GolfNow) and the courses are in great shape due to the moisture, which the locals say has been unusual.

One of our highlights was the SD Zoo. We spent the full day exploring and wandering the grounds. Linda’s favorites were the orangutans.

We spent some time at Dog Beach, the nation's first off-leash dog area.  Lots of fun watching all the dogs playing in the ocean 

We made a day trip up the coast to Carlsbad and Oceanside. We enjoyed the beaches and area so much that we are moving on Sunday to the Carlsbad state park on the cliffs above the ocean, for 4 days before heading back to Arizona. If we believe the forecast the rains are nearly over and warmer temperatures are to come.

3:10 to Yuma

After leaving Casa Grande, we spent four nights in Yuma, Arizona, the halfway point between Casa Grande and San Diego.  Yuma is located on the California and Mexico borders.

We toured the Yuma Territorial Prison which opened in 1876 and closed in 1909.  The site is now operated as a historical museum and is Yuma's No. 1 attraction.  For the movie buffs, 3:10 to Yuma, refers to a train that is scheduled to take outlaw Ben Wade (played by Russell Crowe in the remake) to the Yuma Territorial Prison; great movie if you haven't seen it!

The IRS finally gets their (wo)man

Many visitors to Yuma travel across the border to Algodondes to obtain dental, vision, prescriptions and other medical services.There are more than 60 RV resorts and parks in the Yuma area and approximately 90,000 snowbirds supplement the city’s population, many of which are from Alberta.

The age demographic in the park we stayed at, is certainly on the older side (square dancing to Adele was a pretty good indication).

We played some golf and met up with a couple of older gents who were vets from the Second World War Korean war and enjoyed hearing about some of their reconnaissance missions and their jokes.

The Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge which straddles the Colorado river was completed in 1915 and was the last bridge built to join the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans with a highway.





Year round records show that Yuma receives an average of 93% of the possible 4,400 hours of sunshine yearly. This amounts to 4,133 hours of the sun's golden rays in an average year (not to mention the 11 extra hours on Leap Year).




Large white blimps maintained by the U.S. Air Force are visible which provide an important link in the “radar fence” along the international border that detects drug-smuggling airplanes. We might not have known what they were if we hadn't been golfing with the vets.

The Nay's Blue Angels overhead at El Centro

After leaving Yuma on our way to San Diego, we were treated to a training session by the United State's Navy flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, while stopped at a rest area near El Cenro, California (which is the Blue Angels winter home).

The squadron was formed in 1946 making it the second oldest aerobatic team in the world, after the French Parouille de France which was formed in 1931.

The show went on for approximately 30 minutes right over our heads; what a fantastic show and view!

Unfortunately, with the "sequester" budget cuts coming into effect on March 1st, the Blue Angels have been grounded for the 2013 season and all 70 shows in the US have been cancelled.

Linda catching up on some Oilers' action