The story of how a dream vacation quickly became a reality
by Carl Trudel
Tuesday June 19:
The heat continued to be at one hundred plus, and today proved to be no different. With our usual daily ration of bottled water we set out for our second day of desert golf. By this point on our trip, we were well mastered in the art of staying hydrated. Today’s tee time is 10:40 AM at Gold Canyon - Sidewinder Golf Club in Gold Canyon, AZ, located a few miles east of Scottsdale. This particular course caught our attention on the internet because of its’ breathtaking scenery.
Our drive there wasn’t too long; however our GPS failed us towards the end of the drive due to new home construction in areas where the road used to be. We sort of figured that out when the system instructed us to turn left into someone’s driveway! A quick call to the course revealed we were merely a couple of blocks from our destination and thus we were able to still make our tee time.
It seemed that there were not too many golfers playing around our tee time, which suited us just fine; this way we could enjoy the course and not worry about holding anybody up. The starter told us that at this time of the year with the excessive heat, most tee times are made early in the morning around opening. This would explain the light crowd we encountered at The Duke on Sunday. I guess making reservations for late morning proved to be a wise decision on our part.
When we got into our carts we were surprised to see that they were equipped with GPS, which gave us the distances to the tees from our current location, and mapped out the hole we were playing. This was my first time using one of these, however, much to my chagrin; it did not help my game one bit. I can’t speak for Brian or Matt, but they traditionally do better than me, anyway. None the less, it was a cool toy for us big kids to play with!
This course proved very nice, and we all enjoyed playing it very much. In my opinion, this course was the most desert-like of the three we would play. It featured interesting holes, challenging fairways and just a great golfing experience, as a whole. At one point, I found myself needing a new glove, so I proceeded to the pro shop to splurge for one. Much to my surprise, the glove had the Gold Canyon Golf Club logo on it. I’m sure that probably added to the cost, but hey, we were on vacation and I needed the glove.
With all the warnings we got at both courses so far about creatures possibly living on the desert courses, the only ones we kept seeing repeatedly were lizards, little tiny fast moving lizards. Hardly anything of a threatening nature, I might add. But what they lacked in scaring abilities they more than made up in entertainment. Seems that we would encounter them every time we were on the putting green. They were polite little creatures as well; stopping to watch us putt. I had no problem with them as long as they weren’t trying to sell me car insurance! (OK, that was bad!).
Before we knew it, the 18th hole was behind us and another great day on the golf course was over. As usual, Matt had the best score, Brian had the farthest shots, and me…..well, I just simply had fun! With another golf day in the books, so to speak, it was again sightseeing time. Being that it was only mid afternoon, we figured it would be a perfect opportunity to head out to Glendale and check out the University of Phoenix Stadium. Glendale is a suburb about twenty miles west of Phoenix, where the NFL Arizona Cardinals play. Jobing.com Arena, where the NHL Phoenix Coyotes play is also located in Glendale, directly across the parking lot.
University of Phoenix Stadium is the only one of its’ kind, in that it has a field that slides in and out of the building on a track. When not in use, the natural grass surface remains outside and gets natural sunlight. Pretty interesting concept as long as the climate is right. As we drove around the stadium, I jokingly told Matt & Brian that this is where the New England Patriots were going to be playing on February 3rd. Lucky for me, I turned out to be right; not so lucky for me they lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants!
Again we were headed back to our condo and our pool paradise. On the way we decided to stop by the supermarket and pick up some food for grilling that evening. The pool area at the condo features gas grills, so we thought that after our swim, we’d put the grills to good use and dine on one of our balconies. The burgers turned out delicious and despite the fact that it was well after 9 PM, and the temperature was still above 90 degrees, no one walked away from the table hungry. With all that we had seen and done up to this point, it was tough to think that we were just about at the half way point of our trip.
Wednesday June 20:
Because of our busy schedule the first three days, we rewarded ourselves by sleeping in today, which turned out to be another scorching one. Around 1 PM, we arrived at Out of Africa, which is a wild animal sanctuary located in Camp Verde, about half way between Phoenix and Flagstaff. The park features giraffes, lions, cheetahs, tigers, and other African animals. The desert climate of southern Arizona makes this refuge an ideal natural setting for seeing these wild animals.
Visitors are allowed to walk the park, or take advantage of the open air busses that ferry visitors to all areas of the preserve. Because of the heat, we too the busses and got off at various areas throughout the park. It just so happened that today, being Wednesday was a feeding day, and we would get a bird’s eye view of the animals feasting. The animals were fed raw meats such as beef and whole chickens. Workers would call the animals by their names and toss the giant pieces of meat over the fence. Judging by the way some of the creatures devoured their meals made me very thankful they weren’t eating directly out of my hand.
