McGaffs On The Fly

Pulling Little Al behind my Ford F150 is a pretty easy task since he weighs less than 4,000 lbs. On our way back to Texas, however, a wind storm in Las Cruces made the drive a little more treacherous. I wasn’t concerned about pulling, I was more concerned about Little Al having a “great fall” (ie: flip over) and “all the kings horses and all the kings men” not being able to put Marco and Joanie back together again. We got through it, but not without some nervous excitement!

The plan was to visit Grapevine Lake for a night with the girls but wind, weather, and a desire to get home canceled those plans.

The worst part, sometime best part, of our trips is the driving to get to where we are going. Parts of New Mexico and Arizona are beautiful and we get mesmerized by the views while listening to either books on tape or podcasts.

The drive through west Texas…not so mesmerizing! The roads on I20 through Midland/Odessa are the absolute worst of our trip and there is not enough super glue to hold our cabinets in place during that drive. And the traffic on the road is mainly tractors pulling tankers while using at least 1 1/2 lanes or Landmen in white pickup trucks either going 95 or 45 mph. Why don’t you make a show about that Taylor Sheridan?

We are back in Austin with a 2 month countdown to Adult Summer Camp in NC and a weather forecast of 86 degrees today. Where next to find that 70 degree weather we yearn for?

Ok, we made it home…more on that later…just catching up.

We had a great 3 days in Tubac and were able to play golf 2 of them, it rained us out on Tuesday. Tubac has 27 holes so we got to try each 9 hole course out and leave our wake of sprayed shots and divots. Since we did watch Tin Cup in preparation for the visit we knew exactly what we had to do…right, hit at least one ball in the pond.

On our “rainout day” I did some research and decided that a quick drive south to visit Nogales would be a great time. The Chamber of Commerce created a nice story of a wonderful shopping and cultural experience within walking distance of the border. It seemed so nice we couldn’t resist. Long story short (short story long?), the only time we stepped out of the truck is when we saw a Baskin Robbin’s when leaving town and were able to get Joan’s favorite Jamocha Almond Fudge scoop. I do recommend BR…maybe not Nogales.

Almost done with this trip…but not yet…

We spent our last 2 days in Phoenix cramming in all that we had planned to do when we arrived. Since it was the weekend, we decided against the elevated golf course rates and did something that wouldn’t cost as much…shopping and eating.

We of course had to stop by our annual Italian run to Andreoli Trattoria to share the best salad and Italian sausage sandwich. If it was ever a hidden gem it certainly is not now, the wait for their mouthwatering food has doubled since we started visiting…no matter we waited. And of course we had to go by Matt’s Big Breakfast because what could be a better way to start off your morning than to eat 5 pounds of pancakes smothered in syrup? Marc had eggs and ham…Joanie is now pre-diabetic.

After a Saturday night run back to We-Ko-Pa Casino to take back some of our money, we awoke Sunday morning and headed to Tubac Golf Resort. We were able to get a late tee time and were matched up with a great golfing couple…Hugh and Chris. We enjoyed our time so much we may go to see them in Tahoe, they may come see us in NC, or we may never see each other the rest of our lives…but there is a plan.

Enjoying Tubac, golf for 2 more days.

Fun can be defined differently by most people. My definition of fun has to do with outdoor sports, travel, and spending time with family and friends. Joanie also has fun in all above but you can also add finding deals on clothing at discount stores into her “fun” category. And now that you can add golf attire to her shopping list it makes for a brand new fun experience for her. I, on the other hand, define “not fun” as watching her look at each and every item on each and every rack and finding exactly what she wants but in the wrong size. No problem though, my “not fun” experience is doubled when she sorts through other sizes just in case her size was put back on the wrong rack. It is so tough being St. Marc and smiling through the whole experience but I am always up for it!

That was Wednesday.

On Thursday we tried out a course that seemed to have a decent rating on GolfNow, Grand Canyon University Golf Club. As my baby girl would say, I would rate it a meh. We were, however, paired up with a great young couple from Utah…Jared and Brenda. Good shots and plenty of bad shots by all…but we still had fun.

Two more days in Phoenix then on to Tubac.

We decided to take a break on Monday from Joanie’s new addiction (golf) and try out our legs on a hike. We went back to one of our regular hikes and had a nice 4 mile trek, with only a 400’ elevation change, up the Lost Dog Wash Trail to the Taliesin Overlook…beautiful views along with a delicious ham sandwich.

Yesterday it was back to the grind for Joanie as we found a nice course south of town and were matched with a father and son from Maine. The Foothills Golf Club was a challenging course with narrow fairways and fast running greens. No problem for me, I had some of my longest drives ricocheting off the roofs of some big houses…if only I could plan it that way.

To cap off yesterday evening we went to the local casino and enjoyed their Taco Tuesday special. It is so nice of them get us to come in and only charge us $125 per taco (after casino time)…can’t wait to go back!

Reservations for Tubac Resort made starting Sunday…more to come…

We spent Saturday driving to Phoenix and setting up at our regular spot near the McDowell Mountains. Typical of any normal drive, or day with Joanie, there is no straight line going anywhere. We took several side trips along the way but when she found out about “the best sandwich and fudge shop” I knew exactly where we were heading. Turns out it was in Florence, a great little city that shares a name with my mother…and what are the chances, today is my mom’s 103 birthday. Happy birthday in heaven mom!

