Kevin's Version

Shortly after I posted my last blog entry, including the golf match for "family bragging rights", I recieved the following dissertation from Kevin... who I think sent it to the rest of the family. Here it is, in it's entirety (with some comments from me in red).

Its official. After a dramatic round of golf, Carol has taken control of the Klock Family Cup. The weather was about 84 F, light wind out of the west on Indian Canyon Golf Course in Indian Wells. Of course Carol picked the course (and paid the $100 green fees). The final outcome was in doubt through at least the second shot on the 1st hole. By the time the turn was made it was almost a matter of pride but I had left that somewhere on the front nine. I came back to shoot a respectable 42 on the back nine. However, the following top ten reasons I got beat.

1. Like Donovan McNabb, I had to be playing through injuries.

2. Carol claimed sore shoulder and teed off on the red tees. Red tees are the girly tees. Yes, Kevin, I am a girl... that's where we tee off. And I did offer to let you tee off there too. Male pride can be a terrible thing. I do have two bad rotator cuffs (very painful), and didn't want to blow them out before my two day tournament at Cathedral Canyon C.C. Sunday and Monday. If you are a man and do not hit your drive past the girly tees, you are required to drop your pants as you head towards your next shot. I played blue because the male in the twosome who joined us was playing blues and was 105 years old so I felt inclined to at least protect my manhood and play from there.

3. Playing from the red tees gave Carol a 1,500 yard advantage over the 18 holes of the course. That's right for you who know golf, she got at least 100 yard advantage per hole. My par 3 was 200 yards and her's was 98. Kevin, Kevin, Kevin... you were doing far better from 200 yards out than 98, so that wouldn't have helped. Was it the 120 yard par 3 I birdied, with a two foot putt?

4. Carol is not tied down by the traditions and analysts of golf that say boobs get in the way of long drives. She drives as far as I do which means her 100 yard advantage led to 60 yard 2nd shots on par 4's. I want her for any of my scrambles. Again for you non golfers that's a tournament where you play the best hit ball. Carol did let me use her driver which I was spanking long and straight. Kevin will be in a golf shop soon getting one of those King Cobras.

5. My dog ate it.

6. The day before I had flown from Springfield, MO to Dallas, TX to LAX. Then drove from LAX to Camarillo to Palm Springs. The drive to Palm Springs took 4.5 hours including one 12 mile stretch through LA that took an hour. That's right 12 miles in one hour and no wreck. That fancy new truck made the trip more bearable.

7. The hotel put us in a room with only a king size bed for the four of us. They then told me that it was my fault for using Priceline. After verbalizing my displeasure at the front desk and explaining that we had called in advance to secure a two bed room, we got the two bed room. It had two doubles, I almost asked for the king and a roll up instead. It felt like college, I mean shortly after getting married again.

8. Suntan lotion got in my eyes. This could be true, but I doubt it, considering the length of those drives!

9. The plant is not performing well. All we've done is beat our budget on volume and profitability and I'm fielding questions as to why is Ventura struggling. My mind was elsewhere. Yeah, his mind was elsewhere... dollar signs flashing in his eyes hoping for a big bonus for beating all those production goals. They've overshot every goal, like having a King Cobra in his hands.

10. My hair was in my eyes. If I had been in town during the week I would've been able to get my hair cut. What hair?

For now, like the Iron Chef, Carol reigns supreme. Maybe one of these days we convince another Klock to join us. Until next year, Carol is the Top Klock. Amen!

The Family Torch Is Passed!

Here is a picture of my cousin, Kevin Klock and his family... wife, Jennifer and the kids Justin and Kara. The handsome guy on the left, of course, is none other than my Max. This photo was taken last night about 6:30 as were all waiting patiently for our table at Babe's, a wonderful BBQ restaurant at "The River" in Palm Desert.

For those of you who don't know who Kevin is... it is Kevin's grandparents who raised my brother and me after the death of our parents. Kevin's Dad's Dad and my Dad were brothers. Also, I lived with Kevin's Mom & Dad (and Kevin and his two brothers and one sister) for about a year when I first moved to Wenatchee in 1971. Kevin was only about 3 years old at that time. Kevin would come into my room at night after his bath and put on the headphones to my stereo and dance around in his pajamas.

