Hot Iowa!

This past Thursday I shot 69 in the PGA John Deere pre-qualifier, which successfully got through to the Monday qualifier.  The John Deere is in the "quad cities" region on the Iowa/Illinois border.  After Thursday's round, we drove a couple hours to Ash's parents' place in Cedar Rapids, which is where we are now.  Then we go back for the qualifier on Monday.

It's SOOO HOT! It's been about 100 degrees every day that we've been here!!

Action Packed Couple Weeks

In the last two weeks, we have done quite a bit.  I flew home from Iowa thinking we were going to pack our things in a PODS for storage for a couple months while our new place was getting ready.  So, we started packing our things.  Then we received word that the place would be ready a couple days later, which would be the day before we were supposed to leave for West Virginia.  In a matter of 3 days, we packed up all our things, did the necessary paperwork, and then in one afternoon did the actual move.  

After getting about 5 hours of sleep per night for about 5 days, we hit the road to West Virginia for a PGA Tour event qualifier.... The Greenbrier Classic.  We arrived on Wednesday, and due to fatigue for obvious reasons, I decided to practice instead of play a practice round.  The next day was the pre-qualifier (qualifying takes two parts), and my easy going 72 was easily good enough to advance.  The next couple days we were planning on resting with maybe a fun day of white water rafting or zip-lining.  Unfortunately, two things happened... 1) Ash got sick, presumably from the lack of rest over the previous week; and 2) a freak storm came through West Virginia and knocked the power out in approximately 80% of the state.  The people in the state were so ill-prepared for anything like this, that over the next 26 hours, we never were able to eat, spent 2.5 hours in line to get the rationed 9 gallons of gas, checked out of our hotel, and drove 2 hours to Virginia where there was power and food.  Maybe it's because I grew up in Miami where we are always "hurricane-ready" and people own a back-up generator for their home, but it was hard to believe that no one within an hour (talking gas stations, hotels, and restaurants) had a back-up power source except for the state-owned travel plaza off the interstate.  

When Monday came for the qualifier, we woke up at 5 am to leave at 5:20 for our 2-hour drive to the course.  Ash was a trooper as she drove the whole way to allow me to close my eyes so I could be ready to play.  I played very well, shooting 66, which was tied for the low round of the day.  Unfortunately, there were 6 of us at that number and only 4 qualifiers.  We went into a playoff that lasted 3 holes.  It became 4-for-3 after the first hole because of a birdie and a bogey.  We all parred the 2nd playoff hole.  The 3rd playoff hole, I hit great shots, but misjudged my adrenaline and sailed a 9-iron 165 yards (usually hit it 148) right over the flag, over the green, in a tough spot.  I was unable to get it up-and-down and was thus eliminated.  Tough to swallow. 

So, we got the in car and drove about 4 hours to Lexington, KY, where today we are concluding our drive to Moline, IL... about 8.5 hours.  

The Smith Wedding!

Ash and I got to be a part of our friends Josh and Margaret's wedding!  Ash did Margaret's hair and makeup!

The day of the wedding, I got to hang out some with Josh, but while Ash was doing this....

....... I was doing this.....

It was a beautiful ceremony on the beach in Hilton Head, and a really fun reception!

CONGRATS to the Smiths!!!

Moving Day

We are packing up our things in our town home, getting ready to do an entire move in one day, this Monday!!  We are moving into a different town home, in the same community, only a few blocks away, but the scheduling is only going to allow us a day to move before we hit the road Tuesday!  It will be pretty crazy, but we are really excited!

There have been some changes to the schedule.... it's updated!!

In Lexington, KY this week. Played with a 100 yr old man today in the Pro-Am. What an experience! It was so impressive to see a guy play 18 holes at that age! He also dropped a 40 ft putt on one hole!

I'm off at 1:33 tomorrow.

Road Trip

Long day on the road: Orlando to Lexington, KY with a dinner stop at The Stallings residence in Knoxville. Thanks Scott and Jen!

First of 7 weeks on the road. Ash joins me Saturday for good!

Piracy

A routine night out with the guys in Champions Gate/Celebration, FL....