Around 4:30 PM we concluded our visit and left Camp Verde to return to Phoenix. Along the way we all decided to try and find a seafood restaurant for dinner. This time, our goal was to avoid a repeat of Sunday night’s fiasco, where we wound up eating at a ’fast food type’ seafood restaurant. This one had to be the real McCoy! While driving on the Interstate just outside of Phoenix, a restaurant caught our eye. It was called Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen, and it looked a little fancy, but we met the criteria for dining there….we were all hungry, it was there, and it was vacation time!
Pappadeux had a menu that would stimulate any seafood lover’s palate. When ordering appetizers, an unusual selection on the menu caught our eyes and we decided to give it a try. So, without further adieu, we ordered the fried alligator. Turns out it was pretty good, with both the boys believing it tasted like squid. Had we not known exactly what we were eating, alligator would have probably been our absolute last guess. In fact, Brian and Matt liked it so much that they brought home an order to have for breakfast Thursday morning. A little bit too much gourmet to start off my day, so I did the traditional thing.
Thursday June 21:
Day 6 of our trip featured our last golf outing on the schedule. This one would take us north of the city about 20 miles to Cave Creek, Arizona for a 10:26 AM tee time at a course called Dove Valley Ranch. As it had been every day of our visit, the temperature continued to break the one hundred mark, but after a few days of dealing with this, we almost were getting to feel like natives.
Dove Valley Ranch was an extremely attractive course, set nicely amongst the desert rolling plains, surrounded by well kept and nicely landscaped homes. Being that June is considered off-season in Arizona due to the excessive heat, I’m guessing that the majority of these homes were vacation homes, seeing that they were better than ninety percent vacant. At one of the holes on the course we came across one of the biggest cactus I had ever seen. Its’ mammoth size was highlighted by the house that was besides it, which seemed small in comparison. And so, as we neared the last hole of the day at Dove Valley Ranch, I think we all started realizing that the desert golfing portion of our trip would soon be coming to a close. I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that we would have loved to play a few more rounds.
From Dove Valley Ranch we headed back to the condo, as usual, and partook in our regular daily pool ritual. Once cooled off and cleaned up, it was time to tend to our appetites. Our destination today was Alice Cooper’s in Downtown Phoenix. The Cooperstown Restaurant proved to be a good one. The menu featured such everyday things as burgers, chicken, salads, and other items normally found on the average restaurant’s menu. The thing I found to be the most interesting about this establishment was the décor. The dining room walls were lined with display cases filled with music and sports memorabilia; obviously related to Alice Cooper’s life and career.
<-to be continued->
by Carl Trudel
Tuesday June 19:
The heat continued to be at one hundred plus, and today proved to be no different. With our usual daily ration of bottled water we set out for our second day of desert golf. By this point on our trip, we were well mastered in the art of staying hydrated. Today’s tee time is 10:40 AM at Gold Canyon - Sidewinder Golf Club in Gold Canyon, AZ, located a few miles east of Scottsdale. This particular course caught our attention on the internet because of its’ breathtaking scenery.
Our drive there wasn’t too long; however our GPS failed us towards the end of the drive due to new home construction in areas where the road used to be. We sort of figured that out when the system instructed us to turn left into someone’s driveway! A quick call to the course revealed we were merely a couple of blocks from our destination and thus we were able to still make our tee time.
It seemed that there were not too many golfers playing around our tee time, which suited us just fine; this way we could enjoy the course and not worry about holding anybody up. The starter told us that at this time of the year with the excessive heat, most tee times are made early in the morning around opening. This would explain the light crowd we encountered at The Duke on Sunday. I guess making reservations for late morning proved to be a wise decision on our part.
When we got into our carts we were surprised to see that they were equipped with GPS, which gave us the distances to the tees from our current location, and mapped out the hole we were playing. This was my first time using one of these, however, much to my chagrin; it did not help my game one bit. I can’t speak for Brian or Matt, but they traditionally do better than me, anyway. None the less, it was a cool toy for us big kids to play with!
This course proved very nice, and we all enjoyed playing it very much. In my opinion, this course was the most desert-like of the three we would play. It featured interesting holes, challenging fairways and just a great golfing experience, as a whole. At one point, I found myself needing a new glove, so I proceeded to the pro shop to splurge for one. Much to my surprise, the glove had the Gold Canyon Golf Club logo on it. I’m sure that probably added to the cost, but hey, we were on vacation and I needed the glove.
With all the warnings we got at both courses so far about creatures possibly living on the desert courses, the only ones we kept seeing repeatedly were lizards, little tiny fast moving lizards. Hardly anything of a threatening nature, I might add. But what they lacked in scaring abilities they more than made up in entertainment. Seems that we would encounter them every time we were on the putting green. They were polite little creatures as well; stopping to watch us putt. I had no problem with them as long as they weren’t trying to sell me car insurance! (OK, that was bad!).