Kevin and his wife and kids now live in Camarillo, California, which is 2-10 hours from Palm Springs, depending on traffic! I think it took them about 4 or5 hours to get over here Friday night. Kevin, a chemical engineer, is the plant manager where Frappucino is bottled for Starbucks. Jennifer keeps busy as a taxi driver for the kids, getting them to their school and extra-cirricular activities.

The main event for the week-end: Kevin and I had our "family bragging rights" skins golf match yesterday (Saturday) at the newly renovated Indian Canyon Golf course. The torch has been passed back to me (where it belongs). The margin of victory was considerable, so I suspect Kevin will be practicing before the next match in 2007.

He caught me on a bad day two years ago when he beat me in the first semi-annual golf match. We intended it to be an annual event, but Max and I didn't get down here last year. Therefore, I had to put up with two years of taunting from Kevin, instead of one. Besided reveling in the glory, I intend to successfully defend my title next year.

We have invited other members of the family to participate but, it appears, they're all afraid of both of us because no-one else showed up.

Hope everyone is having a great winter!

Carol

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

http://www.CarolsWenatchee.com

Upcoming Golf Marathon

We haven't played as much golf as usual while here this year, but that will change (for me) this week-end... as I begin a self-imposed golf marathon of sorts.

Max's mobility is really up and down and he doesn't feel comfortable paying the money to play on the longer courses because he's lucky to actually play 9 or 10 holes. He has only played once so far, and that was at the short course of Date Palm Country Club with Mary & Dick Weatherman. It works well if he plays a few holes, sits out a few holes, then plays a few more holes.

Friday, we will play again with Dick & Mary at Date Palm and that will, no doubt, be Max's last time. Since he doesn't play I don't like to leave him alone a lot but I have played a few games at Cathedral Canyon Golf & Tennis Club.

Saturday, I am scheduled to play a "family bragging rights" match with my cousin Kevin Klock. He and his family live in Camarilla (California). This is our second match. He currently holds the (invisible) trophy but I'm hoping to correct that. I told him I'd pay his green fees, but if he wins he has to pay me back. :-) I'll let you know how that goes.

Sunday & Monday I am in a tournament at Cathedral Canyon with Dorothy (Dunkin) McIntire. I have played a few practice rounds with her. Tuesday I played a pretty good round of 87, which I was very pleased with considering the difficulty of the course (and how little I've played). There is more than one hole from h___, with lots of water and sand. It's not unusual to see water down one side of the fairway and sand down the other. I'm not talking some water... I'm talking the entire length of the fairway in some cases. This is a course that requires a lot of course management and strategy on each shot. Common sense must rule over pride or you'll end up losing a shot or two anyway. I've been known to leave my driver in the bag on numerous holes, opting for a lay-up with a 5 or 6 iron. You know how I hate that!

Well, better get back to watching what's left of the Olympics for the evening. I'll check in sometime this week-end and let you know how it's going.

A Day Of Golf

Today I played golf again at the Cathedral Canyon Country Club with my friend Dorothy Dunkin. The image to the left is how I felt about the final score, so I won't go into any more details about that. More importantly we had a good time and, although the weather has cooled into the high 60's, it was an absolutely lovely day and we felt truly blessed to be out on the course!

After I got back from golf, Max & I went out for an aimless drive around the town. We drove through some of the areas where we've stayed over the years and marveled at how many homes are on the market in nearly every neighborhood. On my residential real estate blog, I posted an article titled "Palm Springs Real Estate" where I talked just a little about the general market here.

Palm Springs Aerial Tram

Yesterday (Wednesday) Max & I and our friend Ron, who is visiting from Wenatchee, rode the tram to the top of the San Jacinto Mountains. This is an engineering marvel, raising us from the 2,000 foot level to over 8500 feet above sea level in just 15 minutes. The tram has a rotating floor, so you get an ongoing 360 degree view of the mountains and the valley.

We ate lunch at the "Elevations" restaurant, which is a little more spendy than the cafeteria but well worth the extra money. Not only was the food really good, but the view was great and we felt among the elite instead of cattle in a herd.

In all the years Max & I have been coming here (about 20), this is the first time we've ever done the tram. It was fun. Unfortunately, I forgot my digital so I took some photos from Ron's camera. He said he would e-mail them to me, but I probably won't have them for a few days.

I still haven't been able to upload the cactus pictures I promised from our time in Phoenix. I reduced their size, but either my dial-up access with the laptop or my blogging software doesn't seem to like them. I'll see if I can work with them on the home computer when we return from paradise.

