It Was a "Grand" Time!

It was a GRAND time! We spent several days in Topeka with the girls while their parents had a quick getaway. 

This time, there were two lists of instructions: One was for our granddaughters' schedules and activities. The other one was for Summer, the dog. Thankfully, Randy handled most of the dog duties. Other than a brief time when we lost the red collar that's supposed to keep Summer in the yard, we had minimal mishaps. Summer was a good girl and stayed anyway. Whew! That's on Randy. 

But ... oh yeah ... the broken plate is on me. 

Still, Kinley and Brooke got to all their activities and were fed. Summer also survived the week with the novices left in charge.

Before the parents departed, we got to see Brooke's volleyball team in action, led by Coach Jill. This is the third graders' first year playing volleyball. This is also Jill's debut season as coach. They don't keep score. But, the Attack won, I'm sure. It had to be due to the superb coaching, right?

Many of the girls are already serving overhand. Of course, they don't serve from the regulation line and they get two chances to get it over. But, we were still impressed.

Having a team cheer is vitally important to success.

The girls had an early release day on Wednesday, so we went bowling. 

Grandma lost. Of course, they had bumpers and I didn't. But, as I told them, there was a reason I took bowling in college pass-fail. Back in the olden days, we had to take a lifetime sport to graduate. I chose bowling. And I sure didn't want my lack of skill at the bowling alley to affect my GPA. I was bad. And I didn't improve much, even with some input from the instructor.

Then, on Friday, we took Kinley to her tennis lesson. We're always amazed in her improvement. You'll have to take my word for it because the video won't upload, for some reason. And she's one of the younger ones in the class and I sure wasn't going to make her pose for a Grandma photo when she was surrounded by her older friends. That would be a Grandma fail!

It wasn't all sports. Brooke was working on her X6 multiplication facts. And she passed and has moved on to the X7s.

She also got her pet rock decorated and turned in early - just one less thing for Mom and Dad to help with when they got home!

We got to see some of their artwork come home. They did not get their artistic talent from me.

We were proud to clean out book bags and find positive notes from their teachers, too. Brooke was honored for collaboration, going above and beyond and respectfulness during the Friday assembly. I was ready to go and cheer, but I was informed that parents (or grandparents) did not go to these assemblies. And Kinley was recognized for including others and welcoming others to her group. While I'm also a firm believer in working hard on school subjects, those character traits get an A+ from Grandma, too!

While the girls were in school, Randy golfed at three different courses around Topeka. And I read my book.

The first day, we were at Forbes Field.

The second day, we went to Lake Shawnee. Randy survived golfing with three KU fans.

The third day brought chillier weather. Though he'd planned to golf 18 holes at Western Hills, we quit after 9 when it began sprinkling and the wind was blowing.

He thought it was easy to give the "Play Better" advice. It's not as easy to do.

Randy and I needed to be back in Stafford so I could take photos at the ribbon-cutting for renovations and donor recognition for the Nora Larabee Memorial Library during the Oktoberfest celebration. So Uncle Brent and Aunt Susan were the pinch hitters.

I asked Jill yesterday whether we all got good grades from the girls for our role as stand-in parents for the week. We did - Bonus!

While at Oktoberfest on Saturday, we were told (yet again) that farmers aren't supposed to retire. However, if we hadn't retired, we would have been home planting wheat at this time and we wouldn't have gotten to spend the week with the girls. 

Hmmm ... sounds like a good decision to me.

Daniel Boone Was A Man. So Were Donald Ross and Larry Bird

 

I'm just a little surprised we didn't come home with a coonskin cap. 

"Do you think the girls would like one?" Randy said, as he stood in the gift shop at Fort Boonesborough. I may have rolled my eyes. OK, you know I did.

Randy was the one who loved the television show, Daniel Boone. Fess Parker starred as Daniel Boone in the TV series that aired from September 1965 to May 1970 for 165 episodes. The show was broadcast in "living color." I haven't tested the theory, but I'm guessing the girls haven't heard a lot about Daniel Boone in school.

However, Randy's love of the show likely fueled our visit to Fort Boonesborough.  And even I remember some of the television series' song:

Daniel Boone was a man,
Yes, a big man!
With an eye like an eagle
And as tall as a mountain was he!

Boonesborough, Capital of the Colony of Transylvania, was settled in April 1775 by Daniel Boone as the first fortified settlement in Kentucky.  Daniel Boone is the preeminent symbol for America's westward movement across the frontier. Hundreds of thousands of settlers of European descent poured into America's heartland along Boone's Trace, passing through the Cumberland Gap. Boone and 30 axmen, along with two women camp keepers, set about clearing a path for others to follow into and through the knobby hills of eastern Kentucky to the edge of the Bluegrass region. Although attacked by the Shawnee along the way, Boone and the survivors arrived at the Kentucky River and began to build Fort Boonesborough. 

The current fort was reconstructed as a working fort with cabins, blockhouses and furnishings. Resident artisans perform craft demonstrations and give modern-day visitors a sense of what life was like for pioneers in Kentucky. It's now a state park located near Richmond, Ky.

That included a blacksmith. (What little boy doesn't think playing with fire might be fun?)

There was also a woodworker, shaping wood the old-fashioned way.

A carver made horns into works of art.

But there were also re-enactors celebrating "women's work."