Before we knew it, the 18th hole was behind us and another great day on the golf course was over. As usual, Matt had the best score, Brian had the farthest shots, and me…..well, I just simply had fun! With another golf day in the books, so to speak, it was again sightseeing time. Being that it was only mid afternoon, we figured it would be a perfect opportunity to head out to Glendale and check out the University of Phoenix Stadium. Glendale is a suburb about twenty miles west of Phoenix, where the NFL Arizona Cardinals play. Jobing.com Arena, where the NHL Phoenix Coyotes play is also located in Glendale, directly across the parking lot.
University of Phoenix Stadium is the only one of its’ kind, in that it has a field that slides in and out of the building on a track. When not in use, the natural grass surface remains outside and gets natural sunlight. Pretty interesting concept as long as the climate is right. As we drove around the stadium, I jokingly told Matt & Brian that this is where the New England Patriots were going to be playing on February 3rd. Lucky for me, I turned out to be right; not so lucky for me they lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants!
Again we were headed back to our condo and our pool paradise. On the way we decided to stop by the supermarket and pick up some food for grilling that evening. The pool area at the condo features gas grills, so we thought that after our swim, we’d put the grills to good use and dine on one of our balconies. The burgers turned out delicious and despite the fact that it was well after 9 PM, and the temperature was still above 90 degrees, no one walked away from the table hungry. With all that we had seen and done up to this point, it was tough to think that we were just about at the half way point of our trip.
Wednesday June 20:
Because of our busy schedule the first three days, we rewarded ourselves by sleeping in today, which turned out to be another scorching one. Around 1 PM, we arrived at Out of Africa, which is a wild animal sanctuary located in Camp Verde, about half way between Phoenix and Flagstaff. The park features giraffes, lions, cheetahs, tigers, and other African animals. The desert climate of southern Arizona makes this refuge an ideal natural setting for seeing these wild animals.
Visitors are allowed to walk the park, or take advantage of the open air busses that ferry visitors to all areas of the preserve. Because of the heat, we too the busses and got off at various areas throughout the park. It just so happened that today, being Wednesday was a feeding day, and we would get a bird’s eye view of the animals feasting. The animals were fed raw meats such as beef and whole chickens. Workers would call the animals by their names and toss the giant pieces of meat over the fence. Judging by the way some of the creatures devoured their meals made me very thankful they weren’t eating directly out of my hand.
Around 4:30 PM we concluded our visit and left Camp Verde to return to Phoenix. Along the way we all decided to try and find a seafood restaurant for dinner. This time, our goal was to avoid a repeat of Sunday night’s fiasco, where we wound up eating at a ’fast food type’ seafood restaurant. This one had to be the real McCoy! While driving on the Interstate just outside of Phoenix, a restaurant caught our eye. It was called Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen, and it looked a little fancy, but we met the criteria for dining there….we were all hungry, it was there, and it was vacation time!
Pappadeux had a menu that would stimulate any seafood lover’s palate. When ordering appetizers, an unusual selection on the menu caught our eyes and we decided to give it a try. So, without further adieu, we ordered the fried alligator. Turns out it was pretty good, with both the boys believing it tasted like squid. Had we not known exactly what we were eating, alligator would have probably been our absolute last guess. In fact, Brian and Matt liked it so much that they brought home an order to have for breakfast Thursday morning. A little bit too much gourmet to start off my day, so I did the traditional thing.
Thursday June 21:
Day 6 of our trip featured our last golf outing on the schedule. This one would take us north of the city about 20 miles to Cave Creek, Arizona for a 10:26 AM tee time at a course called Dove Valley Ranch. As it had been every day of our visit, the temperature continued to break the one hundred mark, but after a few days of dealing with this, we almost were getting to feel like natives.
Dove Valley Ranch was an extremely attractive course, set nicely amongst the desert rolling plains, surrounded by well kept and nicely landscaped homes. Being that June is considered off-season in Arizona due to the excessive heat, I’m guessing that the majority of these homes were vacation homes, seeing that they were better than ninety percent vacant. At one of the holes on the course we came across one of the biggest cactus I had ever seen. Its’ mammoth size was highlighted by the house that was besides it, which seemed small in comparison. And so, as we neared the last hole of the day at Dove Valley Ranch, I think we all started realizing that the desert golfing portion of our trip would soon be coming to a close. I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that we would have loved to play a few more rounds.
From Dove Valley Ranch we headed back to the condo, as usual, and partook in our regular daily pool ritual. Once cooled off and cleaned up, it was time to tend to our appetites. Our destination today was Alice Cooper’s in Downtown Phoenix. The Cooperstown Restaurant proved to be a good one. The menu featured such everyday things as burgers, chicken, salads, and other items normally found on the average restaurant’s menu. The thing I found to be the most interesting about this establishment was the décor. The dining room walls were lined with display cases filled with music and sports memorabilia; obviously related to Alice Cooper’s life and career.
<-to be continued->
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