A Birdhouse and Some Sox

Today Max & I got up early and went to the Swap Meet at the College of the Desert. They "swap" their goods for our money. We wanted to get there early before it got too hot or too crowded... and so we could get a parking spot that wasn't too far from the entrance. We arrived about 8:00 and when we left at 10:30 it was already getting warm and was definitely crowded.

It was fun because they've got a lot of new stuff since we were here a couple years ago... and some of the same stuff too. You all know how I love patiotic things, and sox in particular, so I couldn't resist buying several pair of these cool sox. Also we've been looking for a birdhouse to decorate some stumps Max left when cutting out some trees in our yard. This cute little "bait shop" birdhouse is about 8" tall and 8" wide. It was only $14.

Besides the sox and birdhouse we bought some fresh strawberries, dates, dried apricots... and Max got a nice 10 minute massage for $12. He said it was well worth it. Afterwards, I was sorry I didn't get one too! Maybe next time.

Memoirs

The weather continues to be unusually warm... in the mid 80's for the last several days. It's supposed to cool down quite a bit by the latter part of next week, but I haven't seen any precipitation in the forecast. It has rained only one day since October, so they are going through a drought here.

I've been working on retyping Max's memoirs over the last few days. We had a first draft typed, but he's been wanting to make some additions so, since I don't have the file on this computer, I retyped them... all 26 pages. Now he has a fresh copy to rework. I suppose there will be many more drafts before the final document is finished. It will be a nice thing for his children and grandchildren to have.

Yesterday, I played golf with Dorothy Dunkin McIntire at Cathedral Canyon Country Club. Some of you may remember her from Wenatchee Golf & Country Club. They live down here full time, but have considered moving back to Wenatchee. They love it here, though. Her husband, Bud, and my husband weren't feeling up to playing so Dorothy and I ended up playing with a couple of other ladies from the club. It was a fun group, and we all played a game called "Captains Choice". It's where everyone in the foursome rotates at being the "captain" (first to tee off). After everyone tees off, then the captain gets to choose who she wants for her partner on that hole. Whichever "team" wins the hole gets a point (each player on that team gets a point). It's like a two person best ball, but your partner could change on each hole. Anyway, the person with the most points at the end of the game wins. I won't bore you with the details of who won (grin), but I can give you a hint that it wasn't one of the locals. :-) Actually, Dorothy and I ended up partnering most of the time and we did very well!

Cathedral Canyon is actually quite a difficult course, with narrow fairways and lots of strategically water and sand. Many holes have water down one side of the fairway and multiple sand traps bordering the other side. I was pleased to score a 91... after losing 3 balls on the first two holes! After that, I played the rest of the round with the same ball. The funny part is, after having lost so many balls so soon, one of the other gals came over and gave me a sleeve of "Precept" balls that she said she would never use. I laughed and joked with her that she knew I would need the extra balls to finish the round. I teased her later that it was when I started using the Precept balls that I started racking up the points (ultimately beating her at her own game). It was all in good fun and there was no money involved... just bragging rights. I will be playing in a two day tournament at this same course on the 26th & 27th of this month... so I'll play there at least two more times before that.

Today Max & I just kind of goofed off. We were going to the Swap Meet at the College of the Desert, but I was tired this morning so we decided to go tomorrow. We went to a late breakfast at the International House of Pancakes, where I had a wonderful vegetable omelette. The rest of the day is a blur of laziness. Max is already in bed so as I type, I'm listening to and watching the Olympics broadcast on the TV.

Hope you're all having a great week-end!
Carol

Out With The Old

This morning we had a late breakfast with our friend Ron Stephenson, who arrived last night from Wenatchee. As we sat at an outside table at "Don & Sweet Sue's Cafe" on Ramon Road in Cathedral City, we were all marveling at the fabulous weather. The radio said it was 85 degrees today. The forecast is similar for tomorrow, with slightly cooler on Friday.

Ron is also a realtor in Wenatchee and we help each other out whenever we can. After breakfast, we dropped Ron off at the airport to pick up his rental car. Ron isn't really into golf anymore, but he likes to hike and will be doing some exploring over the next few days. There are scads of hiking trails in the area. With the weather being so warm, he may decide to take the tram to the top of the San Jacinto Mountains and hike around up there. It's been an extremely dry winter here in southern California so there's no snow up there to worry about. Ron is staying with a friend here in Cathedral City, so we won't see him every day but we will get together for dinner and maybe some Swap Meet shopping before he goes back home next Thursday.