The Daniel Boone stop fed Randy's childhood obsession. A stop in French Lick, Indiana, was more attuned to his current interest - golf. 

The Donald Ross Course at French Lick was built in 1917 by architect Donald Ross. 

 

Among the trademark Ross features are 80 bunkers, 35 of which are original to the course. 

 

The par-70 course has been rated the No. 2 public course in Indiana by GolfWeek every year since 2011.

It was originally called The Hill Course. After a $5 million restoration in 2005, it was renamed The Donald Ross Course at French Lick.

I didn't even get my book out all that much while Randy played.

Donald Ross wasn't the only famous name in French Lick. It's the hometown of NBA star Larry Bird. While there, we ate at 33 Brick Street, which had an extensive collection of Bird's memorabilia. There are also signed jerseys from stars like Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky, Lou Brock, Magic Johnson, Joe Montana and Walt Frasier.

If you've stuck with me through all the posts from our trip, you should win a gold star. As it is, I'll just extend my thanks for reading. We will now return to regular programming.
 

Golf: Perfect for Social Distancing

 

Even as the pandemic has shuttered restaurants, bars and gyms, many golf courses around the country managed to stay open, albeit with some precautions in place to promote social distancing, from sanitizing carts to leaving flag sticks in the holes.

Proponents believed golf could provide a safe outlet for the stir crazy, some fresh air and exercise, perhaps even a dose of normalcy, according to an article in The Christian Science Monitor.

 "None of the general public is good enough to hit it within six feet of each other," said Troy Andrew, executive director of the Washington Golf Association. 

Well, there is that. 

Sand Creek Station, Newton

However, some golf carts are bossy and remind players to wear masks and practice social distancing, the new buzzwords for 2020. 

Lake Shawnee Golf Course, Topeka

Our journey home from South Dakota provided a new course for Randy to try out. The Wild Horse Golf Club at Gothenburg, Nebraska, has won some national awards. (I guess that's what these subscriptions to golf magazines get me: A chance to ride along on award-winning courses.)

Golf Digest in 2015 named Wild Horse the 77th Best American Public Course. It's kind of stuck in the middle of a pasture, so we felt right at home.

Since Randy's tee time was later in the day, we had to wait a little bit so that personnel could do that sanitation. Of course, I wandered in the flower beds and took photos while Randy went to the driving range.

The front porch gave me a preview vista before we ever got started.

Randy was paired with a Wild Horse member, Dr. Jay.

 

We often meet interesting people this way, and this course was no exception. Having a person intimately acquainted with the course was kind of like Randy having his own personal caddy who could tell him where to aim and pitfalls to avoid.

This was Dr. Jay's house. (He didn't run in for a drink of water or anything.) 

Kind of like those ads that crop up on Facebook after you've Googled "Case engine parts," it's kind of creepy that the golf cart (and the club house) know where you are. 

And if you're lollygagging behind for some reason and you're not fitting into the "rate of play" parameters, you may get a visit from the course manager. Dr. Jay said so. (The timetable was right on the windshield.) Thankfully, we escaped without a reprimand.

 

Even though the course really was pared out of a pasture, the fairways and greens are perfectly manicured.

My favorite time on the course was as the sun was going down. That provided the best photo ops.

The Nebraska golf outing was certainly not the first foray onto a golf course during the pandemic. The Stafford County Country Club's 9-hole course is our normal golf destination. And we've taken full advantage of that membership this spring and summer - Randy to golf and me to read my latest book and hope for bird photos.

May 2019

 

I've read a lot of good books, but I didn't get anything to rival my Eastern bluebird photo from last year.

First Pandemic Golf Outing, April 6, 2020, Stafford Country Club

On April 23, I did capture a faint photo of a rainbow at the Stafford course.

But we've also traveled to some other golf courses in the area if we had a break from farm work due to weather or life circumstances.

Those included the Sterling Golf Course on May 6.

Lyons Country Club on May 22 (below):

A pretty sky at the Stafford course, June 23 (after a rain and wind storm interrupted wheat harvest):

 The Cherry Oaks Golf Course in Cheney, July 24:

 

Enterprising entrepreneurs had a refreshment stand in their grandparents' yard on the back 9 of the Cheney course. We weren't the only ones who stopped.

Sand Creek Station, Newton, July 28. (Just 4 days after Cheney: Can you tell it rained a bunch that week?)

We about didn't make it through the course without a downpour. I missed getting a photo of the iconic red caboose on the Sand Creek course because of the rain.

We visited the Lake Shawnee Golf Course in Topeka on July 31 (Just 2 days after the Newton excursion ... again, rain keeping us out of the field, not laziness. Plus a trip to Topeka includes a side benefit of seeing the granddaughters.)

 And here we were, back at our home course, on August 21. (I haven't included all the Stafford golf outings here.)

And just a reminder about what I really do during these golf outings ... besides take photos, of course.

We won't be on a golf course today. Dr. Bruce, our vet, is coming to preg-check our 25 heifers. And it's a little too chilly for a golf outing anyway. We'll see if there are any other golf dates in our fall agenda. We have quite a few days of cattle work ahead, so it's not likely. 

But, as I told Randy earlier this summer, I'm glad he took up golf several years ago. As for me, I agree with Mark Twain, "Golf is a good walk spoiled." But I'm glad to be along for the ride during a pandemic.