After setting up for our week in Phoenix we decided to drive to Old Scottsdale and eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant…our tradition. I guess it wasn’t everyone’s favorite because after 30+ years they shut down. Guess we’ll have to start a new tradition.

Yesterday…hiking and watching the “boring” Super Bowl at our spot in Fountain Hills. No political messages on my site…but.

“The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate Is Love”

On Thursday we upped our game (and cost) and played at Arizona’s National Golf Course , a beautifully maintained club just northeast of the city. We were paired up with a nice couple from Missouri that had completed their bucket list of playing golf in every state. My goal of losing at least one ball at every course I play is still intact too, we all have our own dreams and setting your expectations low doesn’t hurt!

To finish off a fun week in the area and to make Mrs Fancy Pants happy, we went to the Tubac Festival of the Arts. It is about 45 minutes south of Tucson. There were well over 200 artist booths as well as all the local stores open with all kinds of different media. The town is really cool with old historic buildings as well as brand new structures fitting their cost structure. We spent most time in the booths and older buildings…

On the way out of town we stopped at the Tubac Golf Resort and Spa to check it out. Turns out it is on the Top 25 historic hotels of America most historic golf courses. Turns out part of the movie Tin Cup was filmed here and the pond in the scene where Roy “Tin Cup” keeps hitting it in the water was made for the movie. If time permits, on our way back to Texas we plan to let Little Al take a rest while we stay at the resort…I want a piece of that pond!

Leaving this morning for our annual stop in Phoenix…

We’ve spent the last couple of days staying pretty busy during the day and doing all we can to get to bed at a reasonable time at night. When I say reasonable, I’m saying we’re doing our best to stay up past 8pm, since we don’t have WiFi or tv we just read and it can make…you…drowsy…

On Tuesday we decided to check out Mount Lemmon, it is the highest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains. We were told by one of our fellow golfers on Monday about a great cookie shop at the top where cyclists and hikers reward themselves after a tough exertion trekking up the mountain. Anyway…I drove my fat butt and my beautiful wife up and rewarded us both for not driving off the cliff. And dare I say, well rewarded…they were fantastic.

Using the Golf Now app we found a golf course about 30 minutes south of the city to play at on Wednesday. Unlike the course Monday, this setup was much tighter and not quite as enjoyable. The homeowners will certainly remember yours truly as I left a few remembrances of my play on their clay tile roofs.

Tomorrow…more golf then rest on Friday.

The best thing about staying in a RV Resort without cable or WiFi is that you get to read a lot, reconnect with your traveling partner (she seems really nice), and you go to sleep early and wake up early. You also get to experience some of the longest days ever, when you wake up at 4am it seems like getting to noon takes a lifetime.

On Sunday we decided to check out the Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show…we thought it would be great to see who’s driving up all the RV park pricing. And rocks they have. Big rock, small rocks, rocks that you have to keep in water, rocks that were dinosaurs, every kind of rock you can imagine.

Most importantly, though, we found a booth selling turquoise jewelry. The vendor actually mines it, cuts it, and makes it into jewelry. Since I’m a sucker for a great story and since it turns out we’re a “turquoise family” and I’m late to the party I had to buy a ring. I mean who doesn’t need a ring they may never wear?!

Yesterday we played golf at Silverbell Golf Course and were matched up with 2 snowbirds escaping the cold also. We always get to hear interesting stories from people on our journeys and one of these fellows had one. Randy is an average looking 60+ year old, dressed well, spoke well and a pretty good golfer. Turns out he lived full time in his pickup truck with a camper shell that he said had all he needed…AC, generator, fridge, etc. He said he parks at truck stops and showers at Planet Fitness and according to him can do or go anywhere he wants because he doesn’t have to take care of anyone or report to anyone. I told him I could go or do anything Joanie told me too so…whatever!

Today…into the mountains for hikes then back home so we can get to bed by 8.

We decided to leave for our annual “find the warmth” tour heading west on Sunday after a quick stop in Dallas. Turns out Mother Nature and Richardson ISD disagreed and delayed our actual departure until Thursday. Not a bad thing…we got to hang out with a nice couple and probably the 2 sweetest girls in the world. (Translation…our son, daughter in law, and 2 sweetest granddaughters)

By the time we left, all of the ice and snow had melted so our drive was pretty uneventful other than rough I20 roads near Midland-Odessa and mega traffic in El Paso. Along the way we stopped in Van Horn and ate at the best restaurant in town. As it turned out, that was sandwiches we made ourselves in the Hampton hotel room. Right…not many options.

We bypassed our planned stay in Las Cruces because it didn’t meet our minimum temperature requirement of 70 degrees…try harder LC!

We are staying at a nice RV Resort (are there really RV resorts) in Tucson for the week while we allow all the drunks in Phoenix and the Phoenix Open to depart at the end of the week. Turns out this “resort” doesn’t have good internet or cable…welcome to the 70’s Marc & Joan.

Last night Joanie decided it was such nice weather that we would leave the windows open. FYI…80 degrees during the day does not equal warm weather at nights in the desert. Marco froze.

More…to…come…