After a short afternoon nap, Max & I went to a Golf Outlet shop in Palm Desert... in search of some new golf bags. We bought our bags many years ago on a trip down here, and they are definitely ready to be retired. We wanted something a little smaller, less worn, and more "fresh" looking. I know the new bag (on the right) doesn't look smaller, but it actually is. Max's new bag is just like mine with a hint of blue (instead of red like mine). I've already got my bag organized and ready to play for our next scheduled game on Friday at Cathedral Canyon Country Club with Bud and Dorothy McIntire. Cathedral Canyon CC is a difficult course with lots of water, so I packed extra balls! Will let you know how that goes. Later in the month, I will be playing in a Women's tournament (at this course) with Dorothy.

68

What is 68? Was it the low temperature last night? Was it my golf score from yesterday? Or, is it the number of dollars it takes to fill up our gas tank at current Palm Springs prices?

The night low temperatures have been in the 50's, so quite pleaseant. The daytime temperatures have been in the 80's. :-) I filled up the tank today and it only cost $38.56 for 14.89 gallons at $2.55 per gallon.

Yesterday, Monday, we did play our first game of golf since arriving here. It was, literally, our first game for several months (October). 68 was my score but before you get impressed, you should know this was at Date Palm Country Club, which is a nice short (par 59) course. I shot 8 over on the front nine (just warming up) and then shot just one over on the back nine. We played with Mary & Dick Weatherman from Wenatchee, then went over to their place (next to the 16th tee box) for some iced tea and chips & dip. It was fun to see Mary and Dick again. They looked happy and healthy and are always fun to play with. We'll play with them again a time or two while we're here and I'll be sure to remember to take my camera along, so I can post a picture. We're hoping we can all get together with Donna & Bill Pershall while they are here also.

Max played, also, but he sat out a couple of holes so he didn't get too tired. Overall, he did quite well and didn't seem to suffer any negative effects today.

Today we had all-you-can-eat soup and salad at the Olive Garden with Lowell & MaryJo Williams, Max's cousins from Edmonton, Alberta. They live in Palm Desert for 6 months and Edmonton the other 6 months. It is Lowell's sister who is "the other" Carol Williams, the realtor.

More fun tomorrow...

Two Farm Boys

Here are two farm boys from southern Alberta, Canada. This is Max and his cousin, Lowell Williams, who lives in Edmonton half the year and Palm Desert during the winter months. Lowell came by this afternoon and picked up Max for a short shopping trip downtown. I took the opportunity to sneak down to Barnes & Noble for a couple of hours.

Their father's were brothers. Lowell and Max were both very successful in their careers, each earning a Phd and the title of Dr. in front of their names. Lowell's wife, MaryJo, is also a Phd. I am the lone mere intellectual mortal in the group. Perhaps some of their intellect will rub off by association? I can hope. Tuesday we will have lunch with Lowell & MaryJo at our favorite spot... the Olive Garden.

On another note of interest, Lowell has a sister named Carol Williams who is also a real estate agent. When we were in Edmonton a few years ago, "the other" Carol Williams took me to her Tuesday morning office meeting to introduce me as... who else... Carol Williams. It was kind of funny.

83

What is 83? Is it my golf score? Is it the number of golf courses in the local area? Or, is it the temperature? Our first game of golf will be Monday, so it's not that. There are over 100 golf courses in the area, so it's not that. 83 is the temperature from Friday, and today was similar, with more of same forecast for the next several days! Yabba Dabba Doo.

We've Landed

Well... we've finally landed in Palm Springs. Here are some pictures of our condo, patio, and view of the pond and waterfall from our patio. For some reason, the pictures didn't come out in the order I entered them, but you get the idea. Also, remember you can always click on a photo to enlarge. Anyway, the condo is quite comfortable. We went grocery shopping at Albertsons this afternoon, so the cupboards are stocked for a while. Everything else is turnkey and here for our convenience. Tomorrow morning we'll walk the grounds and find the nearest swimming pool and hottub.

The weather is fabulous. We're hearing reports of snow back home (lots in the mountains), so we're feeling pretty good about spending the money to get here and be here.